Born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, Lady Gaga rose to fame in 2008 with her debut album "The Fame." Her next five studio albums, including 2020’s "Chromatica," debuted at the top of the Billboard 200 chart. She’s collected 11 Grammy awards, as well as an Academy Award for her work in the 2018 movie "A Star Is Born."
In 2019, she launched makeup line Haus Laboratories, which has raised over $10 million in venture funds and is sold exclusively on Amazon. Gaga helped organize April’s One World: Together at Home virtual concert, raising about $130 million for Covid-19 relief.
When Forbes launched our first ever list of America’s richest self-made women in 2015, it was a deliberate move to spotlight more female entrepreneurs, executives and entertainers. It was in part a reaction to what we weren’t seeing in our other lists: There were —and still are — so few women founders on the lists of the World’s Billionaires and The Forbes 400 richest Americans. In 2014, there were just 29 self-made women, compared to 1,043 self-made men, on the World’s Billionaires list. Forbes defines “self made” to mean a fortune that was built from someone’s own efforts (with help from other cofounders or employees, of course) as opposed to a fortune that was inherited from someone else. This year we highlight 100 women, double the number on our inaugural 2015 list and up from 80 a year ago, in recognition of the critical roles these leaders play as job creators, change-makers and influencers across many industries.
Read the full profile on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/kerryadolan/2020/10/13/from-oprah-to-lady-gaga-inside-americas-richest-self-made-women-list-2020/?sh=3e8e731950cb
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