Four women of Indian origin, namely Jayshree Ullal and Indra Nooyi, have secured spots on Forbes’ list of the 100 most successful self-made women in America. Their combined net worth amounts to an impressive $4.06 billion. Diane Hendricks, a building supply distributor with a net worth of $15 billion, retained the top position for the sixth consecutive year. The list also includes eight new entrants, such as television producer Shonda Rhimes and Insitro CEO Daphne Koller.
Four Women of Indian Origin in Forbes’ Top 100 Successful Self Made Women in America
Forbes reported that due in part to a rebound in the stock market, the women on the list have a collective net worth of a record-breaking $124 billion, an increase of nearly 12% compared to the previous year.
Jayshree Ullal
Jayshree Ullal, the president and CEO of computer networking firm Arista Networks, holds the highest rank among Indian-origin business leaders at 15th place. Arista Networks, a publicly-traded company, recorded revenue of approximately $4.4 billion in 2022. Ullal, aged 62, owns about 2.4% of Arista’s stock, a portion of which is designated for her two children, niece, and nephew. She is also a board member of Snowflake, a cloud computing company that went public in September 2020. Ullal studied electrical engineering at San Francisco State University and pursued engineering management at Santa Clara University.
Neerja Sethi
Ranked 25th on the list, Neerja Sethi possesses a net worth of $990 million. Alongside her husband Bharat Desai, she co-founded IT consulting and outsourcing firm Syntel in 1980. In 2018, French IT firm Atos SE acquired Syntel for $3.4 billion, and Sethi received an estimated $510 million for her stake. Sethi obtained her Bachelor of Arts/Science and Master of Business Administration from Delhi University and a Master of Science from Oakland University. She met her husband, Desai, in the US while working for Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and aimed to replicate its success. They launched their business with an initial investment of just $2,000.
Neha Narkhede
Neha Narkhede, ranked 50th on the list, served as the co-founder and former chief technology officer (CTO) of the cloud company Confluent. With a net worth of $520 million, the 38-year-old software engineer-turned-entrepreneur contributed to the development of the open-source messaging system Apache Kafka, which played a crucial role in handling LinkedIn’s extensive data. In 2014, Narkhede, along with two colleagues from LinkedIn, founded Confluent, which assists organizations in processing large volumes of data using Apache Kafka. Forbes noted that Narkhede owns approximately 6% of the company, valued at $586 million in 2022. In March 2023, Narkhede announced her new venture, Oscilar, a fraud detection firm, where she serves as co-founder and CEO.
Indra Nooyi
Indra Nooyi, the former chair and CEO of PepsiCo, retired in 2019 after spending 24 years with the company, half of which she served in the top position. Ranked 77th on the Forbes list, the 67-year-old has a net worth of $350 million. Nooyi’s fortune primarily stems from stock grants received during her tenure at PepsiCo. She grew up in India and obtained an MBA from Yale University before becoming one of the few female CEOs in corporate America in 2006.
