Top 15 Most Popular Female Entrepreneurs to Follow in 2024

Looking for the most famous female entrepreneurs in the world? You’re in the right place.

When it comes to entrepreneurship, there are too many males starting from Jeff Bezos to Bill Gates to Mark Zuckerberg, and many more.

But female entrepreneurs are not far too behind as there are a few women entrepreneurs who’re actually changing the world.  

In this post, you’ll discover interesting things like;

  • Top 15 famous women entrepreneurs 
  • Their brief biography
  • Their current net worth
  • What one can learn from their success and many more

So are you ready? Let’s get started without much ado.  

15 Famous Female Entrepreneurs Who Are Changing the World

Famous Female Entrepreneurs

1. Oprah Winfrey 

oprah

Who is Oprah Winfrey?

Oprah Winfrey is an American talk show host (The Oprah Winfrey Show), actress, author, and philanthropist. 

Her talk show “The Oprah Winfrey Show” was America’s first lady of talk shows and the number one talk show for 24 consecutive seasons where she interviewed a ton of celebrities.

Oprah is also the author of some of the best-selling books including;

  • What Happened to You?: Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing
  • What I Know for Sure
  • The Path Made Clear: Discovering Your Life’s Direction and Purpose
  • The Wisdom of Sundays: Life-Changing Insights and Inspirational Conversations 
  • And many more

Oprah Winfrey Biography:

  • Oprah Winfrey Age: 67 years old
  • Birth Date: 29 January 1954
  • Birth Place: Kosciusko, Mississippi, United States
  • Nationality: American

What’s the net worth of Oprah Winfrey?

Oprah Winfrey’s net worth is $3.5 billion.

What can we learn from Oprah Winfrey?

Take risks. If there’s only one lesson we can all learn from Oprah’s massive success, it is this: “Don’t be afraid to try something new and take risks”. 


2. Sheryl Sandberg 

sheryl

Who is Sheryl Sandberg?

Sheryl Sandberg is the Chief Operating Officer of Facebook (COO) at Facebook since 2008 and has helped Facebook grow to profitability and become the $900 billion company that it is today.

Sheryl is also the founder of LeanIn.Org and the co-author of two books: “Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead”, and “Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy”.

Sheryl Sandberg Biography:

  • Sheryl Sandberg Age: 52 years old
  • Birth Date: 28 August 1969
  • Birth Place: Washington, D.C., United States
  • Nationality: American

What’s the net worth of Sheryl Sandberg?

Sheryl Sandberg has an estimated net worth of $1.9 billion.

What can we learn from Sheryl Sandberg?

Make opportunities. Sheryl was elected to Facebook’s board of directors and she was also the first woman to serve on Facebook’s board. She always created opportunities. 

Don’t wait for the next big thing to do. The key to leading a successful business life is to either take opportunities or make opportunities. 


3. Tory Burch

tory burch

Who is Tory Burch?

Tory Burch is an American fashion designer, businesswoman, and CEO of her own fashion brand Tory Burch. 

Tory was listed as the 88th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes in 2020 and she mostly sells lifestyle apparel including women’s clothing, designer handbags, women’s shoes & more. Her fashion brand generates over 1.5 billion dollars in annual revenue.

Tory Burch Biography:

  • Tory Burch Age: 55 years old
  • Birth Date: 17 June 1966
  • Birth Place: Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, United States
  • Nationality: American

What’s the net worth of Tory Burch?

Tory Burch has an estimated net worth of $1 billion.

What can we learn from Tory Burch?

Learn to enjoy the journey. Success in life and business requires hard work and dedication for years. If you don’t enjoy the process of building your business, you’ll regret it later.

You’ll be happy when you have achieved what you want to achieve if you enjoy the journey. So make sure to enjoy the ride to make your business journey a more pleasant experience.


4. Arianna Huffington 

arianna

Who is Arianna Huffington?

Arianna Huffington was the founder of The Huffington Post, which was later acquired by AOL in 2011 for a whopping amount of $315 million. 

She’s currently the founder and CEO of Thrive Global and published 15 books so far. Arianna is one of the powerful female entrepreneurs and has been named to Time Magazine’s list of the world’s 100 most influential people. 

Arianna is the author of some of the best-selling books that include;

  • Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder
  • The Sleep Revolution: Transforming Your Life, One Night at a Time
  • Third World America: How Our Politicians Are Abandoning the Middle Class and Betraying the American Dream
  • On Becoming Fearless: A road map for women

Arianna Huffington Biography:

  • Arianna Huffington Age: 71 years old
  • Birth Date: 15 July 1950
  • Birth Place: Athens, Greece
  • Nationality: Greek-American

What’s the net worth of Arianna Huffington?

Arianna Huffington has a net worth of $100 million.

What can we learn from Arianna Huffington?

Follow one thing until it succeeds. Many people I know launch too many things at once. They don’t focus on ONE thing at a time. 

If you want to be a successful entrepreneur like Arianna, focus on one thing: follow one course until success. That’s exactly what Arianna did when she founded the Huffington post. 

That’s exactly what she’s doing now with her new business Thrive Global which is now valued at $120 million.


5. Indra Nooyi 

indra nooyi

Who is Indra Nooyi?

Indra Nooyi has to be described as one of the most powerful and famous female entrepreneurs in the world. 

Indra Nooyi is the former chairperson and CEO of PepsiCo. Indra Nooyi was ranked at #13 on the Forbes list of The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women in 2014 and in 2021, she was listed in the National Women’s Hall of Fame.

Indra Nooyi Biography:

  • Indra Nooyi Age: 66 years old
  • Birth Date: 28 October 1955
  • Birth Place: Tamil Nadu, India
  • Nationality: Indian

What’s the net worth of Indra Nooyi?

Indra Nooyi has an estimated net worth of over $290 million. 

What can we learn from Indra Nooyi?

Love your job. Be passionate about your work. In one of the interviews, Nooyi said, “most of your life will be spent while doing a job or work; make sure that it fills your heart with joy”. 

The main reason for Indra Nooyi’s huge success is that she’s passionate about her job. That’s why she was able to become the CEO of a massive company like PepsiCo. 

In case you don’t find what you love, move to another career or profession. But make sure to do what you’re passionate about and find happiness in whatever you do.


6. Melanie Perkins 

melanie

Who is Melanie Perkins?

Melanie Perkins is one of the youngest entrepreneurs who is currently the CEO and co-founder of Canva.

In case you’re curious, Canva is one of the most popular graphic design platforms that’s used to create blog post images, infographics, social media graphics, and more. Her company Canva is currently valued at over 40 billion dollars.  

Canva currently has over 60 million monthly users and more than 500K paying subscriptions from all over the world.

Melanie Perkins Biography:

  • Melanie Perkins Age: 34 years old
  • Birth Date:1987
  • Birth Place: Perth, Australia
  • Nationality: Australian

What’s the net worth of Melanie Perkins?

Melanie Perkins has an estimated net worth of over $8 billion.

What can we learn from Melanie Perkins?

Always work on your dreams. Melanie is just 34 years old and her company Canva is worth billions of dollars. The reason she was able to build such a huge business is that she knew what she’s passionate about.

She always wanted to help others create designs and graphics with ease (without having to learn a lot of stuff). That’s how Canva was born as it’s an extremely easy-to-use tool that anyone can use to create stunning graphics including logos, banners, etc.


7. Leah Busque

leah busque

Who is Leah Busque?

Leah Busque is the most innovative technology female entrepreneur who founded TaskRabbit in 2008. 

TaskRabbit’s annual revenue is currently over $140 million per year and her company helps customers to find instant help with everyday tasks.

Leah Busque Biography:

  • Leah Busque Age: 42 years old
  • Birth Date: 15 November 1979
  • Birth Place: Unavailable 
  • Nationality: American

What’s the net worth of Leah Busque?

Leah Busque has a net worth of $17 million.

What can we learn from Leah Busque?

Learn how you can save others’ time. One of the best ways to get rich as an entrepreneur is to help people save their time. That’s what Leah Busque did when she founded “TaskRabbit”.

Her company TaskRabbit is a platform where one can find freelance labor who can help you with day-to-day tasks such as cleaning, furniture repair, plumbing, moving, and more. 


8. Caterina Fake

caterina fake

Who is Caterina Fake?

Caterina Fake is an American female entrepreneur who co-founded the most popular image and video hosting service “Flickr” in 2004. Flickr has over 112 million users worldwide.

Caterina Fake Biography:

  • Caterina Fake Age: 52 years old
  • Birth Date: 13 June 1969
  • Birth Place: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
  • Nationality: American

What’s the net worth of Caterina Fake?

Caterina Fake has an estimated net worth of over $25 million.

What can we learn from Caterina Fake?

Invest as much as you can. Caterina is one of the smartest female entrepreneurs who knew the value of investing since the beginning of her career.

Whether you know it or not, she invested in a ton of successful companies including Etsy, Cloudera, Blue Bottle Coffee, Kickstarter, Hipcamp, and many more.

She’s also the founder of popular websites such as Flickr, Hunch, Sesat School, and more. Caterina is also the host of the podcast “Should this Exist?” which is one of the best Tech Podcasts on Apple Podcasts.


9. Cher Wang 

cher wang

Who is Cher Wang?

Cher Wang is one of the most powerful female entrepreneurs in the world who has founded the HTC Corporation in 1997. 

If you’re not aware, HTC Corporation is a smartphone manufacturer that’s based in Taiwan. Cher Wang is listed as the 54th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes in 2014. 

Cher Wang Biography:

  • Cher Wang Age: 63 years old
  • Birth Date: 14 September 1958
  • Birth Place: Taipei, Taiwan
  • Nationality: Taiwanese

What’s the net worth of Cher Wang?

Cher Wang has an estimated net worth of over 1.1 billion dollars. 

What can we learn from Cher Wang?

Step out of your comfort zone. No matter what industry you’re in, you’ll grow only when you come out of your comfort zone. Do things that make you scary. That’s how you grow.

Cher Wang always wanted to make mobile phones and that’s what led her to become the co-founder and CEO of one of the popular smartphone makers HTC.


10. Sophia Amoruso 

sophia

Who is Sophia Amoruso?

Sophia Christina Amoruso is an American female entrepreneur, a New York Times bestselling author, and the founder of Nasty Gal.

In case you don’t know, Nasty Gal is an American retailing company that sells lifestyle products for young women. It was founded in 2006 and currently has customers from over 50 countries. 

Sophia Amoruso Biography:

  • Sophia Amoruso Age: 37 years old
  • Birth Date: 20 April 1984
  • Birth Place: San Diego, California, United States
  • Nationality: American

What’s the net worth of Sophia Amoruso?

Sophia Amoruso’s net worth is around $25 million.

What can we learn from Sophia Amoruso?

Be bold. The best way to realize your true potential is to take bold risks. Sophia launched Nasty Gal in 2006 and because of her risk-taking mindset, she grew that company into one of the fastest-growing companies. 

Whatever you want to do or dream about doing, start taking action. Don’t hold back. No matter what field you’re in, dream big, take big risks, and be fearless. 


11. Lori Greiner

lori

Who is Lori Greiner?

Lori Greiner is an American jewelry designer, inventor, and entrepreneur. She’s also famous for being a judge in the American reality television show “Shark Tank”. 

Lori Greiner Biography:

  • Lori Greiner Age: 52 years old
  • Birth Date: 9 December 1969
  • Birth Place: Chicago, Illinois, United States
  • Nationality: American

What’s the net worth of Lori Greiner?

Lori Greiner has a net worth of $150 million.

What can we learn from Lori Greiner?

Always invest and launch new products. Did you know that Lori Greiner created over 500 products and holds over 120 patents? Yes, Lori always launches new products to make the world a better place. 

If you want to be as successful as Lori, stop being a perfectionist and create as many products as you can. Make sure to keep improving with every product you launch. 


12. Folorunsho Alakija

folorunsho

Who is Folorunsho Alakija?

Folorunsho Alakija is a Nigerian billionaire businesswoman and one of the successful black female entrepreneurs. She is currently the Group MD of The Rose of Sharon Group and is involved in the fashion, oil, real estate, and printing industries.

Folorunsho Alakija was listed as the 96th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes in 2014 and Benson Idahosa University gave her an honorary Doctorate Degree in 2021.

Folorunsho Alakija Biography:

  • Folorunsho Alakija Age: 70 years old
  • Birth Date: 15 July 1951
  • Birth Place: Ikorodu, Nigeria
  • Nationality: Nigerian

What’s the net worth of Folorunsho Alakija?

Folorunsho Alakija has an estimated net worth of $1 billion.

What can we learn from Folorunsho Alakija?

There are no overnight success stories. Stop looking for shortcuts as you need to work extremely hard for years (if not decades) to be a successful entrepreneur like Alakija. 

Remember, every step is a struggle in business. When you look for shortcuts, you’ll miss so many opportunities to build a long-lasting business. 

Alakija knew from the beginning that nothing is handed to you and she worked really hard to reach where she’s now. Success is a marathon, not an event or a sprint. If you work really hard for several years with consistency and dedication, you’ll also achieve great things like Alakija. 


13. Susan Wojcicki

susan

Who is Susan Wojcicki?

Susan Wojcicki is currently the CEO of YouTube. She was graduated with (BA) from Harvard University and started her first business by selling “spice ropes” door-to-door when she was only 11 years.

Here’s an interesting fact about Susan: Did you know that Google was founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin in a garage back in 1998? 

It was Susan’s garage as she was involved in the founding of Google and became Google’s first marketing manager a year later in 1999.

Susan Wojcicki Biography:

  • Susan Wojcicki Age: 53 years old
  • Birth Date: 5 July 1968
  • Birth Place: Santa Clara County, California, United States
  • Nationality: Polish-American

What’s the net worth of Susan Wojcicki?

Susan Wojcicki has a net worth of over $815 million.

What can we learn from Susan Wojcicki?

Surround yourself with the right people. One of the biggest reasons for Susan’s success is that she is surrounded by people like Larry Page and Sergey Brin.

If you want to be successful in business, do everything you can to have a supportive group of people around you. 

Psychologists say that “When you surround yourself with successful people, they consciously challenge you to live the best version of yourself”. Want to succeed in life and business? Do what Susan did: network with successful people around you. It’s as simple as that.


14. Judy Faulkner

judy

Who is Judy Faulkner?

Judy Faulkner is one of the richest female entrepreneurs in the world. She’s also the CEO and founder of Epic Systems which is a popular healthcare software company. 

Judy Faulkner Biography:

  • Judy Faulkner Age: 78 years old
  • Birth Date: August 1943 
  • Birth Place: New Jersey, United States
  • Nationality: American

What’s the net worth of Judy Faulkner?

Judy Faulkner has an estimated net worth of $5.5 billion dollars.

What can we learn from Judy Faulkner?

Always do your best and prepare for the worst. After the first few goals are achieved, most entrepreneurs face a lot of challenges that are hard to overcome. Here’s where you need to stay strong and believe in yourself to achieve your goals. 


15. Lynda Resnick

lynda

Who is Lynda Resnick?

Lynda Resnick is an American businesswoman, billionaire, and philanthropist. She’s the one who’s behind The Wonderful Company which has revenues of over 4 billion dollars.

Lynda Resnick Biography:

  • Lynda Resnick Age: 78 years old
  • Birth Date: 1943
  • Birth Place: Baltimore, Maryland, United States
  • Nationality: American

What’s the net worth of Lynda Resnick?

Lynda Resnick’s net worth is over $5 billion. 

What can we learn from Lynda Resnick?

Embrace your failures. In her decades of experience in business and life, Lynda has experienced a ton of failures but she never gave up. In fact, she starter her business journey at the age of 19 as she founded an advertising agency called Lynda Limited.

Since then, she has been launching and developing new companies and businesses and growing their revenues multifold. If you want to be as successful as Lynda, 

Read: Best Digital Marketing Quotes That Will Motivate You More in 2024
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Top 10 Inspirational Quotes by the Famous Female Entrepreneurs

Are you looking for motivational quotes from the most popular female entrepreneurs? Here’s a handpicked collection of top 10 quotes by female entrepreneurs all around the world. 

There is no perfect fit when you’re looking for the next big thing to do. You have to take opportunities and make an opportunity fit for you, rather than the other way around. The ability to learn is the most important quality a leader can have. – Sheryl Sandberg, Chief Operating Officer of Facebook

I wake up every morning and think to myself, ‘How far can I push the company forward in the next 24 hours? – Leah Busque, founder and CEO of TaskRabbit

Take a stand. Be known for your courage and confidence. – Indra Nooyi, Chief Executive Officer of The Pepsi

To live the lives we truly want and deserve, and not just the lives we settle for, we need a third measure of success that goes beyond money and power, and consists of four pillars: well-being, wisdom, wonder, and giving. – Arianna Huffington, Founder, and CEO of Thrive Global

So often people are working hard at the wrong thing. Working on the right thing is probably more important than working hard. – Caterina Fake, Co-founder, Flickr

I roll out of bed in the morning, whenever I want, and I work right away because, to me, that’s the life. That’s freedom. The whole point for me is that I love the freedom of being an entrepreneur that I do what I want to do when I want to do it. – Lori Greiner, ∙Inventor & Entrepreneur

You have to be savvy and sharp and also straightforward with your customer. I think that authenticity is really important. – Tory Burch, Chief Executive Officer of Tory Burch

Abandon anything about your life and habits that might be holding you back. Learn to create your own opportunities. Know that there is no finish line; fortune favors action. Race balls out toward the extraordinary life that you’ve always dreamed of, or still haven’t had time to dream up. And prepare to have a hell of a lot of fun along the way. – Sophia Amoruso, Founder of Nasty Gal and the Founder and CEO of Girlboss

Sometimes you climb the mountain, and you fall and fail. Maybe there is a different path that will take you up. Sometimes a different mountain. – Caterina Fake, Co-Founder of Flickr

Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough. – Oprah Winfrey,  TV host, entrepreneur,  and billionaire philanthropist


FAQs | Women Entrepreneurs to Follow in 2024

Here are some of the most frequently asked questions about women entrepreneurs.

Who is the richest female entrepreneur in the world?

Oprah Winfrey is the richest female entrepreneur in the world as she has an estimated net worth of over $3.5 billion.

Who are the young female entrepreneurs?

Here are some of the youngest female entrepreneurs in the world.

– Hannah Grace
– Sophia Amoruso
– Avye Couloute
– Sue Bryce

Who are the famous female entrepreneurs?

Here’s a list of a few famous female entrepreneurs.

– Oprah Winfrey
– Indra Nooyi
– Leah Busque
– Cher Wang
– Lori Griener 

Who is an entrepreneur? 

An entrepreneur is one who starts a side hustle (or startup) that can eventually create a sustainable business with employees in the long run. 

Who was the first woman entrepreneur?

Madam C. J. Walker was an American female entrepreneur who is recorded as the first female self-made millionaire in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Few More Entrepreneur Related Articles:


Final thoughts on the top female entrepreneurs 

Entrepreneurship is a rollercoaster ride. You need to face a lot of challenges and overcome them in order to succeed.

All the female entrepreneurs mentioned on this page have gone through a ton of challenges, created life-changing products, and built sustainable businesses.

So what are your views on the famous women entrepreneurs mentioned here? Who’s your favorite? Did we miss any of your favorite entrepreneurs on the list? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.

About Author
Anil Agarwal is the Founder of Bloggerspassion. He is a full-time blogger and SEO expert who has been helping people build profitable blogs for over a decade Now. He has been featured in Over 100 Publications including Forbes, The HuffPost, HubSpot, Shopify, Semrush, Kinsta, Bluehost, Hostinger and G2.com etc. Know more about Anil Agarwal from here.

Reader Comment (1)

  1. This list gives me much hope and encourages me that all things are possible. I especially the reference that there are absolutely no shortcuts (Folorunsho Alakija). It’s about hard work and consistency. Thank you for this list of successful female entrepreneurs worldwide.

    Reply

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