3 of the Richest Self-Made Women’s Advice on Building Wealth
Written by
Cara Danielle Brown
Edited by
Cory Dudak
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Forbes recently ranked America’s 100 richest self-made women. Those who made the cut consisted of successful entrepreneurs, executives and entertainers “with fortunes originating in everything from cars to cosmetics to Chardonnay.”
As any accomplished individual knows, becoming rich and successful without financial assistance or professional connections is tough in and of itself; doing so while female adds additional hurdles.
GOBankingRates wanted to know: what advice would the richest three women on the list give other women looking to follow in their footsteps?
Diane Hendricks
Owner and chair of ABC Supply, “one of the largest wholesale distributors of roofing, siding and windows in the U.S.,” 78-year-old Diane Hendricks topped Forbes’ list with an impressive $22.3 billion net worth.
Having larger dreams than working on the dairy farm where she grew up, Hendricks thought about an entrepreneurial future from a young age and never took her eye off the prize. While getting pregnant at seventeen may have side-tracked others, Hendricks took a job working as a Playboy Bunny at Lake Geneva Playboy Club in the 1960’s — a fact from which she never hides or apologizes because it gave her enough money to raise her child and pursue her dreams. It’s this foundational perseverance, pragmatism and unabashed nature that helped play a key role in her eventual success.
“I don’t believe in quitting,” Hendricks previously told Forbes. “You quit, you’re done.”
Hendrick’s second husband was a roofer. After the two tried unsuccessfully to develop a series of other businesses, Hendricks keenly observed that manufacturers of building supplies doubled as distributors and effectively ran the industry. There was no intermediary distribution chain to help provide lower, more competitive prices for customers. Hendricks and her husband acquired a $900,000 loan and pledged their entire savings to fill this gap. ABC Supply currently has over 900 branch locations — and a 2024 revenue of $20.7 billion. Along the way, Hendricks has stated she always surrounded herself with people of integrity.
Per CNBC, “the secret to their success […] was filling a gap in the market — and raising the standard of respect and professionalism in contracting.”
Judy Faulker
Founder and CEO of Epic Systems, a medical-record software provider, 81-year-old Judy Faulkner holds the No. 2 ranking with a $7.8 billion net worth. A humble computer programmer, Faulkner never desired wealth or a lavish lifestyle; entrepreneurship was nowhere on her bingo card. Instead, she was driven solely by her passion to help people and solve problems — and this commitment to a larger purpose has accidentally proven lucrative.
The daughter of a pharmacist and a physician, Faulkner saw the inefficiency and fragmentation of medical records-keeping in the late 1970’s and developed software to centralize all patient data. Others recognized the profitability of her innovation and convinced her to start a company after she initially resisted. Today, her system of electronic health records is used by almost 2400 hospitals worldwide. Faulkner never even charged customers for infection-control software during the Covid pandemic.
Staying true to her values and never selling out, Faulkner has unwaveringly rejected outside investors, instead choosing to grow the company slowly in order to maintain control over it and do quality work. In the end, it was the right choice. Faulkner explained to Forbes, it’s “perseverance, speaking out and speaking your mind and taking a stand on things” that helped her maintain her vision–and consequently build an empire. As a result, Epic still makes all of its own software in-house.
When asked how she felt about being one of the only women leaders in software, Faulkner characteristically responded selflessly: she doesn’t really think about it much, she’s just a person who wants to do good work.
Marian Ilitch (and Family)
Co-founder of Little Caesars Pizza and chair of Ilitch Holdings, 92-year-old Marian Ilitch holds the third spot with a net worth of $6.9 billion. The daughter of immigrants, Ilitch got her start in hospitality filling napkin dispensers in her father’s restaurant. After marrying her husband, the two opened up a restaurant of their own.
However, after having seven children, Ilitch was faced with wanting to both stay home with her kids and go to work — an all-too common conundrum many women face. Ultimately, Ilitch made the tough yet pivotal decision to work outside the home. When it came to building her success, Ilitch found it crucial to be honest with herself even if it was unpopular, stating she’s an achiever first and a woman second.
A risk-taker by nature, Ilitch and her husband invested their family savings to open the very first Little Caesars location in Garden City, Michigan. And with big risk came big reward — there are currently thousands of locations worldwide, 80% of which are franchise-owned (according to the company’s official website).
But Ilitch hasn’t always gotten it perfectly out the gate. In fact, she attributes much of her success to her willingness to make mistakes. Back in 2012, she told Crain’s Detroit Business, “If you think you won’t make mistakes, you’re in a dream world. And you’re never going to be a risk-taker if you don’t [make them].”
Another key ingredient in amassing her fortune has been her thirst for knowledge and her real-world commitment to learning from those around her — to which she attributes her strong understanding of finance and business. Fittingly, much of her wealth has come from her own sound investments and acquisitions. Per CNBC, Ilitch Holdings currently owns Detroit’s MotorCity Casino hotel, the Detroit Red Wings, the Detroit Tigers and Olympia Entertainment.
“Not a day has gone by when I didn’t learn something from someone,” said Ilitch. “If they can do it better than me, I can learn something from them. That’s how I’ve always done it, and I started from the ground up.”
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