FX.co ★ America’s 10 richest self-made women

Diane Hendricks

Diana Hendricks, the 74-year-old mother of seven, tops the Forbes ranking. Remarkably, the business magazine has put her on a pedestal for the fourth time. Today, her fortune is estimated at $11.1 billion. After the death of her husband in 2007, Hendricks took the helm of the family business ABC Supply. The company is the biggest wholesale distributor of roofing, siding, and windows in the US. Hendricks led the firm to make the two biggest acquisitions in its history. ABC acquired rival Bradco in 2010 and bought L&W Supply 6 years later. The company's revenue in 2020 totaled $12 billion.

Judy Faulkner

Judy Faulkner, 77, takes second place on the Forbes list. Faulkner has a net worth of $7 billion. She founded Epic Systems, a healthcare software company, in 1979 and has been its CEO since then. Faulkner's brainchild produced $3.3 billion in revenue in 2020. Epic supports the medical records of more than 250 million patients and renders services to top medical centers, including Johns Hopkins and Mayo Clinic. The company develops its software in-house.

Meg Whitman

Meg Whitman is America’s third-richest self-made woman. The 65-year-old businesswoman is best known for being the CEO of eBay between 1998 and 2008. Within 10 years, Whitman managed to boost sales of the popular online service to $8 billion from $5.7 million. She is now the head of Jeffrey Katzenberg's Quibi video platform launched last year. Whitman also sits on the board of directors of Procter & Gamble, Dropbox, and Immortals LLC. Her current fortune is estimated at $6.1 billion.

Judy Love

The 84-year-old businesswoman with a net worth of $5.2 billion occupies fourth place in the ranking. Back in 1964, Judy Love and her husband Tom opened their first gas station, borrowing $5,000 from their parents. 5 years later, the couple combined gas stations with convenience stores, thus boosting their family business. Today, their Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores has more than 500 stores in 41 states and estimated revenue of $20 billion. Tom is the company’s chairman and Judy is its executive secretary. Three of their four children also work for the company.

Marian Ilitch

Marian Ilitch, the 88-year-old entrepreneur, is the fifth richest self-made woman on the Forbes list. Together with her late husband, she founded Little Caesars Pizza. With time, the company became one of the largest pizza chains in the US. The family business brings Ilitch over $4 billion in revenue annually. Today, she also owns Detroit Red Wings, a professional ice hockey club, and MotorCity Casino Hotel. Marian Ilitch has repeatedly been included in Bloomberg’s top 10 richest women in the world. Her personal fortune is estimated at $4.4 billion.

Johnelle Hunt

Johnelle Hunt, 89, with a net worth of $4.1 billion takes sixth place in the ranking. She is the owner of JB Hunt Transport Services, founded in the 1960s. Johnelle and her late husband bought 5 trucks and 7 trailers to provide transportation services. Nowadays, JB Hunt Transport Services is the largest transportation and logistics company in the US with a sales turnover of $9.6 billion. Until 2008, Jonell served as the firm's corporate secretary. Today, she remains its largest individual shareholder with a 17% stake.

Thai Lee

Thai Lee, 64, is the seventh richest self-made businesswoman. She has a net worth of $4.1 billion. Thai Lee’s career began at Procter & Gamble and American Express. Today, she is the CEO of IT provider SHI International. The company has over 20K customers, including Boeing and AT&T, and earns a revenue of $11.1 billion. Lee also sits on the board of Sonde Health, an affiliate of biopharmaceutical company PureTech Health that develops voice-based diagnostic technology.

Lynda Resnick

Lynda Resnick, 78, is the eighth self-made businesswoman on the list. She and her husband Stewart are owners of Wonderful Co. Lynda met her husband in the 1960s when she provided marketing help for his growing alarm fitting business. Nowadays, the family business also includes several brands of juice and bottled water production, flower delivery, and sea freight. The couple owns 135,000 acres of orchards in Texas, Mexico, and California where they grow pistachios, almonds, pomegranates, and mandarin oranges.

Gail Miller

Gail Miller takes ninth place in the Forbes ranking. When her husband Larry died in 2009, Gail took the helm of the family business, consisting of 54 car dealerships, a movie theater chain, and the Utah Jazz basketball team. The Millers acquired Utah Jazz in 1986 for $22 million. In 2017, Gail transferred ownership of the basketball team to a family legacy trust to prevent her heirs from selling or moving it. However, the family sold Utah Jazz last year for $1.66 billion. According to the latest data, the 77-year-old businesswoman has a net worth of $3.2 billion.

Alice Schwartz

Alice Schwartz is America’s oldest and wealthiest woman on the list. The 95-year-old entrepreneur has a $3 billion net worth. Back in 1952, she and her husband David launched Bio-Rad Laboratories with just $720 in savings. With the death of her husband in 2012, Schwartz remains on the company’s board, owning a 14% stake. Meanwhile, her son Norman is the chairman and CEO of Bio-Rad. Nowadays, the company sells over 10,000 life science research and clinical diagnostics products.