The women on the 2026 Forbes 400 added a combined 82 billion dollars to their fortunes over the past year, lifting their collective worth to 954 billion. The 62 women on the roster of the richest Americans now stand about 46 billion short of the trillion dollar threshold, a line they could cross within a year if markets stay firm.
Alice Walton held her place as the wealthiest woman in the country and the only one with a fortune above 100 billion dollars. Forbes valued the Walmart heir at 118 billion, a sum resting on her stake in the retailer her father built, and rising shares in the company have kept her comfortably ahead of the rest of the field.
Julia Koch and her family ranked second at 84.6 billion dollars, ahead of candy heir Jacqueline Mars at 50.3 billion. Abigail Johnson, who leads the investment firm Fidelity, placed fourth at 41.6 billion, and Marilyn Simons and her family followed at 36.6 billion. Much of the wealth held by women on the list still traces to inheritance, though the share that has been earned directly is growing. As a group the women’s total climbed from 872 billion dollars a year earlier, an increase spread across retail, finance and technology holdings.
The most closely watched newcomer was Daniela Amodei, president and co-founder of the artificial intelligence company Anthropic, who entered the ranking at 15.5 billion dollars. That debut made her the youngest woman on the Forbes 400 and the second-richest self-made woman in the country, a reflection of how fast the boom in AI has minted new fortunes.
For all the gains, women still make up only about 16 percent of the full list, a reminder that the highest reaches of American wealth remain dominated by men. This year’s record entry price of 4.4 billion dollars raised the bar for everyone and pushed several women who had appeared in earlier editions off the list, though additions at the top helped offset those departures. Even so, the steady climb in their combined total marks a slow change in who controls the country’s largest fortunes.
