How long did it take the richest self-made women in America to become billionaires?

When most people think of billionaires, they’re probably imagining the likes of Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos or Mark Zuckerberg. For a long time, these names have shaped our understanding of what it means to accumulate immense wealth. While their success stories are impressive, there’s no denying the fact that for decades, the billionaire club has been overwhelmingly male. Women have historically only made up a fraction of the list, but that’s slowly changing. More and more women are building immense fortunes, and they’re doing it on their own terms. Whether they’re creating tech startups, making savvy investments, building fashion empires or becoming global stars, these women are taking charge and breaking records in their own right. Billionaire pop stars, talk show hosts and business tycoons might seem larger than life, but many of them are proof that success can come from anywhere and anyone.

But how long does it take to go from a big idea to billionaire status? In this report from Ooma, we tracked the timelines of the richest self-made women in America to find out who’s cashing in and how quickly they did it.

Note: The Forbes Self-Made Score is used to rank wealthy individuals based on how much of their fortune was earned through their own efforts versus inherited wealth. The score ranges from 1-10 with 1-5 indicating that some or all of their fortune was inherited, while 6 through 10 signify that they have primarily built their wealth themselves through founding companies or a career in entertainment. Only women with a self-made score of 8, 9 or 10 were included.

The fast-trackers

Rihanna gained popular acclaim as early as 2005 with the release of her first studio album. However, while her music made Rihanna a household name, the bulk of her wealth comes from her makeup line, Fenty Beauty, which launched in 2017. The musician hit billionaire status just four years later in 2021, at the age of 37.

Also clocking in at the four-year mark is Daniela Amodei, co-founder of Anthropic. Her work in AI has netted her $1.2 billion, proving that building immense wealth from tech is possible for any gender.

Theresia Gouw joins them at the top with a six-year sprint. A savvy investor and entrepreneur, she’s been named to Forbes’s 100 Most Powerful Women list, and for good reason. From Aspect Ventures to Acrew Capital, her career has been a masterclass in smart investment and shattering the glass ceiling.

Other early success stories

Some billionaires don’t reach the top seemingly overnight. Lucy Guo, for example, became the youngest self-made female billionaire in 2025 at age 30. She launched Scale AI in 2016, followed by Passes, and she steadily built a name for herself in machine learning and creator monetization.

Michelle Zatlyn, co-founder of Cloudflare, reached the milestone after 14 years. Her focus on internet performance and security helped push her net worth into the billions alongside other tech juggernauts by 2023.

And of course, no self-made female billionaire list would be complete without the iconic story of Oprah Winfrey, one of the richest female entertainers in the United States. Seventeen years after The Oprah Winfrey Show launched in 1986, she officially joined the billionaire club in 2003. Today, Winfrey’s net worth stands at an impressive $3 billion.

The 18-to-30-year club

Not every journey is a sprint, but reaching the finish line is still an incredible feat. Taylor Swift spent 18 years building her brand, touring the world and taking ownership of her music. In 2023, she became the first woman to reach billionaire status purely through her music.

Sheila Johnson joined the club 21 years after she co-founded Black Entertainment Television (BET), becoming the first Black female billionaire when the network was sold to Viacom in 2001. Her wealth has since grown through her work in hospitality and sports, making her one of the most influential women in business today.

Understanding how to capitalize on a niche market, Sara Blakely built Spanx from scratch and hit the billion-dollar mark in 2022, 22 years after launch. Similarly, Diane Hendricks, a powerhouse in the construction and roofing industry, has a net worth that now stands at nearly $22 billion, 26 years after the launch of ABC Supply. Today, she holds the title of wealthiest female self-made billionaire in the U.S.

In the 18-to-30-year age group, some famous billionaires aren’t actually billionaires at all. Despite claims that Kylie Jenner, of Keeping Up With the Kardashians fame, was a billionaire, documents revealed that her net worth was not as high as was previously claimed. Forbes has her net worth listed at $670 million as of June, 2025.

Marathoners

Some success stories really do age like fine wine, like that of Barbara Banke, who reached billionaire status in 2024, 42 years after founding Jackson Family Wines.

And then there’s Alice Schwartz, co-founder of Bio-Rad Laboratories. She started her journey in 1952 and didn’t become a billionaire until 2020 — 68 years later! At 98 years old, she proves that wealth can happen at any time in one’s life with enough perseverance, patience and skill.

What can we learn from the wealthiest women in America?

There’s a myth that if you haven’t made it by 30, 40 or even 50, your chance is gone. However, these women prove that the timeline to success isn’t fixed. Whether it takes four years or four decades, success grows from consistency, creativity and a willingness to take risks.

From female CEOs running tech companies to entertainers like Rihanna and Taylor Swift, who are turning their fame into formidable fortunes, women in business are rewriting the rules. The richest women in the United States come from all walks of life, and their stories reflect the varied paths one can take to build wealth. Some had viral products. Others built tech firms or investment funds. Some became cultural icons. But all of them made moves that transformed their careers into something much bigger than a paycheck.

Whether you’re leading a startup, managing a small team or still sketching your business plan on napkins, these female billionaires show that there’s no single playbook to success: It’s more about keeping momentum, not racing to the top.

At Ooma, we believe that communication is at the heart of every successful venture. Our business phone solutions help keep teams in sync, clients happy and ideas flowing. As you build your empire, know that we’re here to help you stay connected every step of the way.

The richest self-made women in America, ranked by the number of years it took to become a billionaire

The Forbes Self-Made Score is used to rank wealthy individuals based on how much of their fortune was earned through their own efforts versus inherited wealth. The score ranges from 1-10 with 1-5 indicating that some or all of their fortune was inherited, while 6 through 10 signify that they have primarily built their wealth themselves through founding companies or a career in entertainment. Only women with a self-made score of 8, 9 or 10 were included.

In the case of a tied number of years, the woman with a higher initial net worth or higher current net worth took precedence.

Sources

https://www.forbes.com/self-made-women/

https://www.forbes.com/billionaires/

https://www.wikipedia.org/