6 Women Who Made The Forbes’ 2025 Billionaires List

There are 3,028 billionaires on the Forbes’ 2025 Billionaires List, with only 406 women among them, which is up from 369 in 2024. Nine out of 10 of these women inherited their wealth, meaning self-made women constitute just 3.7% of global billionaires.

This gender disparity reflects persistent inequality in opportunity. Women founders receive only 2% of venture capital funding, according to Forbes. Women also hold just 10.4% of CEO positions in Fortune 500 companies, according to Women Business Collaborative.

Despite these barriers, several remarkable women have secured their place among the world’s wealthiest. Here are 6 noteworthy women who made this year’s list.

Alice Walton is seated as not only a billionaire on the list, but also the richest woman in the world. She added $28.7 billion to her overall fortune in 2024, resulting in a total net worth of $101 billion.

Walton’s main source of wealth comes from being the heiress to the fortune of Walmart due to being the daughter of the founder, Sam Walton. 

She takes part in philanthropic work by displaying featured art by Andy Warhol. Norman Rockwell, and Mark Rothko. She also founded a holistic health institute named Alice L. Walton School of Medicine in 2022.  

Francoise Bettencourt Meyers is the second wealthiest woman in the world ($71.1 billion) after inheriting a high stake in French company L’Oréal as the granddaughter of founder Eugene Schueller. She’s served on the company’s board since 1997 and is planning her retirement this year. 

Bettencourt Meyers has also taken part in philanthropic work under the Bettencourt Schueller Foundation. One of the most notable donations totaled $226 million in an effort to repair the Notre Dame Cathedral after the fire in 2019. 

Julia Koch and her children inherited a 42% stake from her husband David Koch of Koch Inc., a private company within the chemical technology industry. She currently serves on the board of Koch Inc., Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK), and The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Venetian Heritage. 

Prior to working with Koch Inc., Koch moved to New York City in the 1980s to work as a fashion assistant to designer Adolfo. 

Jacqueline Mars is a one-third owner of Mars Inc., the famous American candy company that was founded by her grandfather Franklin Clarence Mars. 

She’s also a prominent figure in the equestrian world as a board member of the USET Foundation, and Mars gives back under the Mars Family Foundation. She also sits on the board of The National Archives Foundation and was the first recipient of the Foundation’s Heritage Award as a member. 

Rafaela Aponte-Diamant is one of the very few self-made billionaires after founding the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) alongside her husband Gianluigi Aponte in 1970. Aponte-Diamant met her husband while she was a passenger on one of the ships he was captaining. 

Aponte-Diamant is also a patron of the arts and has donated millions across several museums and cultural institutions. In addition to MSC, she also sits on the board of UBS and Credit Suisse.

Taylor Swift officially hit billionaire status in 2024 and is the first musician to appear on the list for only her songs and performances. According to Forbes, Swift accrued almost $600 million from earning royalties and touring. In 2021, she also began re-recording her first six albums in order to regain ownership rights — adding to her wealth increase.