Alice Walton Tops Forbes World’s Richest Women List, Beyonce Makes Debut

For the second year in a row, Walmart heiress Alice Walton has been named the richest woman in the world on Forbes’ latest list of global billionaires.

According to the newest Forbes World’s Billionaires ranking, Walton’s wealth is estimated at about $134 billion, keeping her firmly at the top among female billionaires.

She first claimed the title in September 2024 after overtaking L’Oréal heir Françoise Bettencourt Meyers.

Bettencourt Meyers now ranks second with an estimated fortune of $100 billion, while Julia Koch, the widow of industrialist David Koch, holds third place with about $81.2 billion.

The latest ranking includes 3,428 billionaires worldwide.

Out of that number, 481 are women, representing about 14 percent of the list. This is an increase from last year, when 406 women, or 13.4 percent, appeared on the ranking.

Chilean businesswoman Iris Fontbona, whose family wealth comes from mining and beverages, moved up to fourth place with $52.6 billion.

Her rise pushed Jacqueline Mars, known for the Mars candy and pet food empire, down to fifth place with $49.1 billion.

Fontbona’s jump is notable because she was not among the top ten in previous rankings.

Among the ten richest women on the list, Swiss shipping executive Rafaela Aponte-Diamant is the only one who built her fortune herself.

Her net worth is estimated at $44.5 billion, placing her sixth after dropping from fifth place.

Overall, 122 of the 481 women on the list are self-made billionaires, slightly higher than last year’s total of 113.

The second-richest self-made woman is American roofing business leader Diane Hendricks, with a fortune of $22.3 billion.

In the entertainment world, singer Beyoncé appeared on the list for the first time this year with an estimated net worth of $1 billion.

Other well-known self-made female billionaires include singer Rihanna with $1 billion, Spanx founder Sara Blakely with $1.4 billion, and pop star Taylor Swift with $2 billion.

Another newcomer is Luana Lopes Lara, a Brazilian entrepreneur and former ballerina who helped start the prediction market company Kalshi.

At 29, she is now the youngest self-made female billionaire, replacing Lucy Guo, the 31-year-old co-founder of Scale AI, whose wealth is estimated at $1.4 billion.

Meanwhile, Melinda French Gates and Marilyn Simons are no longer in the top ten.

Their places have been taken by Iris Fontbona and Zheng Shuliang, the vice chair of a Chinese aluminium company founded by her late husband, whose wealth is estimated at $33.2 billion.

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