This is an archive article published on July 17, 2025
Top 10 richest self-made women in the world 2025: Falguni Nayar, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw make global list at #31 and #32
Top 10 richest self made women in the world 2025: Forbes’ 2025 list ranks Nykaa’s Falguni Nayar and Biocon’s Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw among the 50 wealthiest self-made women in the world.
Enlisted below are top 10 richest self-made women in the world 2025, including two notable richest Indian self-made women in the global top 50.
Top 10 richest self made women in the world 2025 Forbes list: In the modern world, women are leading the charge in entrepreneurship like never before. According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, there are over 658 million female founders and business owners worldwide.
Topping Forbes’ 2025 list is Rafaela Aponte-Diamant, co-founder of the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), with a net worth of $38.8 billion. The company is now the world’s largest shipping line.
In second place is Diane Hendricks of the United States of America, who co-founded ABC Supply, a major distributor of roofing and building materials, with an estimated net worth of $22.3 billion.
China, including Hong Kong, leads with 18 women in the top 50. Zhong Huijuan, a former chemistry teacher, is the richest among them, having founded Hansoh Pharmaceuticals in 1995. She gained global recognition in 1999 for developing a breakthrough lung cancer drug.
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Australia’s Melanie Perkins stands out as the youngest at 38 years old, renowned for co-founding Canva, a popular design software company, in 2013.
Top 10 Richest Self-Made Women in the World 2025:
Rank
Name
Net Worth
Country
Industry
Company
1
Rafaela Aponte-Diamant
$38.8B
Switzerland
Shipping
Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC)
2
Diane Hendricks
$22.3B
United States
Building supplies
ABC Supply
3
Zhong Huijuan
$15.6B
China
Pharmaceuticals
Hansoh Pharmaceutical
4
Zhou Qunfei
$10B
Hong Kong
Smartphone screens
Lens Technology
5
Denise Coates
$8.5B
United Kingdom
Online gambling
Bet365
6
Judy Faulkner
$7.8B
United States
Healthcare software
Epic Systems
7
Wang Laichun
$7.2B
Hong Kong
Electronics components
Luxshare Precision Industry Co., Ltd. (Luxshare-ICT)
8
Marian Ilitch & family
$6.9B
United States
Little Caesars Pizza
Ilitch Holdings (Little Caesars Pizza, Detroit Red Wings, Detroit Tigers, etc.)
Forbes’ world’s 50 richest self-made women are from 13 countries and four continents, with none from Africa or South America in 2025. (Source: Forbes)
The Richest Self-Made Women in India 2025
Former investment banker, Falguni Nayar, with an estimated net worth of $3.4B, founded Nykaa, a retailer of beauty products, in 2012, and ranks #31 among the richest self-made women in the world in 2025. Nayar took Nykaa public in 2021, which made her India’s richest self-made female entrepreneur in the process.
Following her at #32 is Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, one of India’s richest self-made women, who founded biopharmaceutical firm Biocon in 1978, with a net worth of $3.3B.
Enlisted below are top 10 richest self-made women in the world 2025, including two notable richest Indian self-made women in the global top 50. 
Forbes’ world’s 50 richest self-made women are from 13 countries and four continents, with none from Africa or South America in 2025. (Source: Forbes)
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