Women are increasingly dominating the global billionaire rankings, with fortunes built through retail, beauty, finance, shipping, mining, technology, food, infrastructure and major family-owned businesses.
According to the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires list as of October 3, 2026, Walmart heiress Alice Walton is the richest woman in the world, with an estimated net worth of $115.7 billion.
She is followed by L’Oréal heiress Françoise Bettencourt Meyers and her family, whose fortune is estimated at $90.4 billion, while Julia Koch and her family rank third with $84.6 billion.
The latest ranking shows the enormous scale of wealth controlled by women across some of the world’s biggest corporations and business empires.
1. Alice Walton — $115.7 Billion
At 76, Alice Walton is the richest woman in the world, according to Forbes’ real-time ranking.
She is the only daughter of Walmart founder Sam Walton, and her estimated $115.7 billion fortune is largely tied to her family’s ownership of Walmart.
Unlike her brothers, Rob and Jim Walton, Alice did not pursue a leadership role on Walmart’s board. Instead, she has devoted much of her attention to art, culture and philanthropy.
One of her most notable projects is the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, the hometown of the Walton family.
Opened in 2011, the museum houses works by renowned artists including Andy Warhol, Norman Rockwell and Mark Rothko.
2. Françoise Bettencourt Meyers & Family — $90.4 Billion
At 73, Françoise Bettencourt Meyers is the heiress to one of the world’s largest beauty fortunes.
She is the granddaughter of L’Oréal founder Eugène Schueller, and she and her immediate family own more than one-third of the publicly traded cosmetics company.
Their combined fortune is estimated at $90.4 billion.
Bettencourt Meyers served on L’Oréal’s board from 1997 until 2025, when her son, Jean-Victor Meyers, succeeded her as vice chairman. Her other son, Nicolas Meyers, is also a director of the company.
She became the principal L’Oréal heiress in 2017 following the death of her mother, Liliane Bettencourt, at the age of 94.
3. Julia Koch & Family — $84.6 Billion
Mary Julia Koch 64, ranks third among the world’s richest women, with an estimated family fortune of $84.6 billion.
Koch and her three children inherited a 42 per cent stake in Koch, Inc., formerly known as Koch Industries, following the death of her husband, David Koch, in 2019.
Her journey to immense wealth began long before she inherited the fortune. An Iowa native, Koch moved to New York City in the 1980s and worked as an assistant to fashion designer Adolfo, where she interacted with several prominent clients, including former US First Lady Nancy Reagan.
Today, most of her wealth is linked to the family’s stake in Koch, Inc.
4. Jacqueline Mars — $50.3 Billion
At 86, Jacqueline Marshas an estimated fortune of $50.3 billion, making her the fourth-richest woman on the Forbes real-time list.
Mars owns approximately one-third of Mars, the privately held company founded by her grandfather.
The company is widely known for its confectionery products but has expanded into food and pet-care businesses, creating a much broader commercial empire.
Jacqueline Mars worked for the family company for nearly two decades and remained a member of its board until 2016.
5. Iris Fontbona & Family — $47.4 Billion
Iris Fontbona 83, inherited her fortune after the death of her husband, Chilean businessman Andrónico Luksic, in 2005.
Luksic had built a vast business empire spanning mining and beverages before his death from cancer. His businesses were subsequently inherited by Fontbona and their three sons.
Fontbona and her children control Antofagasta Plc, a London-listed company with copper mining operations in Chile.
Forbes estimates the family’s fortune at $47.4 billion, with mining remaining the principal source of their wealth.
Fontbona’s son, Guillermo Luksic, died from lung cancer in 2013 at the age of 57.
6. Rafaela Aponte-Diamant — $46.1 Billion
Rafaela Aponte-Diamant , is one of the most notable self-made women on the list.
Her estimated fortune stands at $46.1 billion, built through the global shipping industry alongside her husband, Gianluigi Aponte.
The couple each owns a 50 per cent stake in MSC, which Forbes describes as the world’s largest shipping line.
Their business story began after the couple met on the Italian island of Capri in the 1960s, when Gianluigi was working as a ship captain.
In 1970, they entered the shipping business by purchasing a ship with a $200,000 loan. That modest beginning eventually developed into a global shipping empire and the foundation of their enormous wealth.
7. Abigail Johnson — $41.6 Billion
Abigail Johnson, 64, is the chairman and chief executive officer of Fidelity Investments, the financial services company founded by her grandfather, Edward C. Johnson II, in Boston in 1946.
Johnson became CEO in 2014, succeeding her father, and was appointed chairman in 2016.
Forbes estimates her fortune at $41.6 billion, with Johnson owning approximately 29 per cent of Fidelity.
As of December 2025, Fidelity managed approximately $7.1 trillion in discretionary assets, making the financial services company the main source of the Johnson family’s wealth.
8. Savitri Jindal & Family — $38.4 Billion
Savitri Jindal – 76, ranks eighth among the world’s richest women, with an estimated fortune of $38.4 billion.
She chairs the O.P. Jindal Group, an industrial empire with interests spanning steel, power, cement and infrastructure.
Her wealth is largely linked to the business empire established by her late husband, Om Prakash Jindal.
Following O.P. Jindal’s death in a helicopter crash in 2005, his business interests were divided among his four sons, who subsequently ran the companies independently.
Some of the group’s major assets are controlled by her Mumbai-based son Sajjan Jindal, who oversees businesses including JSW Steel, JSW Cement and JSW Paints.
9. Marilyn Simons & Family — $36.6 Billion
Marilyn Simons 75, inherited her fortune from her late husband, Jim Simons, the mathematician who founded quantitative hedge fund Renaissance Technologies.
Jim Simons died in 2024 at the age of 86.
Forbes estimates Marilyn Simons and her family have a combined fortune of $36.6 billion.
Simons holds a PhD in economics from Stony Brook University, where she met her husband.
She now chairs the Simons Foundation, which has approximately $4.5 billion in assets and serves as the primary funder of Math for America.
Through the foundation, the Simons family’s influence extends beyond finance into education, mathematics and scientific research.
10. Melinda French Gates — $34.5 Billion
Rounding out the top 10 is Melinda French Gates with an estimated net worth of $34.5 billion.
French Gates, 62, is the founder of Pivotal Philanthropies Foundation and remains one of the most prominent women in global philanthropy.
Forbes lists Microsoft as the source of her wealth.
In 2024, French Gates resigned as co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation after almost 24 years with the organisation.
Her departure came three years after her divorce from Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates in 2021. Forbes estimated that she received a $25 billion settlement from the divorce.
The 2026 ranking highlights the different paths women have taken to the top of the global wealth ladder.
While several of the women inherited stakes in businesses created by their parents, grandparents or husbands, Rafaela Aponte-Diamant stands out as a self-made billionaire who helped build a global shipping business from the ground up.
Others have maintained or expanded family fortunes through leadership, investments, corporate ownership and philanthropy.
From Walmart and L’Oréal to Koch, Mars, Fidelity, Antofagasta and MSC, the fortunes of these women are closely connected to some of the world’s most influential business empires.
Together, the top 10 women on Forbes’ October 3, 2026 real-time ranking represent hundreds of billions of dollars in wealth and demonstrate the growing economic influence of women among the world’s richest individuals.
