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Despite there being two more women on The Forbes 400 this year, as a group the richest women in America are poorer than in 2021. The 58 women on this year’s ranking are worth a combined $535 billion, down by $29 billion from $564 billion last year. The biggest change came at the top. Julia Koch, the widow of Koch Industries billionaire David Koch (d. 2019) is now the richest woman in America, unseating Walmart heiress Alice Walton, who had held the top spot since 2015. As of September 2, when Forbes locked in net worths, Koch was worth an estimated $56 billion, up from $51 billion from a year ago, thanks to her 42% stake in Koch Industries. The industrial conglomerate run by Koch’s brother-in-law, Charles (also worth an estimated $56 billion) has benefitted from pumped-up oil prices, increasing the business’ estimated annual revenue from $115 billion to $125 billion. Meanwhile, Alice Walton’s fortune fell by $12.2 billion to an estimated 55.7 billion,
