Jayshree Ullal, Indra Nooyi on 'America's Richest Self-Made Women' list

Four Indian-origin women have secured position on Forbes' list of America's 100 richest self-made women. With a combined net worth of an astounding $4.06 billion, these accomplished individuals have demonstrated exceptional entrepreneurial journey and business acumen. Jayshree Ullal and Indra Nooyi have emerged as leading personalities among this esteemed group.

Jayshree Ullal

Jayshree Ullal, President and CEO of Arista Networks, has claimed the top spot among the Indian-origin women on the list, ranking 15th on the list. Ullal's net worth stands at $2.4 billion. Since assuming her role in 2008, she has successfully steered Arista Networks to new heights, with the company recording a staggering revenue of nearly $4.4 billion in 2022. Ullal also serves on the board of directors of Snowflake, a renowned cloud computing company, further adding to her influence in the tech industry.

Neerja Sethi

Neerja Sethi, co-founder and former Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Confluent, secured the 25th position on the list with a net worth of $990 million. Sethi embarked on her entrepreneurial journey by co-founding IT consulting and outsourcing firm Syntel with her husband Bharat Desai in 1980. Their hard work paid off when Syntel was acquired by French IT firm Atos SE for an astonishing $3.4 billion in October 2018. Sethi received an estimated $510 million for her stake, solidifying her financial success.

Neha Narkhede

Neha Narkhede, ranked 50th on the list, has made significant contributions to the tech world as a software engineer. Her expertise played a pivotal role in developing the open-source messaging system Apache Kafka, which revolutionised data handling on the popular networking site LinkedIn. In 2014, Narkhede, along with two LinkedIn colleagues, founded Confluent, a company specialising in helping organisations process large volumes of data using Apache Kafka. The company went public in June 2021 at a valuation of $9.1 billion, and Narkhede's 6 per cent ownership stake contributes to her net worth of $520 million.

Indra Nooyi

Indra Nooyi, the former Chair and CEO of PepsiCo, secured the 77th spot on the list with a net worth of $350 million. Nooyi retired in 2019 after an illustrious 24-year career with PepsiCo, during which she left a mark on the company. Her strategic leadership included efforts to prevent a potential breakup of PepsiCo, significant sales growth, and the introduction of healthier products and environmentally friendly practices. Nooyi's fortune primarily stems from the stock she acquired during her tenure at PepsiCo. Additionally, she joined the board of Amazon in 2019, further cementing her influence in the corporate world.
For the sixth time in a row, Daine Hendricks, the co-founder of ABC Supply, topped the list. ABC Supply is one of the largest wholesale distributors of roofing, siding and windows in the US. Hendricks, 76, has a net worth of $15 billion, Forbes said. 

To compile net worths, Forbes valued individual assets including stakes in public companies using stock prices from May 12, 2023, and valued private companies by consulting with outside experts and conservatively comparing them with public companies.

(With PTI inputs)