The Hurun Research Institute on Tuesday released its ranking of the world’s 10 youngest self-made billionaires for 2026. Out of a wider group of 150 self-made women in the billionaire classonly 10 are under the age of 40, while three are under the age of 35 and only one individual is under the age of 30.
Leading this elite group of 10 is 28-year-old Kylie Jenner, the founder of Kylie Cosmetics, with a fortune of $1.2 billion. While Jenner remains the youngest, Luana Lopes Lara of Kalshi Financial Services, $1.3 billion, and Lucy Guo of Scale AI, $1.3 billion, both secured billionaire status before turning 32, generating their fortunes in the fintech and AI sectors.
“The 2026 cohort of the world’s youngest female billionaires is defined by a decisive shift towards technology and artificial intelligence, with eight out of ten based in the US, the only exceptions being Lu Yiwen of jewelry retailer DR (China) and Melanie Perkins of Canva (Australia),” the Hurun Research Institute said in a statement.
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Other women on the list include Wang Shuo of Deel Software & Services with a net worth of $1.3 billion, Taylor Swift (music) with $1.6 billion, Robyn Rihanna Fenty (music) with $1.5 billion, Mira Murati of Thinking Machines Lab with $1.2 billion, Daniela Amodei of Anthropic with $3.7 billion and Melanie Retail’s $1.7 billion. of Canva Software & Services with $6.5 billion.
Notably, three members of the top 10 — Lucy Guo (Scale AI), Mira Murati (Thinking Machines Lab), and Daniela Amodei (Anthropic) — achieved their fortunes directly through artificial intelligence. This shift positions AI as a major new engine for wealth creation among young women.
Credit: Hurun Research Institute
At the same time, the institute released a comprehensive report “Hurun Richest Self-Made Women in the World 2026”.
The findings highlight 150 self-made female billionaires across 20 nations. Among them, 115 saw an increase in net worth, including 60 newcomers, while 50 saw a decline or remained stagnant, resulting in 15 departures from the list. Combined, their wealth grew by 52%, from $310 billion in 2023 to $470 billion in 2026, with 63% of that wealth tied up in publicly traded firms.
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Rupert Hoogewerf, Chairman and Chief Researcher of the Hurun Report, said: “The number of self-made female billionaires has doubled in 10 years to a new world record of 150. The reasons reflect the remarkable convergence of a ‘globally changing’ China, the growing AI economy and the wave of global healthcare, which together has created wealth at a pace not seen in the world fifteen years ago. 2026 is so convincing not only in the numbers, but in the stories behind them.”
According to the institute, only 20% of the world’s self-made billionaires come from countries outside China and the US, led by the UK, Singapore, Russia and India.
“It is remarkable how the creation of wealth for women has changed so dramatically. More than 80% of this year’s list was not on the list 10 years ago, which is evidence that women are finding unprecedented opportunities to build great businesses, reflecting a transformational shift in the entrepreneurial ecosystem,” said Hoogewerf.
