24/7 Wall Street Insights

• Many of America’s richest women started companies with a spouse but continued to manage on their own.
• The top 1% of Americans in terms of net worth control most of the economy. 
• Women play a huge part in every industry.
• Also: 2 Dividend Legends to Hold Forever

The top 1% of American citizens have more than $44.6 trillion in wealth. Some lucked into their money through an inheritance, while others worked hard to build companies that bring in billions of dollars each year. Some commit to giving away much of their wealth to charitable organizations like the Giving Pledge established by Warren Buffett, while others leave money for their posterity. No matter how it happened, the richest women in the country deserve to be celebrated for their efforts to establish and grow businesses that are beneficial to society.

From car dealerships to aerospace to farming to pizza, these women invested in their passion and saw a return on their investment. Some have advanced degrees while others dropped out of college to pursue a dream or an idea. A few started in different industries before making the jump to where they’re at today. Many still play a huge part in the day-to-day decision-making behind the company that made them billionaires in the first place. We’ve ranked them here from bottom to top, with the number one entry being the wealthiest woman in the country. 

Why We Care About This

In today’s world, there is a constant discourse about whether it’s ethical to be a billionaire. No matter what side of the issue you stand on, it’s important to understand how companies build their wealth and spend their money. Investing in these businesses (through the stock market or employment) may affect your long-term personal wealth. When so few people hold much of the economy in their hands, their decisions affect all Americans.

15. Barbara Banke

• Net worth: $2.6 billion
• Age: 70
• Income source: Wine

Barbara Banke earned a Bachelor of Arts in Science from UCLA before attending UC Hastings, where she earned a law degree. With her husband, who has since passed, she started Jackson Family Wines in the mid-1980s and eventually transformed it into an international enterprise. Banke met her husband at the law firm where they both worked, and they opened the first winery in Sonoma, which still stands today. She’s also expanded the business into more than 40 wineries in Italy, Chile, Oregon and beyond. 

Along with wine, Banke invested in horse racing, with farms in both Florida and Kentucky. She now leads the Stonestreet Farms racing stables.

14. Oprah Winfrey

• Net worth: $3 billion
• Age: 70
• Income source: TV shows

Oprah is a popular name in most American households, and she was the reigning queen of daytime television for 25 years. When she retired from her show in 2011, she transitioned the brand into a business and media empire, then reinvested into films like Beloved, Selma and the Color Purple. Winfrey also created her own cable channel which she eventually sold to Warner Bros. to add to her already large estate. She has an extensive real estate portfolio and also owns stakes in Weight Watchers, although she donates the proceeds to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Winfrey is a philanthropist and opened a school for girls in South Africa, but the facility became mired in controversy quickly with accusations of abuse of power. The Oprah Winfrey Academy for Girls still stands and provides education to over 300 students between grades 8-12.

13. Peggy Cheng

• Net worth: $3.1 billion
• Age: 76
• Income source: Fast food

Originally from Myanmar, Peggy Cheng earned her billions as co-CEO and cofounder of the fast food chain Panda Express. The company now has more than 2,400 locations and is worth approximately $5.4 billion. Cheng is an educated leader with a Ph.D. in electrical engineering and a background working for McDonnell Douglas and 3M. Along with her husband, she opened the first Panda Express location in Glendale, California, in a mall in 1983. 

Along with fast food, Cheng invested in hospitality. In 2018, they joined a group to purchase the Waldorf Astoria, formerly known as the Mandarin Oriental.

12. Meg Whitman

• Net worth: $3.4 billion
• Age: 67
• Income source: eBay

While Meg Whitman earned most of her fortune with eBay, taking the company to $8 billion in sales as of 2008, she is now the United States Ambassador to Kenya. After leaving eBay, she was hired as the CEO of Hewlett-Packard and sat on the boards of both General Motors and Procter & Gamble. Her career hasn’t been all success – she was also CEO of Quibi, a video platform that closed its doors just months after launch.

Whitman also spent $140 of her own money in the race for California governor in 2010. She attended Harvard Business School and Princeton University.

11. Jayshree Ullal

• Net worth: $3.6 billion
• Age: 63
• Income source: Computer networking

Ullal earned her fortune in computer networking, and her business reported sales of $5.8 billion in 2023. As CEO and president of the company (Arista Networks), she also sits on the Snowflake board of directors and previously worked for Fairchild Semiconductor, Advanced Micro Devices and Cisco Systems. Her background is in engineering management, and she attended both San Francisco State University and Santa Clara University.

Ullal has two children, a niece and a nephew who stand to inherit the 3% of Arista’s stock she owns. 

10. Eren Ozmen

• Net worth: $3.7 billion
• Age: 65
• Income source: Aerospace

Eren Ozmen is a Turkish immigrant who is now one of the wealthiest women in America. She bought the Sierra Nevada Corporation with her husband in 1994, when it was a fledgling new business. They bought the company in a buyout using their house as collateral. She is now the majority owner, president and chairwoman. Her fortune comes from the aerospace industry, and she’s expanding into other commercial space companies like Sierra Space. 

One of Ozmen’s earliest accomplishments was putting herself through business school at the University of Nevada at Reno by cleaning office buildings and selling baklava.

9. Johnelle Hunt

• Net worth: $4.3 billion
• Age: 92
• Income source: Trucking

At 92 years old, Johnelle Hunt is the oldest candidate on our list. She’s a member of the Arkansas Women’s Hall of Fame and started a rice hull packaging operation with her husband in 1961. After establishing the business, the couple expanded with seven trailers and five trucks and launched J.B. Hunt Transport Services. As one of the biggest trucking companies in the nation, the publicly traded entity brings in more than $12 billion in sales each year.

Hunt is also a bit of a philanthropist and donated five million dollars to the J.B. and Johnelle Hunt Family Ozark Highlands Nature Center. The facility is set on over 61 acres with more than 32,000 square feet and is designed to teach visitors about local wildlife.

8. Gail Miller

• Net worth: $4.4 billion
• Age: 80
• Income source: Car dealerships

Gail Miller is the head of the Miller dynasty, an entity that once included ownership of the Utah Jazz. Based in Utah, Miller runs the Larry H. Miller Group named in honor of her late husband. The group has interests in entertainment, finance, healthcare and real estate. Miller also owns a small portion of the NBA team, and is currently working to bring Salt Lake City an MBL team. 

Miller’s company includes a variety of car dealerships and movie theaters throughout Utah. 

7. Marian Ilitch

• Net worth: $4.6 billion
• Age: 91
• Income source: Little Caesars Pizza

At 91, Marian Ilitch worked as a ticket agent for Delta Airlines before founding a pizza company now known worldwide as Little Caesars. The company brings in more than $5 billion each year. Her fortune also includes ownership of the MotorCity Casino Hotel and the Detroit Red Wings. Currently, Ilitch is funding a project in Detroit to the tune of $1.5 billion. An entertainment and sports district, the windows on the building will all be pizza-shaped.

One little-known fact about Ilitch is that she and her husband paid Rosa Parks’ rent for several years. 

6. Lynda Resnick

• Net worth: $5.6 billion
• Age: 81
• Income source: Agriculture

Lynda Resnick started as a child actor, then started an advertising company at 19 years old after dropping out of college. Her future husband, Stewart, came to her agency looking for marketing help for his alarm business. They are now worth billions of dollars from fruit and nut farming. Together, the couple is worth $11.2 billion, while Lynda herself is worth $5.6 billion. 

The couple also owns the Wonderful Company, one of America’s largest farming operations. Resnick is passionate about philanthropy and charity, and has pledged more than $2 billion for things like climate change research.

5. Elizabeth Uihlein

• Net worth: $6.7 billion
• Age: 78
• Income source: Packaging materials 

Elizabeth Uihlein started her company (Uline) with her husband in their basement in 1980. It’s now the biggest distributor of packaging, shipping and industrial supplies in North America. The company reports $8 billion in revenue each year from its 850-page catalog that holds more than 42,000 products. 

Uihlein is also politically active when it comes to spending her money. Since the start of 2023, the couple has donated more than $40 million to conservative causes. They funded good portions of the GOP primary and the Ohio Senate race through their donations to conservative political action committees.

4. Thai Lee

• Net worth: $6.8 billion
• Age: 65
• Income source: IT provider

With a net worth of $6.8 billion at only 65 years of age, Thai Lee’s company has more than 15,000 customers including big names like AT&T and Boeing. Lee was born in Bangkok, Thailand, and lived in South Korea for a period. She was in the first freshman class with women at Amherst College. She worked for American Express and Procter & Gamble before becoming CEO of IT provider SHI International. Along with her husband, she paid less than $1 million for a company that boasts $14 billion in sales each year.

At Amherst, she studied economics and biology, then attended Harvard Business School to obtain an MBA.

3. Judy Faulkner

• Net worth: $7.6 billion
• Age: 80
• Income source: Healthcare software

Founder of medical-record software provider Epic Systems, Judy Faulkner is not worth $7.6 billion, although she started the business in her basement in 1979. As a computer programmer, she created a company that is used by big names like Mayo Clinic and Johns Hopkins and supports medical records for more than 250 million people. All her software is developed in-house.

Judy Faulkner is also one of a group of the world’s wealthiest people who signed the Giving Pledge to give away 99% of her assets during her lifetime. She attended both Dickinson College and the University of Wisconsin.

2. Judy Love

• Net worth: $11.6 billion
• Age: 86
• Income source: Gas stations

This one comes with a caveat, as the credit for the billions is given to both Judy Love and her family. In 1964, Judy and her husband started a convenience store and truck stop chain that eventually expanded to a presence in 42 states and brought in $24 billion in revenue. Today, she owns the company with her four children, as her husband and co-founder passed away in 2023.

Love is invested in several charity projects and sits on the board of the United Way of Central Oklahoma and Girls Inc.

1. Diane Hendricks

• Net worth: $20.9 billion
• Age: 77
• Income source: Building supplies

As co-founder of ABC Supply, Diane Hendricks tops our list with a net worth of $20.9 billion. ABC is one of the biggest wholesale distributors of windows, siding and roofing in the country. The company was founded in 1982 in Wisconsin by Hendricks and her late husband. Since his death in 2007, she’s run the company. ABC acquired two largest distributors, L&W Supply and Bradco and has more than 900 branch locations. 

She’s personally invested in the Beloit area, and invests millions by bringing new businesses to the area and contributing to local economic development.

 

 

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