The richest woman in the world is Alice Walton, whose Walmart-based fortune stood at $129.4 billion on Forbes’ real-time list on October 24, 2026. Françoise Bettencourt Meyers has $103.1 billion in L’Oréal and Julia Koch $84.6 billion in Koch, Inc.
Ranking is easy; proving a stake is harder. Public companies publish proxies, annual reports and Schedule 13G filings, while Koch, Mars and MSC publish nothing. This guide pairs each of the ten with the document that exists and says plainly where only an estimate does.
Richest Woman in the World: Alice Walton and the Walmart Proxy
Alice Walton is the richest woman in the world, with $129.4 billion on October 24, 2026. Walmart’s proxy statement shows the Walton family vehicle holding 44.11 percent of the company, and she is among its trustees.
Ten Women, Ten Holdings: Net Worth and the Disclosure Behind Each
| # | Woman | Net worth, Oct 24, 2026 | Company | Disclosure behind the stake |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alice Walton | $129.4 billion | Walmart | Walmart proxy statement, April 2026 |
| 2 | Françoise Bettencourt Meyers | $103.1 billion | L’Oréal | L’Oréal share ownership, Dec 2025 |
| 3 | Julia Koch | $84.6 billion | Koch, Inc. | None; private, Forbes estimate |
| 4 | Jacqueline Mars | $50.3 billion | Mars | Kellanova 8-K, Dec 2025; private |
| 5 | Rafaela Aponte-Diamant | $45.9 billion | MSC | MSC history; private, Forbes estimate |
| 6 | Abigail Johnson | $41.6 billion | Fidelity | SEC Schedule 13G/A, Oct 2026 |
| 7 | Iris Fontbona | $41.0 billion | Antofagasta | Annual report 2025 |
| 8 | Marilyn Simons | $36.6 billion | Renaissance Technologies | Simons Foundation notice, May 2024 |
| 9 | Savitri Jindal | $36.5 billion | O.P. Jindal Group | Company reports; Forbes estimate |
| 10 | Melinda French Gates | $34.3 billion | Microsoft | Gates Foundation statement, May 2024 |
Net worths are Forbes’ real-time figures for October 24, 2026. Where a company is private, the stake is an estimate. This is general information, not financial advice.
The Ten Stakes, One Document at a Time
1. Alice Walton: A Trustee Inside the Walmart Proxy
Net worth: $129.4B | Company: Walmart | Holding vehicle: Walton Enterprises, LLC | Age: 77
Walmart’s 2026 proxy statement, filed with the SEC on April 23, 2026, names two holders above 5 percent: Walton Enterprises, LLC with 3,516,197,849 shares and Walton Family Holdings Trust with 513,524,456, or 6.44 percent. The trust’s shares sit inside the LLC’s total.
Alice Walton is a trustee of the Trust and of WELLCO Mgmt Trust #3, a managing member of the LLC. Walmart had 7,970,990,515 shares outstanding on April 10, 2026. The proxy gives no per-person split, so her figure is an estimate.
2. Francoise Bettencourt Meyers: 34.79 Percent in L’Oréal’s Own Table
Net worth: $103.1B | Company: L’Oréal | Holding: family and holding companies | Age: 73
L’Oréal reports its shareholders at December 31, 2025: Mrs. Bettencourt Meyers and her family 34.79 percent, Nestlé 20.16 percent, international institutions 30.43 percent and employees 2.06 percent. The family figure includes Téthys SAS and Financière L’Arcouest SAS.
The business began as Eugène Schueller’s hair-dye company in Paris in 1909. Her mother Liliane died in 2017, and Forbes says Bettencourt Meyers also presides over the family foundation for French science and arts.
3. Julia Koch: A Private Company With No Public Table
Net worth: $84.6B | Company: Koch, Inc. | Estimated stake: 42 percent | Age: 64
No filing sets out who owns Koch, Inc. Forbes estimates that Julia Koch and her three children hold 42 percent, which came from David Koch when he died in 2019, and says she sits on the company’s board.
Koch’s own site claims more than $125 billion in annual revenue, about 130,000 employees in more than 50 countries and 90 percent of earnings reinvested. Forbes calls it the second-largest private company in America by revenue.
4. Jacqueline Mars: The Kellanova 8-K Shows the Scale
Net worth: $50.3B | Company: Mars | Estimated stake: one-third | Age: 87
Kellanova’s SEC Form 8-K records that its merger with a Mars-owned vehicle closed on December 11, 2025. Mars calls itself family-owned and publishes no shareholder table; Forbes estimates a third each for Jacqueline and her brother John.
Forbes says the late Forrest Jr.’s four daughters own the rest, and her son Stephen Badger sits on Mars’ board. She left the board in 2016 after nearly 20 years at a company founded in 1911.
5. Rafaela Aponte-Diamant: A Swiss Private Company, Split 50-50
Net worth: $45.9B | Company: MSC | Estimated stake: 50 percent | Age: 81
MSC is privately owned and files no public ownership table. Forbes reports a 50-50 split between Rafaela and Gianluigi Aponte, and MSC says he founded the group in Brussels in 1970 with a single ship, the MV Patricia.
MSC’s estimated 2024 key figures are 1,000 vessels, 300 routes, 520 ports of call and 30 million containers a year. Forbes notes that MSC bought Bolloré Africa Logistics in December 2022.
6. Abigail Johnson: Named in a Schedule 13G
Net worth: $41.6B | Company: Fidelity Investments | Estimated stake: 29 percent | Age: 64
Exhibit 99 to FMR LLC’s Schedule 13G/A of October 7, 2026 calls her a director, the chairman and the chief executive of FMR. It says Johnson family members are the predominant owners of the Series B voting shares, 49 percent of the voting power.
The family is bound by a shareholders’ voting agreement and may be deemed a controlling group under the Investment Company Act of 1940. Forbes puts Fidelity’s discretionary assets at $7.1 trillion in December 2025.
7. Iris Fontbona: The Annual Report’s Foundation Chain
Net worth: $41.0B | Company: Antofagasta | Holding: Metalinvest and Kupferberg | Age: 83
Antofagasta’s 2025 annual report lists at December 31, 2025 Metalinvest Establishment with 50.72 percent of ordinary shares, Kupferberg Establishment 9.94 percent, Aureberg Establishment 4.26 percent and Royal Bank of Canada 3.76 percent.
Metalinvest and Kupferberg answer to the E. Abaroa Foundation, in which Luksic family members are interested. Andrónico Luksic Abaroa died in 2005, and his widow and sons took over his businesses.
8. Marilyn Simons: The Foundation’s Notice of Jim Simons’ Death
Net worth: $36.6B | Company: Renaissance Technologies | Estate: shared with family | Age: 75
The Simons Foundation’s notice of May 10, 2024 says Jim Simons died at 86 and calls Marilyn Simons the foundation’s chair. Forbes treats the fortune from his hedge fund as hers and her family’s.
The couple established the foundation in 1994, and Forbes puts its assets at $4.5 billion. She also chairs the board of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
9. Savitri Jindal: Four Sons, Four Companies
Net worth: $36.5B | Company: O.P. Jindal Group | Holding: family companies | Age: 76
O.P. Jindal began by making buckets in 1952 and died in a helicopter crash in 2005. His group’s companies were divided among four sons. Savitri chairs the group; Sajjan oversees JSW Steel, JSW Cement and JSW Paints.
Naveen Jindal manages Jindal Steel & Power, which reports gross revenue of Rs 62,412 crore and EBITDA of Rs 9,660 crore for FY26. JSW Cement went public in 2025, Forbes says.
10. Melinda French Gates: A Documented Departure, an Estimated Settlement
Net worth: $34.3B | Company: Microsoft | Source: 2021 divorce settlement | Age: 62
No filing documents the settlement; Forbes estimates it at $25 billion. The Gates Foundation’s May 13, 2024 statement said she was resigning as co-chair and that June 7 was her last day.
She founded the Pivotal Philanthropies Foundation and the investing firm Pivotal Ventures. Forbes says she committed $1 billion to women’s causes through 2026.
What the Real-Time Figures Measure and When They Move
For a listed company, net worth is roughly shares held multiplied by the share price, so Walton’s $129.4 billion moved $1.1 billion in a single day. For a private company such as Koch or Mars, Forbes sets an estimate and revises it on set dates.
That is why two pairs are too close to call. Abigail Johnson ($41.6 billion) and Iris Fontbona ($41.0 billion) are 0.6 billion apart, and Marilyn Simons ($36.6 billion) and Savitri Jindal ($36.5 billion) 0.1 billion. The table carries the order for October 24 only.
One Built It, Eight Inherited, One Settled: Where Each Fortune Started
Built (1): Rafaela Aponte-Diamant. MSC began in 1970 with one ship, and Forbes calls her the only self-made woman among the ten richest.
Inherited from family (4): Walton in 1992, when Sam Walton died; Bettencourt Meyers in 2017, when her mother Liliane died; Johnson, who succeeded her father at Fidelity in 2014; and Mars, third generation of a 1911 company.
Inherited from a husband (4): Fontbona in 2005, Jindal in 2005, Koch in 2019 and Simons in 2024, each after the death of the man who built or led the business.
Settled (1): Melinda French Gates, in the 2021 divorce. For the dynasties behind several of these names, see our guide to the richest family in the world.
Fortune Versus Control: Who Sits at the Head of the Company
Abigail Johnson both holds and runs: Fidelity’s chief executive since 2014 and chairman since 2016. Walton and Bettencourt Meyers hold without a board seat, the second having left L’Oréal’s board in 2025 after 28 years.
Jindal chairs a group whose four companies her sons run on their own. Outside the ten, Zhong Huijuan chairs and leads Hansoh, the drugmaker she built.
MacKenzie Scott’s Giving, Round by Round
MacKenzie Scott is outside the top ten: Forbes had her at $27.2 billion on October 24, 2026, 88th in the world. Her 4 percent Amazon stake came in the 2019 divorce, and Yield Giving reports over $26 billion in more than 2,700 gifts. Rounds she has dated on the site:
- December 15, 2020: $4.1585 billion to 384 organizations
- June 15, 2021: $2.739 billion to 286 organizations
- December 6, 2023: $2.153 billion since her post a year earlier
- December 18, 2024: $2.0044 billion to 199 organizations
- December 9, 2025: $7.166 billion since her post a year earlier
Self-Made Women Past the Top Ten
After Aponte-Diamant, Forbes’ real-time figures in October 2026 put Diane Hendricks at about $23.6 billion for ABC Supply, which she founded in 1982 with her husband on a $900,000 bank loan. Zhong Huijuan has $17.8 billion from Hansoh Pharmaceutical, listed in Hong Kong in 2019.
Daniela Amodei, co-founder of Anthropic in 2021, is at about $15.5 billion. Zhou Qunfei, who started a watch-parts firm in 1993 that became Lens Technology, is at about $13.3 billion.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is MacKenzie Scott one of the ten richest women?
No. At $27.2 billion on October 24, 2026 she is outside the ten, which closes at Melinda French Gates with $34.3 billion.
How much of Walmart do the Waltons own?
Walmart’s 2026 proxy statement lists Walton Enterprises, LLC with 3,516,197,849 shares, 44.11 percent, at April 10, 2026.
Who is the richest woman in India?
Savitri Jindal, with $36.5 billion on October 24, 2026. Our ranking of the richest man in India covers the men.
How many of the ten built their own fortune?
One: Rafaela Aponte-Diamant. Four inherited from family, four from a husband, and one received a divorce settlement.
