Alice Walton has once again been named the world’s richest woman, topping the latest ranking of female billionaires published by Forbes. According to the magazine’s annual World’s Billionaires list, Walton’s fortune is estimated at $134 billion, securing her position as the wealthiest woman globally for the second year in a row.
Walton, the daughter of Sam Walton and an heir to retail giant Walmart, first rose to the top spot in September 2024 after surpassing Francoise Bettencourt Meyers.
Bettencourt Meyers, the heiress to cosmetics group L’Oréal, now ranks second with an estimated net worth of $100 billion. She is followed by Julia Koch, widow of industrialist David Koch, whose wealth is estimated at $81.2 billion.
The latest list also highlights the relatively small share of women among the world’s ultra-wealthy. Of the 3,428 billionaires globally, 481 are women, accounting for about 14 percent of the list. This represents a slight increase from 406 women (13.4 percent) recorded the previous year.
Iris Fontbona climbed to fourth place with an estimated fortune of $52.6 billion, overtaking Jacqueline Mars, an heir to Mars Inc., who slipped to fifth place with $49.1 billion. Among the top 10 richest women, the only self-made billionaire is Swiss shipping entrepreneur Rafaela Aponte-Diamant, whose wealth is estimated at $44.5 billion.
Overall, just 122 of the 481 female billionaires built their fortunes themselves, a slight rise from 113 self-made women recorded the previous year. The next richest self-made woman is American entrepreneur Diane Hendricks, with an estimated net worth of $22.3 billion.
Several high-profile entertainers also feature on the billionaire list. Global music star Beyoncé made her debut with a fortune estimated at $1 billion. Other notable self-made women include Rihanna with about $1 billion, Sara Blakely with $1.4 billion, and Taylor Swift with approximately $2 billion.
Another new entrant is Luana Lopes Lara, a co-founder of prediction market firm Kalshi. At 29, she has become the youngest self-made female billionaire, surpassing Lucy Guo, the 31-year-old entrepreneur behind Scale AI.
Meanwhile, Melinda French Gates and Marilyn Simons dropped out of the top 10 richest women, replaced by Fontbona and Chinese billionaire Zheng Shuliang, vice chair of an aluminium company founded by her late husband.
