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Yahoo
02-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
3 of the Richest Self-Made Women's Advice on Building Wealth
Forbes recently ranked America's 100 richest self-made women. Those who made the cut consisted of successful entrepreneurs, executives and entertainers 'with fortunes originating in everything from cars to cosmetics to Chardonnay.' Read More: Check Out: As any accomplished individual knows, becoming rich and successful without financial assistance or professional connections is tough in and of itself; doing so while female adds additional hurdles. GOBankingRates wanted to know: what advice would the richest three women on the list give other women looking to follow in their footsteps? Owner and chair of ABC Supply, 'one of the largest wholesale distributors of roofing, siding and windows in the U.S.,' 78-year-old Diane Hendricks topped Forbes' list with an impressive $22.3 billion net worth. Having larger dreams than working on the dairy farm where she grew up, Hendricks thought about an entrepreneurial future from a young age and never took her eye off the prize. While getting pregnant at seventeen may have side-tracked others, Hendricks took a job working as a Playboy Bunny at Lake Geneva Playboy Club in the 1960's — a fact from which she never hides or apologizes because it gave her enough money to raise her child and pursue her dreams. It's this foundational perseverance, pragmatism and unabashed nature that helped play a key role in her eventual success. 'I don't believe in quitting,' Hendricks previously told Forbes. 'You quit, you're done.' Hendrick's second husband was a roofer. After the two tried unsuccessfully to develop a series of other businesses, Hendricks keenly observed that manufacturers of building supplies doubled as distributors and effectively ran the industry. There was no intermediary distribution chain to help provide lower, more competitive prices for customers. Hendricks and her husband acquired a $900,000 loan and pledged their entire savings to fill this gap. ABC Supply currently has over 900 branch locations — and a 2024 revenue of $20.7 billion. Along the way, Hendricks has stated she always surrounded herself with people of integrity. Per CNBC, 'the secret to their success […] was filling a gap in the market — and raising the standard of respect and professionalism in contracting.' Be Aware: Founder and CEO of Epic Systems, a medical-record software provider, 81-year-old Judy Faulkner holds the No. 2 ranking with a $7.8 billion net worth. A humble computer programmer, Faulkner never desired wealth or a lavish lifestyle; entrepreneurship was nowhere on her bingo card. Instead, she was driven solely by her passion to help people and solve problems — and this commitment to a larger purpose has accidentally proven lucrative. The daughter of a pharmacist and a physician, Faulkner saw the inefficiency and fragmentation of medical records-keeping in the late 1970's and developed software to centralize all patient data. Others recognized the profitability of her innovation and convinced her to start a company after she initially resisted. Today, her system of electronic health records is used by almost 2400 hospitals worldwide. Faulkner never even charged customers for infection-control software during the Covid pandemic. Staying true to her values and never selling out, Faulkner has unwaveringly rejected outside investors, instead choosing to grow the company slowly in order to maintain control over it and do quality work. In the end, it was the right choice. Faulkner explained to Forbes, it's 'perseverance, speaking out and speaking your mind and taking a stand on things' that helped her maintain her vision–and consequently build an empire. As a result, Epic still makes all of its own software in-house. When asked how she felt about being one of the only women leaders in software, Faulkner characteristically responded selflessly: she doesn't really think about it much, she's just a person who wants to do good work. Co-founder of Little Caesars Pizza and chair of Ilitch Holdings, 92-year-old Marian Ilitch holds the third spot with a net worth of $6.9 billion. The daughter of immigrants, Ilitch got her start in hospitality filling napkin dispensers in her father's restaurant. After marrying her husband, the two opened up a restaurant of their own. However, after having seven children, Ilitch was faced with wanting to both stay home with her kids and go to work — an all-too common conundrum many women face. Ultimately, Ilitch made the tough yet pivotal decision to work outside the home. When it came to building her success, Ilitch found it crucial to be honest with herself even if it was unpopular, stating she's an achiever first and a woman second. A risk-taker by nature, Ilitch and her husband invested their family savings to open the very first Little Caesars location in Garden City, Michigan. And with big risk came big reward — there are currently thousands of locations worldwide, 80% of which are franchise-owned (according to the company's official website). But Ilitch hasn't always gotten it perfectly out the gate. In fact, she attributes much of her success to her willingness to make mistakes. Back in 2012, she told Crain's Detroit Business, 'If you think you won't make mistakes, you're in a dream world. And you're never going to be a risk-taker if you don't [make them].' Another key ingredient in amassing her fortune has been her thirst for knowledge and her real-world commitment to learning from those around her — to which she attributes her strong understanding of finance and business. Fittingly, much of her wealth has come from her own sound investments and acquisitions. Per CNBC, Ilitch Holdings currently owns Detroit's MotorCity Casino hotel, the Detroit Red Wings, the Detroit Tigers and Olympia Entertainment. 'Not a day has gone by when I didn't learn something from someone,' said Ilitch. 'If they can do it better than me, I can learn something from them. That's how I've always done it, and I started from the ground up.' More From GOBankingRates Mark Cuban Warns of 'Red Rural Recession' -- 4 States That Could Get Hit Hard I'm a Retired Boomer: 6 Bills I Canceled This Year That Were a Waste of Money 4 Affordable Car Brands You Won't Regret Buying in 2025 This article originally appeared on 3 of the Richest Self-Made Women's Advice on Building Wealth
Forbes
06-06-2025
- 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.
