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Forbes
2 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Meet America's Richest Self-Made Women. Plus: J.K. Rowling Is A Billionaire Again
This is this week's ForbesWomen newsletter, which every Thursday brings news about the world's top female entrepreneurs, leaders and investors straight to your inbox. Click here to get on the newsletter list! Forbes This week marked the release of our annual list of America's Richest Self-Made Women, Forbes' definitive accounting of the country's most successful female entrepreneurs, executives and entertainers as determined by net worth. This is our 10th anniversary of producing this list, and a lot has changed since it debuted in 2015: There are 38 billionaires this year, with fortunes originating in everything from cars to cosmetics to Chardonnay. That's more than double the 18 we found in 2015. As my colleague (and Forbes assistant managing editor) Kerry Dolan and I discussed in a recorded conversation about the list, tracking the net worths of America's female entrepreneurs is important because money is power. The women on this list are exerting their power by building companies providing essential goods and services; donating their wealth to political causes; investing in under-appreciated assets (like women's sports, which you can read more about below). You can catch all the coverage of America's richest self made women through this link here—and I do hope you spend some time reading and appreciating the myriad ways women are shaping American consumption and culture! Cheers! Maggie Billionaire Michele Kang has an ambitious goal: In the not-too-distant future, she believes, women's soccer teams will be trading for $1 billion or more—and she's willing to spend whatever it takes to make that happen. Between purchasing her three clubs (the NWSL's Washington Spirit, France's Première Ligue OL Lyonnes and the London City Lionesses, which were recently promoted to England's Women's Super League), seeding a handful of women-focused sports startups and donating $30 million to the U.S. Soccer federation, Kang entered the sports world with an ante of at least $200 million. And she's not done. Speaking of rich women in sports, this week Forbes also released its ranking of America's richest female sports team owners, a list of 11 billionaires who control major pro franchises and are collectively worth $85 billion. At the top? The Mavericks' Miriam Adelson, worth a cool $29 billion. Yet for all the momentum around women in sports, the French Open is coming under fire for (once again) failing to schedule a women's match in the (better-viewed) evening sessions. Tournament director Amelie Mauresmo has said 'it's complicated' to schedule both women and men's play at night… but stars like Ons Jabeur and Coco Gauff are also raising their voices about the issue. The Harry Potter books transformed J.K. Rowling from a single mother on welfare to an author with a ten-figure fortune—but her massive charity initiatives dropped her from the ranks of billionaires. Now, thanks to new Potterverse books, movies, a play, and several theme parks—and in spite of her divisive social-media presence—Rowling is magically back in the three-comma club. Following Taylor Swift's blockbuster announcement Friday that she has bought back the rights to her first six albums, streams of her entire catalog surged as much as 400% and some titles even reentered the Billboard 200. Kristi Noem made headlines last month when a thief snatched her purse inside a Washington, D.C., restaurant and made off with $3,000 in cash, prompting a question: Exactly how much money does the homeland security secretary have? About $5 million, Forbes estimates, after analyzing property records and financial filings. On Monday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services unveiled its proposed budget for the National Institutes of Health, and that budget is facing cuts of up to 40% compared to 2025—a year that has already seen the slashing of thousands of grants used for medical research. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) joined ForbesWomen editor Maggie McGrath for a conversation about exactly what these continued cuts could mean for American public health. 1. Recognize your own red flags. We talk about 'red flags' in business partners and romantic partners, but can you identify your own patterns and flaws? The idea is not to become your biggest critic, but instead, start a process of reflection that, while uncomfortable, can improve how you handle conflict and set boundaries—personally and professionally. 2. Know when to take the first offer. Serial entrepreneur (and one of America's richest self-made women) Emma Grede recently sat down with ForbesWomen editor Maggie McGrath to discuss her career, why she leans into fear, and how she identifies when it's time to move from one project or company to the next. 'I think that sometimes your first offer is the best offer; you think that you need to wait and wait and wait for something better to come and it doesn't always come,' Grede said. 3. Take a microbreak. Microbreaks are short, intentional pauses taken throughout the workday to help reset your mind and body. They can be as brief as a few seconds or last several minutes. Read more on why and how you should incorporate these breaks in your day. A multifaceted pop star, who has arguably been more well-known recently for her makeup and skincare lines, released a new No. 1 song this week—her first new hit in almost a decade. Who is it? Check your answer.
Zawya
22-05-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Private credit touts resilience amid uncertainty: IFR
Recent market volatility has demonstrated the resilience of private credit, and the asset class is well positioned to withstand any future economic turbulence, according to industry participants. At the US Private Credit Industry Conference on Direct Lending, hosted in Nashville by the loan trade group, the LSTA, and events company DealCatalyst, speakers discussed avenues for growth, such as the proliferation of funds geared towards retail investors. Conference speakers largely agreed that the momentary pause in the broadly syndicated loan market following US president Donald Trump's April announcement of sweeping tariffs presented an opportunity for private credit to take market share. Though market activity has since normalised, there remains a broader trend towards private markets, they said. 'Private credit has been taking share from the liquid credit markets for a while,' Kerry Dolan, managing partner at Brinley Partners, who spoke on the conference's opening panel on Monday morning, told IFR. 'We expect that shift to continue. Private credit also typically increases in popularity during times of volatility as it reduces market risk.' Leveraged buyout activity, however, remains relatively sluggish given a slump in valuations for private equity portfolio companies and, more recently, a cloudier economic outlook given uncertainty around tariffs. Even so, said Eric Muller, portfolio manager and partner at Oak Hill Advisors and CEO of the firm's business development companies, his firm has had strong investment opportunities come its way. 'The buyouts that are happening right now are of very high quality,' Muller said during a Monday afternoon panel on large-cap lending. 'We're seeing add-ons within portfolio companies, as well as refinancings and other transactions that a borrower may need to execute right now and doesn't have the flexibility to wait.' Good exposure Private credit has so far been largely insulated from worries over tariffs. Several private credit managers have estimated that less than 10% of their portfolios face direct exposure to such import taxes. Investor sentiment towards the asset class has remained largely positive in the face of market volatility, Dave Donahoo, head of Americas – wealth management alternatives at Franklin Templeton, told IFR. Donahoo also spoke on a Tuesday morning panel about retail access to private credit investments. 'Private markets price on fundamentals, not market sentiment or technicals,' he said. 'So it's moments like this that the wealth management community – the individual investor – is reminded why having exposure to private markets helps their overall portfolio.' There are concerns, however, about the impact that tariffs may have on the economy at large. A slowdown could weigh on the performance of private credit borrowers, some of which already face challenges from persistently high interest rates, as S&P noted in a May 9 report. Nonetheless, conference speakers were largely sanguine about private credit's ability to navigate a potentially weakening economy. 'We're coming off a relatively strong backdrop if we were to head into a recession,' said Jonathan Bock, a senior managing director at Blackstone and co-CEO of the business development companies Blackstone Private Credit Fund and Blackstone Secured Lending Fund. Certain situations, such as stagflation, are 'challenging for equities but can be okay for credit', said Colbert Cannon, a managing director at HPS Investment Partners. Bock and Cannon spoke alongside Muller on Monday afternoon. Sizing up While the commentary regarding the prospects for private credit was largely upbeat, some speakers expressed caution regarding investment selection, especially as the asset class has taken on large transactions that overlap with the broadly syndicated market. Matt Freund, managing director at Barings and president of Barings BDC, said his firm is not actively seeking to chase after these large deals. 'I'm sceptical of the idea that origination is proprietary in the upper end of the market,' Freund said on a panel focused on investment strategy. But competition is also fierce for loans to lower-middle-market borrowers, and spreads have also tightened significantly among that segment, he said. Though his firm does not emphasise seeking larger transactions, according to Anthony DiNello, head of direct lending at Silver Point Capital, it does have strong relationships with banks, which have proven beneficial in periods of market dislocation. 'Some of our best deals come through relationships with Wall Street banks,' DiNello, who spoke on the same panel as Freund, said.
