Alice Walton once again emerged as the world’s richest woman, latest ranking of female billionaires released by Forbes says.
The publication’s annual World’s Billionaires list estimates Walton’s net worth at about $134 billion.
It secured her position at the top of the global ranking of wealthy women for the second year in a row.
Walton is the daughter of Sam Walton and an heir to retail giant Walmart.
She first became the world’s richest woman in September 2024 after surpassing Francoise Bettencourt Meyers.
Bettencourt Meyers, heiress to cosmetics company L’Oréal, now ranks second among the world’s richest women with an estimated fortune of $100 billion.
Julia Koch, the widow of industrialist David Koch, follows with an estimated wealth of $81.2 billion.
The ranking also indicates that women still represent a relatively small proportion of the world’s ultra-wealthy.
Out of 3,428 billionaires worldwide, 481 are women, accounting for about 14 per cent of the list, up from 406 women, or 13.4 per cent, recorded the previous year.
Iris Fontbona moved up to fourth place with an estimated net worth of $52.6 billion, overtaking Jacqueline Mars, who slipped to fifth place with $49.1 billion.
Others on the List
Swiss shipping entrepreneur Rafaela Aponte-Diamant, whose wealth is estimated at $44.5 billion, ranks among the top 10 richest women and remains the only self-made billionaire on the list.
Overall, only 122 of the 481 female billionaires built their fortunes themselves, a slight increase from 113 self-made women recorded the previous year.
American businesswoman Diane Hendricks ranks as the next richest self-made woman, with an estimated fortune of $22.3 billion.
Several prominent celebrities also featured on the billionaire list. Global music star Beyonce made her debut with an estimated net worth of $1 billion.
Other well-known self-made women on the list include Rihanna with about $1 billion, Sara Blakely with $1.4 billion and Taylor Swift with approximately $2 billion.
