Alice Walton, the Walmart heiress, is the richest woman in America with a net worth of $106 billion, according to the 2025 Forbes 400. She is the first American woman to cross the $100 billion threshold, holding a record margin over her closest rival, Julia Koch, who is worth $81.2 billion. The list spans from Taylor Swift at $2 billion to Walton at $106 billion, a $104 billion spread illustrating the diverse paths to extraordinary wealth.
Key Takeaways
- Alice Walton holds a net worth of $106 billion, making her America's first female centibillionaire and the richest woman in the world as of 2025.
- Julia Koch ($81.2B) is the runner-up, having inherited a 42.5% stake in Koch, Inc. from her late husband David Koch.
- The list spans from Taylor Swift ($2B) at #15 to Alice Walton ($106B) at #1 — a range of more than $104 billion.
- The richest self-made woman on this list is Diane Hendricks ($22.3B), chair of ABC Supply — the only woman to top Forbes' Self-Made Women ranking for nine consecutive years.
- Melinda French Gates ($29B) did both: she joined Microsoft as a self-made career woman and later received an estimated $25 billion divorce settlement from Bill Gates.
The 15 Richest Women in America
Our rankings are based on data from Forbes 400 (September 2025), Forbes' America's Richest Self-Made Women (June 2025/2026), the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, and Celebrity Net Worth. We use the most up-to-date figures available at the time of publishing. Net worths are primarily sourced from the Forbes 400 (figures as of September 1, 2025), with Celebrity Net Worth and Bloomberg used to cross-reference and note more recent movements. For celebrity entries (Taylor Swift, Oprah Winfrey), we rely on Forbes' June 2025 America's Richest Self-Made Women list and the March 2026 Celebrity Billionaires report.
15. Taylor Swift ($2 billion)
Taylor Alison Swift, born December 13, 1989, is a singer-songwriter and entrepreneur with a net worth of $2 billion as of March 2026. Swift became a billionaire in 2023, thanks to the earnings from her Eras Tour and the value of her music catalog. Her fortune includes nearly $1 billion in estimated wealth amassed from royalties and touring, plus a music catalog worth an estimated $900 million and some $100 million of real estate. Her signature Eras Tour started in 2023 and ended in December 2024, grossing a record-breaking $2 billion. In 2025, Swift reclaimed ownership of her first six albums' masters, completing a years-long battle for her back catalog. According to Forbes' March 2026 celebrity billionaires update, the pop superstar's net worth is $2 billion, making her the world's richest female musician.
14. Oprah Winfrey ($3.2 billion)
Oprah Gail Winfrey, born January 29, 1954, is a media executive, producer, and philanthropist with a net worth of $3.2 billion as of 2025. From 1986 to 2011, she gained popularity as host of The Oprah Winfrey Show. She became the first Black woman to achieve the rank of billionaire in 2003 from her profits in hosting, acting, and production. In 1986, Oprah founded Harpo Productions, becoming one of the first women to own a major production company. In 2011, she launched OWN, further expanding her media empire. Her eponymous talk show has been off the air nearly 15 years, but Winfrey remains a consistent presence on screen, appearing in the Netflix movie The Six Triple Eight and hosting three TV specials in the past year. Oprah has donated over $400 million to education and community projects.
13. Diane Hendricks ($22.3 billion)
Diane Hendricks, born circa 1947, is the chairwoman of ABC Supply Co. with a net worth of $22.3 billion as of September 2025. The richest self-made woman on the 2025 Forbes 400, Hendricks owns building supplies distributor ABC Supply. A Wisconsin native, she grew up as one of nine sisters on a dairy farm. She co-founded ABC Supply in 1982, revolutionizing the building materials industry. The company has over 900 branch locations and had $20.2 billion in 2025 revenues. After her husband Ken died in 2007, Hendricks took sole control of the company and built it into North America's largest wholesale roofing distributor. For the ninth year in a row, Hendricks tops Forbes' list of America's Richest Self-Made Women. In July 2025, she began starring in the new A&E show Betting on Beloit alongside her daughter, Konya Hendricks Schuh.
12. Judy Faulkner ($9.6 billion)
Judith R. Faulkner, born circa 1943, is the founder and CEO of Epic Systems with a net worth of $9.6 billion as of June 2026. Faulkner started Epic in a basement in 1979 in Verona, Wisconsin. She built it into the dominant force in American hospital electronic health records — and never took the company public, retaining majority ownership throughout. Faulkner is ranked No. 3 on Forbes' 2026 Self-Made Women list. On the Hurun global list, Judy Faulkner ranked 6th, up 60%, anchoring U.S. presence with Epic Systems' AI-driven healthcare software expansion. Epic's software is used by more than 250 million patients across thousands of American hospitals, making Faulkner one of the most quietly powerful people in U.S. healthcare.
11. Lynsi Snyder ($8.7 billion)
Lynsi Lavelle Snyder-Ellingson, born May 5, 1982, is the president and owner of In-N-Out Burger with a net worth of $8.7 billion as of 2025. Snyder is the youngest woman on the Forbes 400, at age 43. She inherited full ownership of In-N-Out Burger — the legendary California-based fast food chain founded by her grandparents Harry and Esther Snyder in 1948 — after her father Guy Snyder's death in 1999. Under her leadership, In-N-Out has remained one of America's most beloved and profitable fast food brands, operating over 400 locations across the western United States while refusing to franchise or go public.
10. Lyndal Stephens Greth & family ($27.4 billion)
Lyndal Stephens Greth, born circa 1975, is the former chair of Endeavor Energy Resources with a net worth of $27.4 billion as of 2025. Her father, Autry Stephens, founded the Texas-based oil firm Endeavor Energy Resources in 1979. Before he passed away in 2024, Autry negotiated the $26 billion sale of Endeavor Energy Resources to Diamondback Energy. As a result, Greth now owns more than a third of Diamondback's shares. The massive Diamondback deal turned Greth into one of America's wealthiest women almost overnight.
9. Melinda French Gates ($29 billion)
Melinda Ann French Gates, born August 15, 1964, is a philanthropist and founder of Pivotal Ventures with a net worth of $29 billion as of 2025. She is the one woman on this list who did both — she was a self-made Microsoft product manager who later built one of the world's largest philanthropies alongside her husband Bill Gates, before receiving an estimated $25 billion divorce settlement in 2021. In June 2024, she resigned from the Gates Foundation to focus on Pivotal Ventures, a firm she founded to invest in women-led funds and startups. French Gates previously co-chaired the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which donated over $77.6 billion toward improving healthcare and reducing poverty during her 24-year tenure.
8. Elaine Marshall & family ($30.9 billion)
Elaine Marshall, age 83 as of 2025, is a Koch, Inc. heiress with a net worth of $30.9 billion. Along with her two sons, she owns approximately 16 percent of Koch Industries. Marshall is the widow of Everett Pierce Marshall, who was an heir to the Koch fortune. Her stake in Koch — one of America's largest private companies, with revenues exceeding $125 billion — is entirely distinct from Julia Koch's larger 42.5% share.
7. Marilyn Simons & family ($32.5 billion)
Marilyn Hawrys Simons, age 74 as of 2025, is a philanthropist and chair of the Simons Foundation with a net worth of $32.5 billion. She is the widow of hedge fund legend Jim Simons, who died in 2024 at age 86. Jim Simons founded Renaissance Technologies and its legendary Medallion Fund — widely considered the most successful hedge fund in history. Marilyn controls the Simons Foundation, an organization the couple cofounded to support science education and research.
6. MacKenzie Scott ($33.9 billion)
MacKenzie Scott, born April 7, 1970, is an author and philanthropist with a net worth of $33.9 billion as of 2025. She is the ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, to whom she was married for 25 years. As part of their 2019 divorce, she received a 4% stake in the online retailer. Since the divorce, Scott has become America's most prolific philanthropist by a significant margin, giving away tens of billions of dollars through a uniquely fast and unrestricted giving model. Despite aggressive giving, her Amazon stake has continued to appreciate, keeping her firmly among the nation's wealthiest women.
5. Abigail Johnson ($35 billion)
Abigail Pierrepont Johnson, born December 19, 1961, is the chair and CEO of Fidelity Investments with a net worth of $35 billion as of 2025. She inherited her position at Fidelity — the Boston-based financial services giant founded by her grandfather Edward C. Johnson II in 1946 — but has undeniably grown the business during her tenure. She became CEO in 2014 and chair in 2016, overseeing the firm's expansion into cryptocurrency and index-fund products. Under her leadership, Fidelity now manages more than $12 trillion in assets.
4. Miriam Adelson & family ($37.9 billion)
Miriam Adelson, born October 10, 1945, is an Israeli-American physician, businesswoman, and philanthropist with a net worth of $37.9 billion as of 2025. By the time her husband Sheldon Adelson died in 2021, Las Vegas Sands had become a major force in global gaming. Miriam inherited nearly half the company and took on a leadership role. She and son-in-law Patrick Dumont purchased the Dallas Mavericks from Mark Cuban in 2023. She also holds the distinction of being the richest Israeli billionaire.
3. Jacqueline Mars ($42.2 billion)
Jacqueline Mars, born October 10, 1939, is an heir to Mars, Inc. with a net worth of $42.2 billion as of 2025. Her grandfather founded Mars, the candy and pet food giant behind brands like M&M's, Snickers and Pedigree. Jacqueline Mars owns an estimated one-third of Mars, which remains one of the largest privately held companies in the United States, with annual revenues exceeding $45 billion. Despite sitting on one of America's great inherited fortunes, Jacqueline has served on Mars' board of directors and has been actively involved in equestrian sports for decades.
2. Julia Koch & family ($81.2 billion)
Julia Margaret Koch, born April 12, 1962, is a Koch, Inc. stakeholder with a net worth of $81.2 billion as of 2025. She inherited a 42.5% stake in conglomerate Koch, Inc. from her late husband David (d. 2019). In September, she and her children struck a deal to buy a minority stake in the New York Giants NFL team. Koch and her three children inherited a 42% stake in Koch, Inc., the second largest private company in the U.S., spanning industries as diverse as oil refining, agriculture and real estate.
1. Alice Walton ($106 billion)
Alice Louise Walton, born October 7, 1949, is an heiress, art patron, and philanthropist with a net worth of $106 billion as of September 2025. As the daughter of Sam Walton, she is heiress to the fortune of Walmart. Forbes estimates Walton's net worth at $106 billion (up from $89.2 billion the year before) and proclaims her as the first female centibillionaire in America. This significant increase is attributed to a 40% rise in Walmart's stock value, where she holds an estimated 11% stake. While her siblings Rob and Jim took executive roles at Walmart, Alice took a dramatically different path. She worked as an equity analyst and broker before founding Llama Company, an investment bank, in 1988. Her passion for art culminated in the establishment of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, in 2011. She has also invested heavily in the Alice L. Walton School of Medicine, which welcomed its inaugural class of 48 four-year medical students in 2025.
FAQs
Who is the richest woman in America?
Fort Worth's own Alice Walton leads as the wealthiest woman in America. Walmart heiress Walton, 75, simultaneously holds the title as the richest woman in the world in 2025. Forbes estimates her net worth at $106 billion, making her the first female centibillionaire in America.
Who is richer, Oprah or Taylor Swift?
Oprah Winfrey is richer than Taylor Swift — and it isn't particularly close. Forbes' 2025 list of America's Richest Women Celebrities features Oprah Winfrey at the top with a net worth of $3.1 billion, followed by Kim Kardashian at $1.7 billion and Taylor Swift at $1.6 billion. By early 2026, Forbes puts Taylor Swift's net worth at $2 billion, making her the world's richest female musician — though the only woman who placed higher among celebrities was Oprah Winfrey, worth $3.2 billion.
What is Alice Walton's net worth?
As of July 2025, Walton has an estimated net worth of $116 billion, making her the richest woman in the world and 15th richest person overall, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The Forbes 400 (September 2025) put the figure at $106 billion. Both sources agree she is America's wealthiest woman by a vast margin — more than $24 billion ahead of runner-up Julia Koch.
What is Diane Hendricks's net worth?
For the ninth consecutive year, Diane Hendricks topped Forbes' list of America's Richest Self-Made Women, with an estimated net worth of $21.7 billion on the 2026 list. The Forbes 400 (September 2025) placed her at $22.3 billion. She grew up on a dairy farm in Wisconsin and is now one of America's wealthiest self-made women, having co-founded ABC Supply in 1982.
How many women are on the Forbes 400?
There are just 62 women among the nation's 400 wealthiest people, good for just 15.5% of the ranking — down from 67 women the year before, or about 17%. In aggregate, these 62 super-rich women are worth $872 billion, up from $839 billion in 2024. The drop is largely explained by the deaths of three women billionaires and two others falling below the record $3.8 billion Forbes 400 cutoff.
