America’s richest self-made women under 40
These 11 entrepreneurs, executives and entertainers, including Taylor Swift and Kylie Jenner, are breaking barriers in both business and entertainment.
Building a fortune doesn’t have to take a lifetime. The youngest members on Forbes’ 2024 list of America’s Richest Self-Made Women are proof of that.
Among the 100 list members, 11 are under the age of 40. While this number has coincidentally stayed the same over the past years, some of its faces have changed as new women have entered the ranks and others have fallen off.
The youngest on the list for the seventh year in a row is reality TV star and cosmetics entrepreneur Kylie Jenner, who, at 26, has been busy releasing her clothing line Khy and founding canned vodka sodas company Sprinter Spirits, both of which launched late last year. Jenner made her debut in the ranks at age 20, making her the youngest self-made woman ever – which in and of itself caused lots of heated discussion. The only other person in her twenties in the ranks is Lucy Guo, age 29, who cofounded artificial intelligence firm Scale AI in 2016 and left two years later. Guo then founded and runs Passes, an online platform for creators sharing everything from makeup tips to relationship advice.
The richest person under 40 is Rihanna, whose fortune stems mostly from her stake in cosmetics line Fenty Beauty, which she co-owns with French luxury goods group LVMH. Last summer, the pop star gave birth to her second child, Riot Rose, after announcing the pregnancy during her performance at the Super Bowl halftime show. Just below her is Taylor Swift, whose Eras Tour pushed her into billionaire ranks. Swift generated over $1 billion in ticket sales in 2023 – the first artist to ever accomplish such a feat – and the tour is expected to bring in another $1 billion in ticket sales by the time it ends in December.
There are also three newcomers among the youngest self-made women. The richest of the new is Shuo Wang, cofounder and chief revenue officer of HR software firm Deel, who debuted on the list with a fortune estimated at $850 million. Wang, age 35, moved from China to the U.S. at 16 and reportedly sold scooters at flea markets while in high school. She then studied robotics at MIT and went on to cofound two companies.
The most well known newcomer to the list is 39-year-old Katy Perry. She joins the ranks following a reported $225 million deal last fall in which the pop star sold her music rights to five of her six studio albums. Perry also just wrapped up her seventh and final season as a judge on the TV singing competition series American Idol, after she announced earlier this year that she will be leaving the show to work on new music.
Three of last year’s youngest members–Huda Kattan, Rachel Romer and Julia Cheek– came in below this year’s cutoff. The minimum to qualify jumped to $300 million, up from $225 million last year.
Here are the youngest members on Forbes’ 2024 Self-Made Women list
All figures are in USD. Net Worths as of May 3, 2024; ages as of May 28, 2024
Kylie Jenner
Age: 26
Net worth: $710 million
Source of wealth: Cosmetics
Self-made score: 7
The youngest Kardashian launched clothing line Khy last fall, then released Sprinter vodka soda and a fragrance called Cosmic in March. Most of her wealth still comes from an estimated 44.1% stake in Kylie Cosmetics, plus cash from selling 51% of the business to French beauty giant Coty in 2020 for $600 million.
Lucy Guo
Age: 29
Net worth: $500 million
Source of wealth: Artificial Intelligence
Self-made score: 8
Her firm, Passes, a platform for creators hawking makeup tutorials, relationship advice and more, raised $40 million in February from investors including Emma Grede (No. 87). Most of her fortune lies in her nearly 6% stake of artificial intelligence firm Scale AI, which she cofounded with Alexandr Wang in 2016. (She left in 2018.) Scale AI was worth an estimated $7.3 billion as Forbes went to press but is raising new funding from private investors at a nearly $13 billion valuation.
Whitney Wolfe Herd
Age: 34
Net worth: $400 million
Source of wealth: Dating App
Self-made score: 8
Wolfe Herd stepped down as CEO of Bumble in January, almost a decade after founding the female-focused dating app; she remains executive chair. Bumble’s shares have plummeted nearly 90% since the company started trading in February 2021, when Wolfe Herd briefly became the country’s youngest self-made female billionaire. About $1.2 billion poorer today, she has been replaced by former Slack CEO Lidiane Jones.
Taylor Swift
Age: 34
Net worth: $1.3 billion
Source of wealth: Music
Self-made score: 8
Music’s most powerful star dominated the concert business—and became a billionaire—in 2023. Her Eras Tour set a record in December as the first ever to gross over $1 billion in ticket sales, according to Pollstar; it’s expected to bring in more than $2 billion by the time it wraps later this year. In April, Swift released her latest album, The Tortured Poets Department, whose deluxe version’s 31 songs broke the streaming record set by her own Midnights album from 2022.
Shuo Wang
Age: 35
Net worth: $850 million
Source of wealth: HR software
Self-made score: 8
Wang is cofounder and chief revenue officer of HR software firm Deel. Less than five years after its founding, Deel surpassed $500 million in annual revenue in March. After moving from China to the U.S. at age 16, Wang reportedly sold scooters at flea markets while in high school. She went on to study robotics at MIT and cofounded air purification company Aeris before Deel.
Rihanna
Age: 36
Net worth: $1.4 billion
Source of wealth: Music, Cosmetics
Self-made score: 10
The Barbados-born pop star gave birth to her second child, Riot Rose, nearly six months after she revealed her pregnancy onstage at the Super Bowl halftime show. Most of her wealth comes from her 50% stake in cosmetics line Fenty Beauty, her joint venture with Sephora owner LVMH; Fenty launched a new mascara last year.
Christina Cacioppo
Age: 36
Net worth: $385 million
Source of wealth: Software
Self-made score: 8
Automated security and compliance unicorn Vanta, which she runs as CEO, surpassed $100 million in annual recurring revenue in January. Cacioppo cofounded Vanta in 2017 after stints at Dropbox and venture capital firm Union Square Ventures. The Ohio native says she speaks seven languages and climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in 2008.
Daniela Amodei
Age: 36
Net worth: $830 million
Source of wealth: Artificial Intelligence
Self-made score: 8
Amodei is president of artificial intelligence unicorn Anthropic. She cofounded the company in 2021 alongside her brother, Dario, who is CEO, and five other researchers; they all came from OpenAI and now compete against their former employer. Anthropic, which is building large-scale AI systems and has partnerships with Amazon and Alphabet, is raising $750 million in new funding at an estimated $18 billion valuation.
Neha Narkhede
Age: 39
Net worth: $680 million
Source of wealth: Software
Self-made score: 8
Narkhede is CEO of fraud detection startup Oscilar, which has more than doubled its headcount in its first year out of stealth, surpassing 60 employees. She and her husband self-funded the company, which they founded in 2021, with $20 million. Narkhede owns about $450 million worth of shares in data-streaming software company Confluent, which she cofounded.
Katy Perry
Age: 39
Net worth: $350 million
Source of wealth: Music
Self-made score: 9
Perry sold the rights to her songs in a September 2023 deal reportedly valued at $225 million. She has since announced her likely departure from TV singing competition American Idol after seven years as a judge and hinted that she’s working on new music. Her fortune is derived mostly from the income earned selling her catalog as well as from touring.
Iman Abuzeid
Age: 39
Net worth: $350 million
Source of wealth: Healthcare marketplace
Self-made score: 8
A physician by training, Abuzeid launched Incredible Health in 2017 to help hospitals find and hire much-needed nursing staff. The company—which uses machine learning to match candidates to permanent positions—raised money at a $1.65 billion valuation in 2022. In December 2023, Abuzeid announced that Incredible Health would incorporate generative AI into its career marketplace.
This article was first published on forbes.com and all figures are in USD.
