Walmart heiress Alice Walton has retained her position as the world’s richest woman for a second consecutive year, with a fortune of $134 billion, according to the latest Forbes World’s Billionaires list. Her wealth solidifies the dominance of inherited fortunes among the top tier of female billionaires, even as the overall number of women on the list reached a new high.
Walton, whose wealth stems from her family’s stake in the retail giant Walmart, first claimed the top spot in September 2024, surpassing L’Oréal heiress Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, who now ranks second with $100 billion. Julia Koch, widow of industrialist David Koch, holds third place with $81.2 billion. Chilean mining and beverage heiress Iris Fontbona rose significantly to fourth place with $52.6 billion, overtaking Jacqueline Mars of the Mars candy empire, who fell to fifth with $49.1 billion.
The 2025 list includes 3,428 billionaires worldwide, of whom 481 are women—14% of the total, an increase from 406 women (13.4%) the previous year. However, the ranks of self-made female billionaires remain slim. Among the top 10, only Swiss shipping magnate Rafaela Aponte-Diamant, with a net worth of $44.5 billion, built her own fortune. She dropped from fifth to sixth place this year. Overall, just 122 of the 481 female billionaires are self-made, up from 113 in 2024. The next wealthiest self-made woman is American roofing supplies magnate Diane Hendricks, valued at $22.3 billion.
This year’s list also features several high-profile newcomers. Music superstar Beyoncé debuted with an estimated $1 billion net worth. Other new entries include Brazilian former ballerina Luana Lopes Lara, co-founder of prediction market firm Kalshi. At 29, Lara becomes the world’s youngest self-made female billionaire, a title previously held by Scale AI co-founder Lucy Guo, 31.
Notable shifts occurred within the top ranks. Melinda French Gates and Marilyn Simons dropped out of the top 10, replaced by Iris Fontbona and Zheng Shuliang, vice chair of a Chinese aluminum company founded by her late husband, with a net worth of $32.5 billion.
The continuing presence of heirs and heiresses like Walton and Bettencourt Meyers underscores the persistent role of family wealth in concentrating female billionaire status. Meanwhile, the gradual rise in self-made women, though small in number, highlights emerging success in sectors from shipping and construction to technology and entertainment. The diversity of backgrounds, from industrial heiresses to media personalities, reflects varied pathways to extreme wealth. The sustained growth in the total count of female billionaires suggests a slow but ongoing trend toward greater representation at the very top of global wealth.
