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The 5 Richest Women In America 2020 | The Countdown | Forbes
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September 15, 2020
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September 15, 2020
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2:17Now PlayingThere are only 56 women on this year’s Forbes 400 list of the richest people in America—the same number as last year. But as a group, they’re richer than ever, worth a combined $452 billion (up from $430 billion last year). Two of these 56 women—Judy Love and Lynda Resnick—cofounded companies with their husbands and are on the Forbes list as part of a couple.
The good fortune has not been distributed evenly. Nearly all of the $22.5 billion gain went to two women: MacKenzie Scott and Alice Walton. Scott, who changed her last name from Bezos to her middle name in July, received a 4% stake in Amazon following her 2019 divorce from Jeff Bezos; she is more than $20 billion richer than a year ago following a 64% jump in the e-commerce giant’s stock. Walton (net worth: $62.3 billion), an heir to the Walmart fortune, saw her net worth climb nearly $11 billion since the 2019 Forbes 400 due to an uptick in Walmart stock after the company pivoted to online shopping for groceries and home goods during the pandemic.
More than 60% of the women on the list are worth less this year than last year. While e-commerce and video game stocks have risen during the pandemic, other sectors, including hospitality and oil and gas, took a hit. Elaine Wynn (net worth: $1.7 billion), the largest shareholder of casino giant Wynn Resorts, fell off the list as tourism came to a standstill and the stock fell 33% since the 2019 list.
The only female newcomer is Alice Schwartz (net worth: $2.2 billion), who cofounded life science research and diagnostics manufacturer Bio-Rad Laboratories with her husband in 1952. Shares of the company, which has a product used in Covid-19 testing as well as a test of its own, have soared during the pandemic. At age 94 she is the oldest newcomer this year.
Forbes calculated net worths for this year’s Forbes 400 list using stock prices from July 24, 2020.
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