Top 10 America’s Richest Self-Made Women

1. Diane Hendricks ($15 Billion) 

Diane Hendricks is the CEO of ABC Supply, one of America's major wholesale distributors of roofing, siding and windows. In 1982, Hendricks co-founded the company with her late husband, Ken, in Beloit, Wisconsin. She has presided over it since his death in 2007.

2. Judy Love And Family ($10.2 Billion)

In 1964, Judy Love and her husband Tom (d. March 2023) established the truck stop and convenience store chain Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores. She and her four children now own the firm. Since 2014, her sons Greg and Frank have served as co-CEOs.

3. Judy Faulkner ($7.4 Billion)

In 1979, Judy Faulkner established Epic Systems in a Wisconsin basement. Faulkner, a computer programmer, is the CEO of the $4.6 billion (2022 revenues) corporation in which she controls a 47 per cent stake.

4. Lynda Resnick ($5.3 Billion)

Lynda Resnick and her husband Stewart are worth billions from cultivating fruits and nuts, almonds and oranges in California's Central Valley, to grapefruits in South Texas. They co-founded and continue to co-own the Wonderful Company, one of America's largest farming businesses. They are worth an estimated $10.6 billion as a couple.

5. Thai Lee ($4.8 Billion)

Thai Lee is the CEO of SHI International, a $14 billion (sales) IT company with 15,000 customers, including Boeing and AT&T. Lee was born in Bangkok and raised in South Korea before moving to the United States for high school.  

6. Johnelle Hunt ($4.4 Billion)

JB Hunt Transport Services was formed in 1969 by Johnelle Hunt and her husband Johnnie (d. 2006). They sold their home eight years ago to generate funds to establish a rice hull packing firm.

7. Gail Miller ($4.2 Billion)

Utah-based Gail Miller is the proprietor of the Larry H. Miller Group, which includes holdings in real estate, healthcare, banking, and entertainment. She and her late husband Larry (d. 2009) grew a single Toyota dealership into the eighth-largest car dealer group in the United States before selling it to Asbury Automotive for $3.2 billion in 2021.

8. Marian Ilitch ($4 Billion)

Marian Ilitch and her late husband, Mike, launched Little Caesars Pizza in 1959. Mrs I, as she is called, controls the pizza chain, which has annual systemwide sales of more than $4.5 billion.

9. Elizabeth Uihlein ($3.7 Billion)

Elizabeth Uihlein is the president of Uline, which supposedly is North America's largest distributor of shipping, packaging, and industrial supplies. Uline, headquartered in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, generates an estimated $6.1 billion by selling over 40,000 goods to businesses across the US through its 800+ page catalogue.

10. Peggy Cherng ($3.1 Billion)

Peggy Cherng is the co-founder and CEO of Panda Express, a $5.4 billion (estimated revenue) Chinese fast-food business with over 2,300 stores. She quit her engineering position in 1982 to assist her husband, Andrew Cherng, in opening Panda Express' first store in Los Angeles' second-biggest mall.