Selena Gomez Ranks on Forbes List of Greatest Living Self-Made Americans

After building a career in entertainment, Gomez founded Rare Beauty in 2019. Within four years the company reached a $1.3 billion valuation. Gomez is included in the Forbes 250 list of the greatest living self-made Americans. The ranking was published on April 13, 2026. It highlights individuals based on financial success, obstacles overcome and enduring impact.

Forbes drew from its 109-year archive, input from its beat reporters and queries run through AI tools including ChatGPT and Gemini. The publication also consulted a panel of judges that included DeAngela Burns-Wallace, CEO of the Kauffman Foundation, and Jim McKelvey, cofounder of Block.

The final list encompasses both billionaires and people whose primary measure of success is influence rather than net worth. It includes pioneering scientists and Supreme Court justices alongside entrepreneurs. The ranking places heavy emphasis on rags-to-riches stories while recognizing broader forms of impact.

Winfrey ranks first on the list.

She grew up on a rural Mississippi farm without indoor plumbing, faced early trauma and later built a national media brand from a local Chicago talk show. Harold Hamm, who started by hauling water to oilfields and later helped pioneer fracking, is ranked second.

Other top entries include David Steward, who cofounded World Wide Technology and once had his car repossessed, and Thomas Peterffy, who arrived from Hungary with limited funds and built Interactive Brokers. LeBron James, Jan Koum, Dolly Parton, Bill Clinton, Diane Hendricks, J.D. Vance, Larry Ellison and George Soros also appear in the top 13.

The list was released in connection with America’s semiquincentennial. A separate ranking of the 250 greatest historic self-made Americans is also available from Forbes.