While Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands is often cited as the world's first female billionaire through her inherited wealth and state revenues, Martha Stewart became the first self-made female billionaire in the U.S. around 1999, and Françoise Bettencourt Meyers is the first woman to reach $100 billion, inheriting L'Oréal. The title depends on whether it's inherited or self-made, and by national or global standards.
Award-winning author and journalist A'Lelia Bundles joins Tetiana Anderson and acclaimed journalist and media executive come together for a fireside chat about A'Lelia's great-great-grandmother, the legendary Madam C. J. Walker, the first self-made American female millionaire.
Oprah Winfrey - $3.1 billion 2. Kim Kardashian - $1.7 billion 3. Taylor Swift - $1.6 billion 4. Rihanna - $1.4 billion 5.
At just 30 years old, Lucy Guo has emerged as the world's youngest self-made female billionaire, recently surpassing global music icon Taylor Swift. Guo now holds a spot on Forbes' list, joining only five other self-made women under 40 with billionaire status. Her net worth is about $1.25 billion, according to reports.
Lucy Guo. Lucy Guo is an American entrepreneur and engineer who co-founded Scale AI. In 2022, she founded her second start-up, known as Passes. As of 2025, Guo is the world's youngest female self-made billionaire, due to her stake in Scale AI.
Yes, Kim Kardashian is generally considered richer than Taylor Swift, though both are billionaires, with Kardashian often leading due to her successful businesses like SKIMS, while Swift's wealth comes from music, tours (like The Eras Tour), and films. Recent reports (late 2025) place Kardashian's net worth around $1.9 billion, slightly ahead of Swift's $1.6 billion, though these figures fluctuate.
The number 1 billionaire in the world is Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, consistently holding the top spot with a fluctuating net worth in the hundreds of billions (around $600+ billion in early January 2026), followed closely by figures like Larry Page (Google/Alphabet) and Jeff Bezos (Amazon) as their company valuations shift, according to Forbes and Bloomberg reports.
Mary Ellen Pleasant (August 19, 1814 – January 11, 1904) was an American entrepreneur, financier, real estate magnate and abolitionist. She was arguably the first self-made millionaire of African-American heritage, preceding Madam C. J. Walker by decades.
The American oil magnate John D. Rockefeller became the world's first confirmed billionaire in 1916. Standard Oil founder John D. Rockefeller became the first billionaire in 1916.
The number of ultra-wealthy women in the world is rising, and research shows this can be a force for good – not only for obvious equality reasons, but also due to how these multi-millionaires show strong interest in helping communities.
Savitri Jindal is currently India's richest woman, topping the list at 4th position.
By 2035, some predict there will be at least five trillionaires in the world, but no one has reached that yet. A trillionaire is someone who has accumulated a net worth of at least one trillion of their local currency.
At just 19 years old, Brazilian student Livia Voigt has been named the youngest billionaire on the Forbes Billionaires List 2024, with a net worth of $1.1 billion. She is the largest individual shareholder of WEG, one of Latin America's biggest electrical motor manufacturers, a company co-founded by her grandfather.
Ruling over ancient Egypt between 51 BC and 30 BC, the Queen of the Nile had a fortune at her fingertips. As outlined in the 2011 biography Cleopatra: a Life, the iconic ruler's estimated net worth amounted to the modern-day equivalent of $95.8 billion, which is around $135 billion (£99.7bn) in 2025 money.
With an eye-watering net worth of $90.7 billion, Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, a French businesswoman and philanthropist, is the richest woman in the world.
Kylie Jenner was once the top spot on this list, but Selena Gomez has now surpassed her on the rich list for the first time. Selena lands at number 3, but two men take the number 1 and 2 spot.
Shawn 'Jay-Z' Carter ($2.5 Billion)
Shawn Carter, AKA Jay-Z, is the richest rapper in the world. Hip-Hop Mogul Shawn cemented his permanent number 1 position with his 2.5 billion in net worth. He is also a business titan, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2021.
Kim Kardashian is significantly richer than Paris Hilton, with Kim's net worth estimated around $1.9 billion primarily from her businesses like Skims, while Paris has built a substantial but smaller empire, with figures suggesting around $300-$400 million, making Kim the clear leader in personal wealth despite both benefiting from famous families.
Thanks to the value of her back catalogue and record-breaking Eras tour, Forbes estimates she is worth $1.6 billion. Trump, however, has real estate all over the world, as well as stocks and cryptocurrency holdings. Taken together, he is worth about $5.1 billion.