81JUNE 30, 20 19 FORBES.COMRY
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- KATHLEEN
HILDRETH
$370 million
AGE: 57
RESIDENCE: Aubrey, Texas
SELF-MADE SCORE: 8
A service-disabled Army vet-
eran, Hildreth cofounded
Texas aviation-maintenance
company M1 Support Servic-
es in 2003. Upon graduat-
ing from West Point in 1983,
she was deployed all around
the world—from Panama to
South Korea—as a helicopter
pilot. She resigned in 1988
and worked at defense con-
tractors GE, Lockheed Mar-
tin and DynCorp, where she
met her cofounder, William
Shelt. M1 Support, whose
only client is the federal gov-
ernment, pulled in $680 mil-
lion in sales in 2018, from
maintaining military aircraft,
including fighter jets. Her
history with the sky dates
back to her childhood: Her
parents were licensed pilots
and owned a Cessna 172. - KIM
KARDASHIAN WEST
$370 million
AGE: 38 RESIDENCE:
Hidden Hills, California
SELF-MADE SCORE: 7
The celebrity daughter of
O.J. Simpson’s attorney is
following in his footsteps,
apprenticing to be a lawyer
after becoming passionate
about criminal justice reform.
Forgoing law school, she has
said she plans to take the bar
in 2022. Like her billionaire
half-sister, Kylie Jenner (No.
23), Kardashian West started
her own cosmetics company,
KKW Beauty, which accounts
for the bulk of her fortune.
Her line of fragrances
expanded into retailer
Ulta’s stores nationwide in
November 2018, days after
Jenner’s products arrived on
shelves. She’s also pulled in
millions from more than a
decade in the public eye as a
reality TV star.
57. THERESE TUCKER
$370 million
AGE: 57 RESIDENCE: Los Angeles
SELF-MADE SCORE: 8
After 25 years working in the accounting and tech industries,
the pink-haired executive cashed out her retirement savings
in 2001 to start BlackLine, an accounting-automation software
company. Though she sold a majority stake in 2013 to private
equity investors, she is still CEO, with a 10% stake in the firm.
Tucker is also a certified yoga instructor.
63. ELLEN
DEGENERES
$330 million
AGE: 61
RESIDENCE:
Santa Barbara, California
SELF-MADE SCORE: 8
DeGeneres’ earnings from
her various entertainment
endeavors have added up.
There’s the annual eight-figure
check she gets from hosting
her eponymous talk show,
millions more for producing
series like Little Big Shots and
a cut of sales from product
lines at PetSmart and Bed,
Bath & Beyond. Last year was
DeGeneres’ most lucrative yet,
thanks to a history-making
Netflix deal: $20 million for
her first stand-up comedy
special in 15 years, which was
released in December 2018.
60. NEHA NARKHEDE
$360 million
AGE: 34 RESIDENCE: Palo Alto, California
SELF-MADE SCORE: 8
As a LinkedIn software engineer, she helped develop Apache
Kafka to handle the networking site’s huge influx of data. In
2014, she and two LinkedIn colleagues founded Confluent to
build tools for companies using Apache Kafka, which became
open source in 2011. She is chief technology officer of the com-
pany, which has a $2.5 billion valuation thanks to a recent in-
vestment led by venture capital firm Sequoia Capital.
60. TAYLOR SWIFT
$360 million
AGE: 29 RESIDENCE: Nashville
SELF-MADE SCORE: 8
Last year, Swift left Big
Machine Records—her
musical home since starting
out as a teenager—for
Universal’s Republic Records.
Her first single released since
the move, “ME!” debuted at
No. 2 on the Billboard Hot
100 and racked up a record-
breaking 100 million Vevo
views in the first 79 hours
following its April debut.
62. LIZ ELTING
$350 million
AGE: 53
RESIDENCE: New York City
SELF-MADE SCORE: 8
Elting walked away from
translation firm TransPerfect
in 2018 with $385 million be-
fore taxes, thus closing the
chapter on her protracted
battle with Phil Shawe, her
cofounder and ex-fiancé. She
is now focused on philan-
thropy, including groups like
the American Heart Associa-
tion and the National Orga-
nization for Women.
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