Forbes’s recent richest people indicate that the global wealth landscape is constantly shifting. But one thing that remains clear is that women are not being left out.
From retail, cosmetics, food, manufacturing, tech, finance, shipping, and steel, these billionaires have not only inherited legacies but have expanded them, reaching a combined net worth of $337 billion in 2025.
These richest women in the world represent a stunning range of industries and causes, with their influence shaping everything from global commerce to philanthropy.
Below is therefore a list of the richest women on the planet in 2025, according to Forbes.
5. Rafaela Aponte-Diamant
Rafaela Aponte-Diamant has a net worth of $37.7 billion.
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She also happened to be the richest self-made woman on the Forbes list for three consecutive years.
This Switzerland billionaire’s source of Wealth is from the Shipping industry. She owns a 50% stake in the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC).
A company she co-founded with her husband in 1970 after meeting him on a boat trip to Capri.
4. Jacqueline Mars
Jacqueline Mars has a net worth of $42.6 billion according to Forbes.
The source of her accumulated net worth is based on inheritance through Mars Incorporated.
A candy and pet food giant founded by her grandfather, and of which Jacqueline served as a company board member for two decades, and shares ownership with her brother John and her four nieces.
3. Julia Koch & family
Julia Koch’s net worth is a combined family income, which stands at $74.2 billion.
The Koch family’s source of Wealth is an inheritance, which is about a 42% stake in the family business, Koch Industries (now Koch, Inc.).
Koch, Inc. is the second-largest private company in the U.S., with interests spanning oil refining, agriculture, and real estate.
2. Françoise Bettencourt Meyers & family
Françoise Bettencourt Meyers has a net worth of $81.6 billion.
Bettencourt Meyers’s source of wealth is from the popular L’Oréal Paris, and was the world’s richest woman last year, but saw her fortune dip in 2025 due to slowing sales.
Françoise served on the company’s board for 28 years but announced her retirement as vice chair this February.
Her son, Jean-Victor Meyers, is expected to take her place, marking a generational shift in the company’s leadership.
1. Alice Walton
Alice Walton is the world’s richest woman in 2025 with an estimated net worth of $101 billion according to Forbes.
Walton’s source of wealth is also through inheritance as the only daughter of Walmart founder Sam Walton.
Her net worth grew because there was an added income of $28.7 billion this year as a result of a 40% surge in Walmart’s stock.
Outside of business, she founded the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in her hometown of Bentonville, Arkansas, and expanded her legacy with a new medical school bearing her name.
