Meet the oldest entrepreneurs on Forbes' list of America's most successful businesswomen

Oldest women on the Forbes' list of America's most successful businesswomen.

Alice Schwartz

• Age: 96
• Rank: 17
• Wealth: $1.7 billion
• Source: Biotech
• Residence: El Cerrito, CA

Schwartz served as a researcher in the early days of Bio-Rad Laboratories, which she launched with her husband, David (d 2012), in 1952. She stepped down from the board in 2022 but still owns nearly 16 percent of the $2.8 billion (sales) research products firm, now run by her son Norman.

Doris Fisher, co-founder, Gap. Image: REUTERS/Hector Amezcua/Pool

Doris Fisher

• Age: 91
• Rank: 14
• Wealth: $2.3 billion
• Source: Gap
• Residence: San Francisco

Gap, which she co-founded with her husband, Don (d 2009), has struggled with declining sales, financial losses, layoffs and a roughly 30 percent stock drop in the past 12 months. Not that it affected her fortune too much: Fisher, whose net worth is down $100 million in the past 12 months, has been transferring shares to her children for years. She donated three houses in Woodside, California, worth a combined $27 million to her charitable foundation in 2020. Most of her fortune now lies in her art collection and other investments.

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Johnelle Hunt, co-founder, JB Hunt. Image: Wesley Hitt/Getty Images

Johnelle Hunt

• Age: 91
• Rank: 6
• Wealth: $4.4 billion
• Source: Trucking
• Residence: Fayetteville, AR

Six decades ago Hunt co-founded rice hull packaging firm JB Hunt with her husband (d 2006); they later turned it into a trucking firm. She was the detail-oriented business manager; he was the ideas person. “Johnnie was looking through the windshield and I was always looking through the rearview,” Hunt once said. She is still a key shareholder of the $18 billion (market cap) freight haul company.

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Marian Ilitch, founder, Little Caesars. Image: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images for the NHL

Marian Ilitch

• Age: 90
• Rank: 8
• Wealth: $4 billion
• Source: Little Caesars
• Residence: Bingham Farms, MI

Ilitch’s Little Caesars, which had nearly $5 billion in estimated system-wide sales in 2022, became the official pizza sponsor of the NFL last year. She also owns an NHL team (Detroit Red Wings), an MLB team (Detroit Tigers) and the MotorCity Casino Hotel, as well as other companies in the food, sports and entertainment industries. She’s the chairwoman of Ilitch Holdings while her son Chris is CEO.

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Judy Love. Image: Courtesy of Judy Love

Judy Love

• Age: 85
• Rank: 3
• Wealth: $10.2 billion
• Source: Gas stations
• Residence: Oklahoma City

Her husband of 62 years, Tom, died in March 2023. Her fortune now includes his half of Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores, the retailer the pair started together in 1964 with a $5,000 loan. The $26.5 billion (est revenue) company, which her sons Greg and Frank have run as co-CEOs since 2014, plans to open 25 new locations this year and invest $1 billion in renovating and updating existing stores.

Also read: Meet America's top 10 most successful businesswomen in 2023

Pleasant Rowland

• Age: 82
• Rank: 77
• Wealth: $350 million
• Source: American Girl dolls
• Residence: Madison, WI

Rowland has spent much of her post– American Girl years investing in the small town of Aurora, New York, and creating her own doll-like village. Among her small town properties: Boutique hotels, a restaurant and a spa. The American Girl founder got the bulk of her wealth from selling the company to Mattel for $700 million in 1998.