Our Writers · 2026-10-22
The Richest Women in the World 2026: Alice Walton Leads a Top 10 Built on Family Empires
The richest woman in the world on 22 October 2026 is Alice Walton, daughter of Walmart founder Sam Walton, with an estimated $128 billion (Forbes Real-Time Billionaires).
The top 10
- Alice Walton — $128 B (Walmart, United States). 2. Françoise Bettencourt Meyers & family — $97.4 B (L'Oréal, France). 3. Julia Koch & family — $84.6 B (Koch, United States). 4. Jacqueline Mars — $50.3 B (Mars, United States). 5. Rafaela Aponte-Diamant — $46.6 B (shipping, Switzerland). 6. Iris Fontbona & family — $41.7 B (mining, Chile). 7. Abigail Johnson — $41.6 B (Fidelity, United States). 8. Savitri Jindal & family — $37.4 B (steel, India). 9. Marilyn Simons & family — $36.6 B (hedge funds, United States). 10. Melinda French Gates — $34.3 B (Microsoft, United States).
Keepers of family companies
Eight of the ten fortunes are shares in a company built by a father or a husband. Their achievement is the one in our article on how the rich stay rich: they kept control and let the company grow.
The co-founder exception
Rafaela Aponte-Diamant built the shipping group MSC together with her husband Gianluigi Aponte, which makes her one of the few women at the top with a founder's fortune.
Five countries
The list spans the United States, France, Switzerland, Chile and India — wider than the men's top 10, which is entirely American today.
Beyond the top 10
Daily updated list: The 10 richest women in the world.
Figures: Forbes Real-Time Billionaires and companiesmarketcap.com as shown on our rankings on 22 October 2026; net worth is an estimate and moves every trading day. This article is information, not financial advice.
Sources:
Forbes Real-Time Billionaires via our ranking; Самая богатая женщина России Татьяна Ким выступила на саммите моды BRICS+ (Spletnik); « Les plus riches paient trop peu d’impôts » : cette héritière millionnaire veut payer davantage (dna.fr).