Top 15 Female Entrepreneurs in the World
Entrepreneurship requires a lot of determination. It is also not limited by gender. That’s why there are some intersting female entrepreneurs in the world. They are working hard on their businesses. Such females are a great inspiration for other women around the world.
These female entrepreneurs have not only built remarkable empires but have also inspired millions with their stories of resilience, creativity, and dedication. From tech to fashion to philanthropy, here’s a look at 15 of the most influential female entrepreneurs in the world. Let’s start.
Name | Business Venture | Country | Age | Net Worth (Approx.) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Sara Blakely | Spanx | USA | 53 | $1.3 billion |
Oprah Winfrey | Harpo Productions, OWN Network | USA | 70 | $3 billion |
Emily Weiss | Glossier | USA | 39 | $1.8 million |
Ellen Latham | Orangetheory Fitness | USA | 67 | $200 million |
Lisa Price | Carol’s Daughter | USA | 72 | $3.66 million |
Melanie Perkins | Canva | Australia | 37 | $4.4 billion |
Tory Burch | Tory Burch LLC | USA | 58 | $1 billion |
Zhang Xin | SOHO China | China | 59 | $1.2 billion |
Whitney Wolfe Herd | Bumble | USA | 35 | $940 million |
Vera Wang | Vera Wang Fashion | USA | 75 | $650 million |
Anne Wojcicki | 23andMe | USA | 51 | $150 million |
Reese Witherspoon | Hello Sunshine | USA | 48 | $440 million |
Peggy Cherng | Panda Restaurant Group | USA | 77 | $3.7 billion |
Janice Bryant Howroyd | ActOne Group | USA | 77 | $1.1 billion |
Arianna Huffington | Thrive Global | Greece/USA | 74 | $100 million |
Top 15 Female Entrepreneurs in the World:
The details about these females are given below:
1. Sara Blakely:
First up on my list of female entrepreneurs is Sara Blakely. She is the founder of the brand Spanx. Sara had barely $5,000 and a great business idea when she first launched her business. She began manufacturing and testing items for Spanx in her apartment in 2000. Sara, on her own, also pitched his business to several department stores.
However, her idea was rejected dozens of times before she made a deal with Neiman Marcus. After this, her business started growing at a very great speed. So, she was selling products for millions. Today, Sara’s company is worth around $75 million.
2. Oprah Winfrey:
Oprah Winfrey is a media personality who owns multiple businesses. She was the first black woman to host a TV show nationally. After its success, she launched Harpo Productions which is a huge media company.
Winfrey then co-founded Oxygen Media along with OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network) and is still CEO of the company. Besides struggling and working hard in the field of media business, she has also done some philanthropic work as well including the introduction of the Oprah Winfrey Charitable Foundation. Today, her net worth is $2.8 billion.
3. Emily Weiss:
Emily Weiss is also one of the many female entrepreneurs who have made a fortune in the world of cosmetics. She’s the former CEO of a cosmetic brand called Glossier. It manufactures cosmetics products that are of high quality. However, before her work at Glossier, Emily was a passionate beauty blogger.
She had a famous blog called Into the Gloss. This blog published beauty-related interviews along with honest beauty product reviews. Emily had around 2 million monthly readers who were eager to know her views about different beauty-relevant topics.
Later in 2014, Emily launched Glossier and advertised it through her blog. Then, platforms like TikTok and Instagram helped her attract more customers as well. Today, this brand makes around $75 million in sales.
4. Ellen Latham:
Ellen Latham is a highly skilled physiologist. She made her entrepreneurial career in the fitness field. She is the founder of Orangetheory Fitness which has hundreds of branches all across the United States. Ellen started his business journey under harsh circumstances.
She started focusing on business after getting fired from a dream job at a great spa in Miami. After getting fired, she had to move on. Ellen then had a Pilates studio called Ellen’s Ultimate Workout. It gained a decent following and then she founded the Orangetheory with her business partner Jerome Kern. This company makes $1 million in revenue each year.
5. Lisa Price:
Lisa Price is also an entrepreneur related to the beauty field. She started Carol’s Daughter which is a beauty brand that sells hair care products. In the early days, Lisa used to sell hair-cutting products designed for different hair textures.
Later, she opened her own boutique and appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show for promotion. Being featured in this show helped her business bloom and it made $2 million in sales. After this, she opened a new store in Harlem, and her brand was purchased by L’Oreal USA in 2014.
6. Melanie Perkins:
Malanie Perkins made her fortune in the field of graphic design. She’s the co-founder as well as the CEO of Canva. Canva is one of the most widely used graphic designing tools in the world. However, she didn’t start her entrepreneurial journey with this software.
First, she started Fusion Books. It was a company designed for making yearbooks. Later on, Melanie decided that she needed to make software for designing that even beginners could use. So, she introduced Canva which is now helping a lot of designers around the world.
7. Tory Burch:
Tory Burch is a famous entrepreneur in the field of fashion. She founded a lifestyle brand called Tory Burch that makes different types of products. In the beginning, her company made preppy bohemian-style footwear and clothing. Later on, she expanded the manufacturing list and added different other products.
The business grew at a very rapid speed and spread to different countries. The brand is famous for selling products online and at retailers as well. Tory is also a philanthropist and does charity work through her foundation Tory Burch Foundation.
8. Zhang Xin:
Zhang Xin is a businesswoman who has had a great influence on real estate development. She co-founded SOHO China which became very successful due to its work and went public soon. Although it all sounds shiny, the start of Zhang’s journey wasn’t very high-profile.
She used to work as a factory worker and graduated from Cambridge University with an economic development degree. Zhang is a well-recognized woman and is also known as the “woman who built Beijing.”
9. Whitney Wolfe Herd:
Whitney Wolfe Herd is one of the very few female entrepreneurs who made a name in the field of technology. She is the co-founder of a popular application called Tinder. However, she later left the company. Then, she started another application of her own called the Bumble.
The nature of this application is the same as Tinder but it offers more control to female users of the application. This company is now worth around $2 billion. Wolfe has been working on advocating gender equality in the field of technology and raising her voice against sexual harassment as well.
10. Vera Wang:
Not many people know about Vera Wang but her entrepreneurial work is exceptional. She started her professional journey as the youngest editor at the Vogue magazine. However, she left this job and started working for Ralph Lauren, another huge fashion brand. Vera’s ambitions didn’t let her stay there for long as well.
Soon, she left this job and started her own bridal design business. She has worked with several big celebrities including Ariana Grande and Mariah Carey. Besides bridal designing, she also makes costumes for figure skaters. Besides this, her work has been featured in different movies and shows as well.
11. Anne Wojcicki:
Anne Wojcicki is an American entrepreneur who has made a name for herself in the field of science. She co-founded the trending genetic company called the 23andMe. It is one of the very few genetic companies that sell their products directly to customers. This company is famous for selling a gene testing kit that lets people know about their family genetics information such as their ancestors.
This kit went viral and a lot of people started purchasing it. Under her leadership, 23andMe has become a huge company making millions in sales. Besides business, she also focuses on her foundation which helps people in fields like university research and healthcare.
12. Reese Witherspoon:
Reese Witherspoon, besides being an actress, is a very successful entrepreneur as well. She started her business career by founding Draper James which is a fashion brand. It focuses on creating clothing accessories, home décor, and cookbooks.
After working on this company, Reese went on to create another one called Hello Sunshine. It is a media company that focuses on female-driven stories. The company was later on purchased by Candle Media for around $900 million. Her philanthropy work includes the launch of Time’s Up Now, which focuses on fighting against sexual harassment in workplaces.
13. Peggy Cherng
Peggy Cherng is one of the most skilled female entrepreneurs in the world. She co-founded the Panda Express. Peggy was a talented student and she got a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the USA. Later on, she started working for 3M and McDonnell Douglas. Here, Peggy helped make battlefield simulators for the Navy.
After working here for a while, Cherng decided to help her husband expand the Panda Express business. They worked very hard for this and opened several branches in the United States. Peggy is also known for making one of the very first point-of-sales systems that she implemented in her restaurant business.
14. Janice Bryant Howroyd:
Janice Bryant Howroyd is a great example for females who have little to no resources but want to start their business venture. She’s the founder and CEO of a billion-dollar company called ActOne. It specializes in offering workforce solutions such as temporary staffing.
Janice started her journey with just $1500 and $900 of them was loaned from her mother. According to Janice, it was her intelligence and boldness that helped her build a huge business with almost nothing. Now, her agency has a lot of clients and workers around the world. She’s also an author and has written two books about the business world.
15. Arianna Huffington:
Arianna Huffington is a talented author, columnist, and businesswoman who co-founded “The Huffington Post”. She played a huge role in the launch and progress of this company which impacted online journalism a lot.
After working as the CEO of this company, Arianna stepped down from her post. After that, she started working on the launch of her own wellness and fitness company called Thrive Global. She’s now serving as the company’s CEO. Arianna, as an author, has written multiple books including “Thrive” and “The Sleep Revolution”.
Final Talks:
The fact that entrepreneurship is not restricted by wealth or gender is one of its finest features. Many female entrepreneurs have started extremely successful enterprises across the world.
In addition to focusing on their businesses, they have been making philanthropic contributions to society. Aspiring women of all ages can draw inspiration and optimism from these successful female entrepreneurs.