The world’s richest women have built and inherited fortunes spanning retail, beauty, shipping, finance, mining, technology and philanthropy, with several of them linked to some of the biggest family-owned businesses on the planet.
Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires list as of October 3, 2026, shows Alice Walton as 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, with $90.4 billion, while Julia Koch and her family rank third with $84.6 billion.
Below are the 10 richest women on the Forbes real-time list as of October 3, 2026.
1. Alice Walton: $115.7 billion
At 76, Alice Walton is the only daughter of Walmart founder Sam Walton and, according to Forbes’ real-time ranking, the richest woman in the world.
Her fortune, put at $115.7 billion, comes from Walmart. Unlike her brothers Rob and Jim, however, she chose not to sit on the company’s board, and has instead devoted much of her attention to art and philanthropy.
Her most prominent cultural project is the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, which she opened in 2011 in Bentonville, Arkansas, the hometown of the Walton family.
The museum houses works by artists including Andy Warhol, Norman Rockwell and Mark Rothko, a reflection of Walton’s long-standing interest in art and philanthropy.
2. Françoise Bettencourt Meyers and family: $90.4 billion
Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, 73, is the granddaughter of L’Oréal founder Eugène Schueller and the heir to one of the largest beauty fortunes in the world.
She and her immediate family own more than a third of the publicly listed cosmetics giant, which gives the family an estimated fortune of $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.
She became the family’s principal L’Oréal heiress in 2017, following the death of her mother, Liliane Bettencourt, at the age of 94.
3. Julia Koch and family: $84.6 billion
Julia Koch and her three children inherited a 42 per cent stake in Koch, Inc., formerly known as Koch Industries, after the death of her husband, David Koch, in 2019.
Forbes estimates the family’s fortune at $84.6 billion, making Koch, 64, the third-richest woman on the real-time list.
An Iowa native, Koch moved to New York City in the 1980s and worked as an assistant to fashion designer Adolfo.
During that period, she worked with several high-profile clients, including former US First Lady Nancy Reagan.
Her wealth is now tied mainly to her family’s stake in Koch, Inc.
4. Jacqueline Mars: $50.3 billion
Jacqueline Mars, 86, owns an estimated one-third of Mars, the privately held candy, food and pet-care company founded by her grandfather.
Her fortune stands at $50.3 billion, placing her among the wealthiest women in the world.
Mars worked for the family company for nearly two decades and remained on its board until 2016.
Her wealth is linked to the vast business interests of Mars, which has grown well beyond the confectionery products associated with its name to include food and pet-care businesses.
5. Iris Fontbona and 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 business empire spanning mining and beverages before he died of cancer. He left his businesses to Fontbona and their three sons.
Fontbona and her children control Antofagasta Plc, a London-listed company that owns copper mines in Chile.
The family’s fortune is estimated at $47.4 billion, with mining as its principal source of wealth.
Fontbona’s son, Guillermo Luksic, died of lung cancer in 2013 at the age of 57.
6. Rafaela Aponte-Diamant: $46.1 billion
Rafaela Aponte-Diamant, 81, stands out on the list as a self-made billionaire who built her fortune in the shipping industry alongside her husband, Gianluigi.
The couple each own a 50 per cent stake in MSC, described by Forbes as the largest shipping line in the world. Her real-time net worth is estimated at $46.1 billion.
Their business journey began after they met on the Italian island of Capri in the 1960s, when Gianluigi was a ship captain.
In 1970, they entered the shipping business together by buying a ship with a $200,000 loan, eventually building the global shipping company that forms the foundation of their fortune.
7. Abigail Johnson: $41.6 billion
Abigail Johnson, 64, is chairman and CEO of Fidelity Investments, the financial services giant founded by her grandfather, Edward C. Johnson II, in Boston in 1946.
She became CEO in 2014, succeeding her father, and has served as chairman since 2016. Forbes estimates her fortune at $41.6 billion.
Johnson owns an estimated 29 per cent of Fidelity.
As of December 2025, the company managed $7.1 trillion in discretionary assets, making the family’s long-standing financial services business the primary source of her wealth.
8. Savitri Jindal and family: $38.4 billion
Savitri Jindal, 76, chairs the O.P. Jindal Group, whose businesses span steel, power, cement and infrastructure.
Her estimated fortune of $38.4 billion is largely tied to the industrial empire founded by her late husband, Om Prakash Jindal.
After O.P. Jindal died in a helicopter crash in 2005, his business interests were divided among his four sons, who now run the companies independently.
Some of the group’s biggest assets are overseen by her Mumbai-based son, Sajjan Jindal, who runs businesses including JSW Steel, JSW Cement and JSW Paints.
9. Marilyn Simons and family: $36.6 billion
Marilyn Simons, 75, inherited her fortune from her late husband, Jim Simons, the mathematician who founded the quantitative hedge fund Renaissance Technologies.
Jim Simons died in 2024 at the age of 86. Forbes puts the fortune of Marilyn Simons and her family at $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 $4.5 billion in assets and is the primary funder of Math for America, extending the family’s influence beyond finance into education and research.
10. Melinda French Gates: $34.5 billion
Melinda French Gates, 62, is the founder of Pivotal Philanthropies Foundation and one of the most prominent women in global philanthropy.
Forbes estimates her real-time net worth at $34.5 billion, with Microsoft listed as her source of wealth.
In 2024, French Gates resigned as co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation after nearly 24 years with the organisation.
Her departure came three years after her divorce from Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates in 2021, with Forbes estimating that she received a $25 billion settlement.
