Walmart heiress Alice Walton has claimed the top spot on Forbes’ list of the world’s richest women for the second year running, with a fortune valued at $134 billion.
Walton first became the world’s richest woman in September 2024, surpassing French L’Oréal heiress Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, who now ranks second with $100 billion. Julia Koch, widow of industrialist David Koch, follows in third place with $81.2 billion.
This year, Forbes listed 3,428 billionaires globally, of whom 481 are women, representing 14% of the total, up from 13.4% last year.
Chilean mining and beverage heiress Iris Fontbona rose to fourth place with $52.6 billion, overtaking Candy and pet food heiress Jacqueline Mars, who fell to fifth with $49.1 billion. Notably, Fontbona was previously outside the top 10.
Among the top 10 richest women, Swiss shipping magnate Rafaela Aponte-Diamant is the only self-made billionaire, with a net worth of $44.5 billion, down from fifth to sixth place. Overall, 122 of the 481 female billionaires are self-made, up slightly from 113 last year. The next wealthiest self-made woman is American roofing magnate Diane Hendricks, valued at $22.3 billion.
The list also features several notable newcomers. Music superstar Beyoncé made her debut with $1 billion, joined by Rihanna ($1 billion), Spanx founder Sara Blakely ($1.4 billion), and Taylor Swift ($2 billion). Brazilian entrepreneur Luana Lopes Lara, a former ballerina and co-founder of the prediction market firm Kalshi, became the youngest self-made female billionaire at 29, surpassing 31-year-old Scale AI co-founder Lucy Guo ($1.4 billion).
Meanwhile, Melinda French Gates ($30.3 billion) and Marilyn Simons ($32.5 billion) were replaced in the rankings by Iris Fontbona and Zheng Shuliang ($33.2 billion), vice chair of a Chinese aluminum company founded by her late husband.
