•Richest woman in the world, Alice Walton
Walmart heiress Alice Walton has emerged at the top on Forbes world’s richest women’s list for the second consecutive year.
According to the latest Forbes World’s Billionaires ranking, the 134-billion-dollar fortune of Walton shows her dominance among female billionaires.
She was first named the world’s richest woman in September 2024, after dethroning L’Oréal heiress, Françoise Bettencourt, reports AFP.
French L’Oréal heiress Francoise Bettencourt Meyers ($100 billion) and Julia Koch, widow of the late industrialist David Koch, followed with $81.2 billion.
Out of 3,428 billionaires listed this year, 481 are women, 14% of the list, up from 406, or 13.4%, last year.
Chilean mining and beverage heiress Iris Fontbona clinched the fourth place with $52.6 billion, surpassing Candy and pet food heiress Jacqueline Mars ($49.1 billion), who fell to fifth. Her rise is particularly notable as she was previously outside the top 10.
Among the top 10 richest women, the only self-made billionaire is Swiss shipping magnate Rafaela Aponte-Diamant ($44.5 billion), who dropped from fifth to sixth place.
Overall, just 122 of the 481 female billionaires made their own fortunes, up slightly from 113 last year. The next richest self-made woman is American roofing magnate Diane Hendricks ($22.3 billion).
Beyoncé, the global music superstar, made her debut this year with a net worth of $1 billion.
Other notable self-made women include Rihanna ($1 billion), Spanx founder Sara Blakely ($1.4 billion), and Taylor Swift ($2 billion). Another newcomer is Luana Lopes Lara, a former ballerina from Brazil who co-founded the prediction market firm Kalshi. At 29, she becomes the world’s youngest self-made female billionaire, taking the title from 31-year-old Scale AI co-founder Lucy Guo ($1.4 billion).
Melinda French Gates ($30.3 billion) and Marilyn Simons ($32.5 billion) were replaced by Iris Fontbona and Zheng Shuliang ($33.2 billion), vice chair of a Chinese aluminum company founded by her late husband.
