CNBC calls her a billionaire. So does ABC. And she certainly uses the label every chance possible. But on the Forbes list of America’s Richest Self-Made Women, she’s ranked at No. 26 with just $600 million in net worth. Lynn Tilton, queen of distressed debt and plunging necklines, must be hopping mad. Back in 2011, Forbes guesstimated the net worth of the distressed asset queen to be $830 million.
The years haven’t been kind to Tilton, one of two women in finance to make the Forbes ranking.
The 56-year-old founder and CEO of private equity firm Patriarch Partners is now in the sites of the SEC, which has charged Tilton and her company with fraud for concealing poor performance while charging heavy fees. Two investors are also suing her for $44 million.
Making No. 36 on the list is Sonia Gardner, whose net worth is valued at $380 million. The Moroccan-born Gardener and her brother Marc Lasry have teamed up over the years in various businesses, most recently Avenue Capital, which now has $13 billion in assets under management. Gardner is active in domestic violence assistance group Her Justice, The Mount Sinai Medical Center, and 100 Women in Hedge Funds.
The Forbes list included women from fashion, pharmaceuticals, technology, media, and more. No. 1 on the list, with $4.6 billion, is Elizabeth Holmes, a 31-year-old Stanford dropout and founder of blood testing company Theranos. Beyonce Knowles and Marissa Mayer of Yahoo are the only other women under 40 on the list. Six other women, including Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg and Google’s Susan Wojcicki, are under 50.
Photo: XPRIZE Foundation via Flickr.