An Inside Look At America's Richest Self-Made Women In 2024

Forbes

Pizza. Packaging. Pop music. The country’s most successful women have found dozens of ways to prosper. It was a record-breaking year for these queens of capitalism, as their combined fortunes soared by nearly one-fourth, to $154 billion. There are now a record 31 self-made women billionaires, up from 24 a year ago. Among the 11 newcomers: singer Katy Perry and Uncle Nearest whiskey cofounder Fawn Weaver. The minimum to qualify rose to $300 million from $225 million last year, the highest since Forbes started tracking the top 100 in 2020.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/self-made-women/?sh=1e3790cc6d96  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00Here's your Forbes Daily Briefing for Friday, May 31.

00:05Today on Forbes, a record year for America's richest self-made women, 2024.

00:12Pizza, packaging, pop music.

00:16The country's most successful women have found dozens of ways to prosper.

00:20Nearly three-fourths of the 100 women on the list started or co-founded a company, while

00:2622 are chief executives or co-chief executives.

00:30A healthy stock market helped push the combined fortunes of members of Forbes' 10th annual

00:35list of America's richest self-made women to a record $154 billion, up nearly 25% from

00:42last year.

00:44The minimum to qualify rose to $300 million, up from $225 million last year.

00:50This is the highest since Forbes started tracking the top 100 in 2020.

00:5573 members are richer than they were in 2023, while just 10 saw their fortunes fall.

01:03Billionaire Diane Hendricks keeps the top spot for the seventh consecutive year with

01:07a record $20.9 billion fortune, up from $15 billion last year.

01:13She owns roofing and building supply distributor ABC Supply, which she founded with her husband

01:18Ken in 1982.

01:20Hendricks has chaired the company since 2007, and under her leadership, revenue has ballooned

01:25from $2.6 billion to $20.4 billion.

01:30Hendricks is the biggest gainer this year in dollar terms, up $5.9 billion from a year

01:35ago, helped by a 10% increase in ABC Supply's 2023 revenues.

01:40In percentage terms, the biggest gainer is Elizabeth Ulein, whose fortune is up 81% to

01:46an estimated $6.7 billion.

01:49Ulein and her husband Richard founded packaging supplies firm Ulein in 1980.

01:55The jump in her net worth is due to Forbes having more information about revenues at

01:58the privately held company, which was estimated at $8 billion in 2023, as well as a higher

02:04valuation of the company tied to stronger market conditions.

02:09Eleven new faces join the ranks.

02:11The highest profile newcomer is singer Katy Perry, worth an estimated $350 million, mostly

02:17due to the September 2023 sale of her music catalog.

02:21Fawn Weaver, owner of the fastest-growing whiskey brand in American history, Uncle Nearest,

02:27makes her debut, as does money manager Joan Payden, who launched her firm Payden & Riegel

02:32in 1983 and remained CEO at age 92.

02:37There are a record 31 billionaires on the list, up from 24 last year, including three

02:43newcomers.

02:44Barbara Bankey, co-founder with her late husband Jess Jackson of Jackson Family Wines, known

02:50for its Kendall Jackson and La Crema wines, is worth an estimated $2.6 billion.

02:57Semiconductor entrepreneur and investor Susan Ocampo has an estimated $2 billion fortune,

03:03with the majority coming from a 21% stake in publicly traded semiconductor firm Macom

03:07Technology Solutions.

03:10Shares of server and storage producer Supermicro are up over 400% in the last year, which pushed

03:16co-founder Sarah Liu's estimated net worth to $1 billion.

03:21There are four others who moved up into the 10-figure ranks.

03:25Taylor Swift, who became a billionaire in October 2023 thanks to the earnings from her

03:30Heiress tour and the value of her music catalog.

03:33After accounting for additional tour dates and a higher value for her music catalog,

03:38Forbes now estimates Swift's fortune at $1.3 billion, $200 million more than in the fall.

03:45Another is Sheila Johnson, who co-founded cable TV network BET Networks in 1979 with

03:51her ex-husband Robert Johnson, and who is now a billionaire due in part to the rising

03:56value of her investments in the NBA's Washington Wizards and the NHL's Washington Capitals.

04:02Lisa Su, the CEO of semiconductor firm Advanced Micro Devices, saw her fortune rise amid the

04:08excitement about generative AI.

04:11Michelle Zatlin, co-founder of cybersecurity firm Cloudflare, also saw her fortune rise

04:16as her company's shares surged in the past year.

04:19The oldest member of the list is 97-year-old Alice Schwartz, who co-founded research and

04:24diagnostic firm BioRad Laboratories in 1952.

04:28The youngest on the list is Kylie Jenner at age 26.

04:33California continues to be home to the greatest number of list members.

04:37Thirty-nine women call the Golden State home, including former talk show host Ellen DeGeneres

04:42and Alphabet's president Ruth Porat.

04:45Eleven live in Texas, including SpaceX chief operating officer Gwynne Shotwell and Advanced

04:50Micro Devices' Lisa Su.

04:53Newcomer Mary Callahan-Erdos, CEO of JPMorgan Chase's wealth management business, is one

04:58of nine members who live in New York.

05:02For full coverage and to see the whole list, which was released earlier this week, check

05:06out Carrie A. Dolan and Andrea Murphy's piece on Forbes.com.

05:12This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes.

05:14Thanks for tuning in.

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