Forbes Ranks 250 Greatest Living Self-Made Americans

Forbes has released a ranking of the 250 greatest living self-made Americans to mark the country's semiquincentennial. The list focuses on people who rose from modest or difficult beginnings through entrepreneurship, innovation, public service or other fields.

Selection criteria included a self-made score of nine or ten on Forbes' scale, which measures distance traveled from starting circumstances. The publication reviewed its 109-year archive, solicited ideas from its reporters, ran queries through ChatGPT and Gemini, and consulted a panel of judges that included the CEO of the Kauffman Foundation, the founder of Inovalon, a former Forbes publisher, the founder and CEO of New Mountain Capital, the cofounder of Block, and the CEO of NextLadder Ventures.

The final order reflects financial success where applicable, obstacles overcome and enduring impact across categories that extend beyond billionaires to include scientists, Supreme Court justices and others whose contributions are measured by influence.

Winfrey holds the number one position.

She was born to a teen mother, grew up on a rural Mississippi farm without indoor plumbing, experienced sexual abuse at age nine, and gave birth at 14 to a son who died shortly after. She attended a suburban school through a federal program, developed skills in public speaking, and built a national media brand after taking over a Chicago talk show in 1984.

Harold Hamm ranks second. The 13th child of Oklahoma sharecroppers, he began by picking tomatoes barefoot, started a trucking company to serve oilfields, and drilled his first well in 1971 after taking out a loan. He became a pioneer in fracking and contributed to the United States becoming the world's largest oil producer.

David Steward is ranked third. His father held multiple jobs to support eight children in segregated Missouri, where Steward participated in efforts to integrate public swimming pools as a teenager. He earned a college scholarship through basketball, cofounded World Wide Technology, and at times went without pay or lost his car to repossession while building the IT services company.

Peterffy, who arrived from Communist Hungary in 1965 with limited funds, ranks fourth. He worked as a programmer, bought a seat on the American Stock Exchange, and later developed automated digital trading through Interactive Brokers. LeBron James appears fifth; he moved frequently as a child, was raised in part by a local coach in Akron, Ohio, entered the NBA directly from high school in 2003, and became the first active NBA player to reach billionaire status.

Jan Koum, who immigrated from Ukraine at 16 and relied on government assistance, ranks sixth. He signed the sale of WhatsApp, which he cofounded, in the same location where he once collected food stamps. Dolly Parton, who grew up without running water or electricity in a Tennessee shack with 11 siblings, is ranked seventh.

She moved to Nashville after high school and built a career as a country singer and songwriter. Bill Clinton appears eighth. His father died before his birth, and he grew up amid poverty and domestic abuse. He attended Georgetown University on scholarship, received a Rhodes Scholarship, graduated from Yale Law School, served as Arkansas attorney general and governor, and became the 42nd president.

Diane Hendricks ranks ninth. She became a teen mother at 17, worked as a Playboy Bunny, and cofounded ABC Supply with her second husband, who died in 2007 after falling from a roof. D. Vance is ranked tenth. He was raised in Ohio's Rust Belt by his grandmother after experiencing family instability linked to his mother's drug addiction.

U.S. in 2025. The list also includes Larry Ellison, George Soros, and Donald Friese among its top entries. The publication noted that only individuals with self-made scores of nine or ten were considered.