The Hurun Research Institute released its Hurun Richest Self-Made Women in the World 2026 list on March 17, 2026. This page summarizes what the Hurun release reports. Wealth figures are Hurun’s estimates as of January 15, 2026. We have not verified them independently, and they are not our own estimates of anyone’s wealth.
Corrected: October 2026 (unsupported figures removed; not a full re-verification)
This page includes reported figures from Hurun’s release, not estimates of personal wealth. Rankings and wealth values for anyone not named below are not established by the sources reviewed here.
Who is the richest self-made woman in the world in 2026?
According to Hurun, Diane Hendricks, 79, of Wisconsin-based ABC Supply, retained the top spot with US$24 billion. Hurun said it was the second time she had held it. Hurun ranked Zhong Huijuan of drug maker Hansoh second with US$23 billion and called her the biggest riser, more than doubling her wealth in three years. It ranked Zhou Qunfei of Lens Technology third with US$12.2 billion.
What else did Hurun report about the 2026 list?
- Size: 150 self-made women billionaires from 20 countries, with 60 new faces. Hurun said the comparison is with its list from 2023.
- Where they are: China 78 (52%), the US 40 and the UK 5.
- Top new entrant: Zhou Chaonan of data center provider Range Technology, at US$8.5 billion.
- Others named by Hurun: Judy Faulkner of Epic Systems, ranked 6th; Denise Coates of Bet365, US$9.2 billion; Fan Hongwei of Hengli, US$8.5 billion.
- Industries: healthcare led with 16 self-made women billionaires, ahead of retail (13) and software and services and industrial products (12 each).
- Youngest: Kylie Jenner, 28, at US$1.2 billion.
Which AI founders did Hurun name?
Hurun described AI as a new wealth category with four new faces:
- Daniela Amodei of Anthropic, US$3.7 billion
- Lucy Guo of Scale AI, US$1.3 billion
- Lisa Su of AMD, US$1.2 billion
- Mira Murati of Thinking Machines Lab, US$1.2 billion
Other estimates of these founders’ wealth, including higher ones for Amodei, are not established by the sources reviewed here.
How many women are billionaires overall?
Hurun said 680 women appear on its Global Rich List 2026, 17% of the world’s billionaires, and that 22% of them are self-made and 78% inherited their wealth.
What was removed from this page?
Earlier unsourced figures and claims were removed, including a top-10 table whose rankings and values did not match the Hurun release, company revenue and location counts, biographical details and forecasts.
