The richest woman in the world is Alice Walton, worth $129.4 billion on Forbes’ real-time list on October 24, 2026, almost all of it Walmart stock. Françoise Bettencourt Meyers of L’Oréal ($103.1 billion) and Julia Koch of Koch, Inc. ($84.6 billion) rank second and third.
Only one of the ten built her fortune. The rest inherited it or received it in a divorce. Below, all ten are ranked with the company behind each, the document that shows the stake, and the year and event that made the money.
Who Is the Richest Woman in the World Right Now?
Alice Walton, at $129.4 billion on Forbes’ real-time list on October 24, 2026. She ranks 14th among all billionaires. Her fortune is her family’s Walmart holding, which she inherited from her father Sam Walton.
A fortune in listed shares moves with the share price each trading day. A fortune in a private company is an estimate Forbes revises periodically. Two pairs sit within $1 billion, Johnson and Fontbona and Simons and Jindal, so the table carries the order rather than a claimed gap. Our ranking of the richest people in the world shows where these women sit among all billionaires.
Top 10 Richest Women: Net Worth, Company and How the Money Arrived
| # | Woman | Net worth, Oct 24, 2026 | Company | How the money arrived |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alice Walton | $129.4 billion | Walmart | Inherited from her father |
| 2 | Françoise Bettencourt Meyers | $103.1 billion | L’Oréal | Inherited from her mother |
| 3 | Julia Koch | $84.6 billion | Koch, Inc. | Inherited from her husband |
| 4 | Jacqueline Mars | $50.3 billion | Mars | Inherited, third generation |
| 5 | Rafaela Aponte-Diamant | $45.9 billion | MSC | Built, co-founded 1970 |
| 6 | Abigail Johnson | $41.6 billion | Fidelity | Inherited from her father |
| 7 | Iris Fontbona | $41.0 billion | Antofagasta | Inherited from her husband |
| 8 | Marilyn Simons | $36.6 billion | Renaissance Technologies | Inherited from her husband |
| 9 | Savitri Jindal | $36.5 billion | O.P. Jindal Group | Inherited from her husband |
| 10 | Melinda French Gates | $34.3 billion | Microsoft | Divorce settlement, 2021 |
Every net worth is Forbes’ real-time figure for October 24, 2026. This is general information, not financial advice.
The Ten Fortunes, From Walton’s Walmart to the Gates Settlement
Each entry gives the company, the stake and the document or company disclosure behind it.
1. Alice Walton: Sam Walton’s Only Daughter
Net worth: $129.4B | Company: Walmart | Forbes rank worldwide: #14 | Age: 77
Her fortune traces to her father, Sam Walton, who opened the first Walmart on July 2, 1962 and died in 1992. Walmart’s 2026 proxy statement lists Walton Enterprises, LLC with 3,516,197,849 shares, 44.11 percent of the company, at April 10, 2026.
She is a trustee of one of the LLC’s managing trusts, but the filing does not split the stake by person. She is not on Walmart’s board. She opened Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville on November 11, 2011.
2. Francoise Bettencourt Meyers: The Founder’s Granddaughter
Net worth: $103.1B | Company: L’Oréal | Forbes rank worldwide: #19 | Age: 73
Eugène Schueller founded L’Oréal in Paris in 1909. His daughter Liliane Bettencourt inherited it when he died in 1957 and died on September 20, 2017, leaving Françoise Bettencourt Meyers as the family’s head.
L’Oréal’s share-ownership page shows her family and its holding companies at 34.79 percent at the end of December 2025, against 20.16 percent for Nestlé. She sat on the board from 1997 to 2025; her son Jean-Victor Meyers is now vice chairman.
3. Julia Koch: A Widow’s 42 Percent
Net worth: $84.6B | Company: Koch, Inc. | Forbes rank worldwide: #23 | Age: 64
Koch, Inc. is private and publishes no ownership table, so the stake is a Forbes estimate: Julia Koch and her three children inherited about 42 percent from her husband David Koch, who died in 2019. They married in 1996.
Koch says its revenue tops $125 billion a year, with about 130,000 employees and headquarters in Wichita, Kansas. In 2024 the family paid nearly $700 million for 15 percent of BSE Global, owner of the Brooklyn Nets.
4. Jacqueline Mars: A Third of the Candy Company
Net worth: $50.3B | Company: Mars | Forbes rank worldwide: #36 | Age: 87
Frank C. Mars began selling butter cream candy from his kitchen in Tacoma, Washington in 1911, and Mars’ company history records the death of his son Forrest E. Mars Sr. in 1999. Mars publishes no ownership table; Forbes estimates her stake at one-third.
Mars completed its purchase of Kellanova on December 11, 2025, a deal Forbes values at $35.9 billion including debt. She worked at the company for nearly 20 years and left its board in 2016.
5. Rafaela Aponte-Diamant: The One Who Built It
Net worth: $45.9B | Company: MSC | Forbes rank worldwide: #42 | Age: 81
MSC dates the group to Brussels in 1970, when captain Gianluigi Aponte started it with one small cargo ship, the MV Patricia. Forbes reports that the couple each own 50 percent and bought their first ship with a $200,000 loan.
The privately owned group, based in Geneva, estimates about 1,000 vessels and 675 offices in 155 countries for 2024. She is responsible for decorating the ships of MSC Cruises; their son Diego is MSC’s president.
6. Abigail Johnson: Fidelity’s Chair and CEO
Net worth: $41.6B | Company: Fidelity Investments (FMR LLC) | Forbes rank worldwide: #47 | Age: 64
Her grandfather Edward Johnson 2d founded Fidelity Management & Research in 1946, Fidelity says. She became chief executive in 2014, taking over from her father, and chairman in 2016.
An SEC Schedule 13G/A filed on October 7, 2026 names her as FMR’s chairman and CEO and says Johnson family members hold 49 percent of its voting power. Forbes estimates her own stake at about 29 percent.
7. Iris Fontbona: Chile’s Copper After Luksic
Net worth: $41.0B | Company: Antofagasta | Forbes rank worldwide: #48 | Age: 83
Andrónico Luksic Abaroa built a mining and beverage fortune and died in 2005, leaving his businesses to his widow, Iris Fontbona, and their three sons. The family controls the London-listed copper miner Antofagasta.
Antofagasta’s 2025 annual report says the family’s E. Abaroa Foundation controls two holding companies with about 60.66 percent of its ordinary shares. Forbes said in March that record copper prices added $24.5 billion in a year.
8. Marilyn Simons: The Quant Fund’s Widow
Net worth: $36.6B | Company: Renaissance Technologies | Forbes rank worldwide: #61 | Age: 75
Marilyn Simons is the widow of Jim Simons, founder of the quantitative hedge fund Renaissance Technologies. The Simons Foundation reported his death on May 10, 2024, at age 86.
She chairs the Simons Foundation, which the couple established in 1994. Forbes puts its assets at $4.5 billion and says the family has given more than $10 billion to philanthropic causes.
9. Savitri Jindal: A Steel Empire Split Four Ways
Net worth: $36.5B | Company: O.P. Jindal Group | Forbes rank worldwide: #62 | Age: 76
Om Prakash Jindal started out making buckets in 1952, founded a pipe unit in 1964 and died in a helicopter crash in 2005. The group’s companies were then divided among his four sons; Savitri Jindal chairs the group.
Her son Sajjan Jindal runs JSW Steel, JSW Cement and JSW Paints, and Naveen runs Jindal Steel & Power, which reports gross revenue of Rs 62,412 crore for FY26. She is the richest woman in India.
10. Melinda French Gates: A Settlement in Microsoft Shares
Net worth: $34.3B | Company: Microsoft | Forbes rank worldwide: #68 | Age: 62
She and Bill Gates divorced in 2021, and Forbes estimates her settlement at $25 billion. The company was built by her husband; she did not inherit it.
The Gates Foundation announced on May 13, 2024 that she was resigning as co-chair, with June 7 as her last day. Forbes says she committed $1 billion to women’s causes through 2026.
Inherited or Built? The Year and Event Behind Each Fortune
One of the ten built her fortune: Rafaela Aponte-Diamant. Four inherited from family, four inherited from a husband, and one received a settlement. Forbes calls Aponte-Diamant the only self-made woman among the ten richest, and counts 122 self-made women among 481 female billionaires on its March 2026 list.
- Alice Walton: family, 1992, the year her father Sam Walton died; Walmart opened in 1962
- Françoise Bettencourt Meyers: family, 2017, when her mother Liliane Bettencourt died; L’Oréal began in 1909
- Jacqueline Mars: family, third generation; her father Forrest E. Mars Sr. died in 1999 and the company began in 1911
- Abigail Johnson: family, 2014, when she succeeded her father as Fidelity’s chief executive; Fidelity began in 1946
- Julia Koch: husband, 2019, the death of David Koch
- Iris Fontbona: husband, 2005, the death of Andrónico Luksic Abaroa
- Marilyn Simons: husband, 2024, the death of Jim Simons
- Savitri Jindal: husband, 2005, the death of O.P. Jindal in a helicopter crash
- Melinda French Gates: divorce settlement, 2021
- Rafaela Aponte-Diamant: built, 1970, when MSC began with one ship
Three of these fortunes, the Waltons’, Koch and Mars, also appear in our guide to the richest family in the world.
Who Holds the Shares and Who Runs the Company
Owning a fortune and running it are different jobs. Abigail Johnson is the clearest case of both: chief executive of Fidelity since 2014 and chairman since 2016, with a family group holding 49 percent of the voting power.
Others hold without managing. Alice Walton is not on Walmart’s board. Françoise Bettencourt Meyers left L’Oréal’s board in 2025. Savitri Jindal chairs a group whose companies her four sons run independently, and Marilyn Simons chairs a foundation rather than Renaissance Technologies. Outside the ten, Zhong Huijuan is chair and chief executive of the Chinese drugmaker Hansoh, which she built.
MacKenzie Scott: Outside the Top Ten, With the Best-Documented Giving
MacKenzie Scott is not in the top ten. Forbes had her at $27.2 billion on October 24, 2026, 88th in the world and behind Elaine Marshall, Miriam Adelson and Lyndal Stephens Greth among women. She received a 4 percent Amazon stake in her 2019 divorce from Jeff Bezos and signed the Giving Pledge in May 2019.
Her site Yield Giving reports over $26 billion in more than 2,700 gifts. It lists $4.1585 billion to 384 organizations in December 2020, $2.739 billion to 286 in June 2021 and $2.0044 billion to 199 in December 2024. Her December 9, 2025 post reports $7.166 billion given in the year since.
The Richest Self-Made Women Are a Shorter List
Forbes’ real-time figures in October 2026 show how thin the built-it group is after Aponte-Diamant:
- Rafaela Aponte-Diamant: $45.9 billion, MSC, 1970
- Diane Hendricks: about $23.6 billion, ABC Supply, founded in 1982 with her husband on a $900,000 bank loan
- Zhong Huijuan: $17.8 billion, Hansoh Pharmaceutical, listed in Hong Kong in 2019
- Daniela Amodei: about $15.5 billion, co-founder of Anthropic in 2021
- Judy Faulkner: about $9.6 billion, Epic Systems, founded in a Wisconsin basement in 1979
The next-richest builder is worth about half of Aponte-Diamant’s fortune.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is the richest woman in the world?
Alice Walton, at $129.4 billion on Forbes’ real-time list on October 24, 2026. Françoise Bettencourt Meyers ($103.1 billion) is second and Julia Koch ($84.6 billion) third.
Who is the richest self-made woman in the world?
Rafaela Aponte-Diamant, at $45.9 billion on October 24, 2026. She and her husband Gianluigi started MSC in 1970 and each own 50 percent, according to Forbes.
How many women are billionaires?
Forbes counted 481 women among 3,428 billionaires on its March 2026 list, 14 percent, up from 406 a year earlier. Of those women, 122 are self-made.
Who is the richest woman in India?
Savitri Jindal, at $36.5 billion on October 24, 2026. She chairs the O.P. Jindal Group, founded by her late husband.
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