5 America’s Richest Female Celebrity Self-Made Billionaires of 2023

 

On June 1, Forbes published their 2023 list of America’s Richest Self-Made Women.

While Taylor Swift has made headlines for her staggering net worth of $740 million, which places her 34th on the list, she still has a long way to go to join the billionaire club.

When Forbes publishes its rich lists, questions about how the term “self-made” is defined sometimes arise. It claims to use a variety of criteria, including stock prices to value specific assets such as holdings in public firms. It interacts with experts to assist determine the worth of private enterprises. According to Forbes, women must have “substantially made their own fortunes” in the United States and/or be US citizens or permanent residents to be eligible.

Here are five female celebrities who made the list, ranging from fashion to technology, music, media, and beauty.

1. Oprah Winfrey – US$2.5 billion

Oprah Winfrey

Oprah Winfrey is the richest female self-made billionaire, according to Forbes, with a net worth of $2.5 billion. She was widely believed to have added 352 hectares of land on Maui to her already enormous property holdings on the Hawaiian island early this year. Her other real estate holdings are in California and Wyoming.

According to Forbes, Winfrey reinvests her Oprah Winfrey Show income in Harpo Productions and other business ventures. According to Variety, America’s favorite talk show host is also producing a musical picture The Color Purple with Steven Spielberg, which will premiere in North America on December 25.

 

2. Sheryl Sandberg – US$1.7 billion

Sandberg resigned down as COO of Facebook, now Meta, in 2022 to focus on humanitarian efforts. She is still on the board of the social media behemoth and has become recognized for her candor when it comes to women in the workplace. Her best-selling books, Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead and Lean In for Graduates, have become cultural touchstones. She worked as an economist at the World Bank before joining Facebook.

 

3. Rihanna – US$1.4 billion

Photo Credit: Dimitrios Kambouris

Rihanna made history by performing one of the most-watched Super Bowl half-time shows in history, attracting over 121 million viewers. She is the youngest self-made billionaire, at 35 years old, with a net worth of roughly US$1.4 billion.

Fenty Beauty, the make-up line she established in collaboration with LVMH in 2017, is by far her most valuable asset, with LVMH projecting that Fenty will have doubled its revenue by 2022.

In March, the Barbadian singer-actress-entrepreneur announced a Fenty x Puma collaboration between her beauty line and Puma, a move that Vogue says makes sense given the musician’s long-standing affinity with the brand.

 

4. Kim Kardashian – US$1.2 billion

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Kim Kardashian’s net worth has dropped by $600 million since last year, but it remains remarkable at $1.2 billion. According to Forbes, the value of Kardashian’s shapewear company Skims has decreased due to “lower value for publicly traded figures.” She owns 35% of Skims, which is her main source of income. The reality star-turned-entrepreneur also owns a private equity firm, SKKY Partners, and has a skin care line called SKKN by Kim, which has helped her revenue streams.

 

5. Tory Burch – US$1 billion

Tory Burch’s lifestyle brand sold around $1.75 billion in clothing, fragrances, and shoes in 2022. Burch definitely has an aggressive expansion strategy, with 370 locations worldwide. She founded the company in New York City in 2004 and, according to her website, has a strong focus on empowering women. Burch is the executive chairman and CEO of the Tory Burch Foundation, which provides women with access to cash and education to help them realize their goals.