Forbes magazine (USA) has just published a list of the country’s richest self-made female billionaires, with representatives mainly aged 70-80.
1. Diane Hendricks
Assets: 20.9 billion USD
Age: 77
Diane Hendricks is President of ABC Supply, one of the largest wholesalers of roofing, siding and windows in the United States. Diane and her husband co-founded the company in Beloit (Wisconsin) in 1982. She ran the company after his death in 2007.
Diane led ABC through two of the largest acquisitions in the company’s history. It acquired rival Bradco in 2010 and merged with construction materials company L&W Supply in 2016.
ABC Supply currently has more than 900 branches and achieved revenue of $20.4 billion last year. Hendricks also held the title of richest self-made female billionaire in America for many consecutive years.
2. Judy Love
Image:The Oklahoman
Assets: 11.6 billion USD
Age: 86
Judy Love and her husband founded the convenience store and truck stop chain Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores in 1964. They rented their first gas station in Watonga (Oklahoma) with a $5,000 loan from her husband’s parents.
Currently, she owns the company with her four children. Among them, sons Greg and Frank have been co-CEOs since 2014. Judy kept the books and ran the company until 1975. Love’s has more than 640 stores in 42 states and last year’s revenue reached 24 billion USD.
3. Judy Faulkner
Image: HIMSS
Assets: 7.6 billion USD
Age: 80
Originally a programmer, Judy Faulkner founded medical records software company Epic Systems in a basement in Wisconsin in 1979. She is currently CEO and owns 47% of the company.
Epic’s products are used by leading medical centers in the US such as Johns Hopkins and Mayo Clinic, with revenue last year reaching $4.9 billion. The company has never raised venture capital or carried out any mergers and acquisitions deals. In 2015, Judy signed a giving pledge, agreeing to give 99% of her assets to a private charity.
4. Thai Lee
Image: Siraj Iqbal
Assets: 6.8 billion USD
Age: 65
Thai Lee is the CEO of information technology company SHI International. The company currently has 15,000 customers, including Boeing and AT&T. Last year’s revenue reached 14 billion USD.
Thai was born in Bangkok, but grew up in Korea and then moved to the US for high school. She received an MBA from Harvard and worked at Procter & Gamble and American Express. In 1989, she and her ex-husband paid nearly a million USD to buy a software retailer – the predecessor of SHI later. Currently, she holds 60% of the company’s shares.
5. Elizabeth Uihlein
Image:Jake Hill
Assets: 6.7 billion USD
Age: 78
Elizabeth Uihlein is President of Uline – North America’s largest industrial materials packaging and distribution company, with 8,500 employees. Elizabeth and her husband founded Uline in a basement in 1980. The company is headquartered in Pleasant Prairie (Wisconsin), with revenue last year estimated at $8 billion.
6. Lynda Resnick
Image: Forbes
Assets: 5.6 billion USD
Age: 81
Lynda Resnick and her husband have made billions of dollars growing fruits and nuts across the United States. They co-founded and own Wonderful, one of the largest agricultural companies in the US.
Lynda dropped out of college at age 19 to start an advertising agency. She met her husband in the 1960s, when he was a customer of the company.
In addition to work, Lynda is currently focusing on charity. She pledged to spend more than 2 billion USD on climate change research activities.
7. Marian Ilitch
Image: AP
Assets: 4.6 billion USD
Age: 91
Marian Ilitch and her husband co-founded Little Caesars Pizza in 1959. This pizza chain last year earned more than $5 billion. She also owns the Detroit Red Wings NHL ice hockey team, the Detroit Tigers MLB baseball team and the MotorCity Casino hotel.
Marian is building a $1.4 billion sports and entertainment complex in Detroit.
8. Gail Miller
Image: AP
Assets: 4.4 billion USD
Age: 80
Gail Miller owns Larry H. Miller Group – a real estate, healthcare, finance and entertainment corporation. Gail and her husband turned a Toyota dealership into the eighth largest auto dealership in the US, before selling it to Asbury Automotive in 2021 for $3.2 billion.
She and her husband also bought the Utah Jazz NBA basketball team in 1986 for $22 million. In 2020, they agreed to sell it to billionaire Ryan Smith for $1.66 billion and still retain a small stake.
9. Johnelle Hunt
Image: Arkansas Business
Assets: 4.3 billion USD
Age: 92
Johnelle Hunt and her husband founded the trucking company JB Hunt Transport Services in 1969. JB Hunt Transport Services conducted an IPO in 1983 and is currently one of the largest transportation companies in the US, with revenue of 12.8 million. billion USD last year.
Johnelle no longer runs the company, but remains the largest individual shareholder, with an 18% stake.
10. Eren Ozmen
Image: Nevada Today
Assets: 3.7 billion USD
Age: 65
Eren Ozmen is the chairman and major shareholder of the private aerospace and defense company Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC). SNC’s Dream Chaser space plane has been contracted by the US Space Agency (NASA) to make at least 7 deliveries to the International Space Station (ISS).
Ozmen and her husband Fatih are both immigrants from Türkiye. They bought SNC in 1994 when the company had only 20 employees. In 2021, SNC separates the space segment, naming it Sierra Space. Sierra last year raised $290 million, thereby valuing it at $5.3 billion.