Now that women’s basketball has the hot hand, the league’s 13 existing franchises are worth a combined $5.4 billion—and a billion-dollar team looks like a slam dunk. Get the full list at the link in the bio.
📸: Ezra Shaw, Matthew Huang/Icon Sportswire, Sean M. Haffey, Sam Hodde via Getty Images
You don’t need a perfect plan. You need belief in yourself. @sarablakely 's advice to grads: fail, learn and keep going. Read more at the link in our bio. (Photo: Taylor Hill via Getty Images)
In 2018, Jeni Castro had no coffee experience, no investor deck, and no interest in the rules everyone said she had to follow to open a café. What she had was 88 square feet inside a hair salon, a husband willing to bet on her instinct and a hunch that the coffee industry was sleepwalking through its own beige aesthetic.
Eight years later, @coffeedosecafe is a multi-location hospitality brand with a clubhouse, a drive-thru, a pink shipping container, a flagship, a catering arm, a mobile espresso bar and a tour-grade vehicle called the @antibitchbus .
In 2026, the company is opening Coffee Dose Brunch Club in Encinitas and a 3,600-square-foot Palm Springs flagship that doubles as the largest concept in the company's history.
Most café founders treat branding as packaging for the drink. Coffee Dose was loud, pink, foul-mouthed, and unmistakable from day one and the menu was built to serve that universe rather than the other way around. Castro created what competitors cannot copy: customers who feel a part of the brand identity.
“I had zero experience in coffee, but I figured drinking it three times a day was a decent starting point. More than anything, I was craving creativity again. Building a new brand lit me up in a way I hadn’t felt in a while," Castro says.
Tap the link in our bio to read more.
📸: Studio 1208; Jordan Shiley
Forbes estimates that the National Women’s Soccer League's current teams (excluding Denver and Boston in their debut seasons) are worth $200 million on average, a 49% increase from last year. With particularly strong growth across the bottom half of the table, the median value is up even more—79%, exceeding $192 million—and the floor sits at $140 million, twice the figure from 2025.
At the top of the league, Angel City FC remains No. 1, worth $340 million, followed by the Kansas City Current at $325 million. Four other clubs are worth more than $200 million as well.
See our full 2026 list of the most valuable NWSL teams at the link in our bio.
📸: Brenton TSE/ISI Photos, Jay Biggerstaff/NWSL, Meg McLaughlin/NWSL, Soobum Im/NWSL, Dustin Markland, Scott Taetsch/NWSL via Getty Images
Born to a teenage mother, @oprah ’s early years were marked by extreme poverty in rural Mississippi and profound personal trauma. However, her life took a pivotal turn when a federal program allowed her to attend a suburban school, where she discovered a gift for public speaking.
That "knack" led to a radio gig, a college scholarship, and eventually, the 1984 takeover of a struggling Chicago morning show. The rest is media history.
Read more about the #Forbes250 Greatest Living Self-Made Americans list at the link in our bio.
📸: Art Streiber/August
From a basement in 1976 to a household name.
Martha Stewart’s inclusion in the #Forbes250 is a testament to the power of the pivot. Before building a lifestyle empire, Stewart navigated the worlds of professional modeling and stock brokering, eventually launching a catering business from her own home.
That kitchen-table startup was the catalyst. Following the instant success of her bestseller, "Entertaining," Stewart scaled her vision into a multi-platform powerhouse spanning television, magazines and product lines.
She rounds out the Forbes 250 ranking of the Greatest Living Self-Made Americans. Get the full list at the link in our bio.
📸: Martin Schoeller
Simone Biles, the most decorated gymnast in history, continues to set the standard for greatness—both on and off the mat.
From her early years in foster care to becoming a global icon, her journey reflects extraordinary determination. In 2023, she returned to competition to claim a record sixth world all-around gold, then followed it with three golds and a silver at the 2024 Olympics.
Honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Biles’ impact extends far beyond gymnastics, earning her a spot on the #Forbes250 Greatest Living Self-Made Americans list. See who else made the list at the link in our bio.
📸: Gabriel Bouys via Getty Images
Six years in and the @Forbes 50 Over 50 list keeps getting more powerful!!!
Nominations for the 2026 U.S. class are OFFICIALLY OPEN... and @mcgrathmag wants to hear about the women making their GREATEST IMPACT in life’s second half.
Born in 1975 or earlier? Nominate yourself. Nominate someone you know. Nominate the woman who should have been on everyone’s radar years ago.
You have until June 7th... but sooner is ALWAYS better. Head to the link in bio to submit!!
@violadavis ’ path to EGOT status reflects a career defined by longevity and achievement.
Raised in “abject poverty,” she went on to reach major milestones later in life, including becoming the first woman of color to win the Emmy for best lead actress in a drama in 2015.
She followed with an Oscar for "Fences," adding to her Tony Award for the same role. In 2023, she earned a Grammy for "Finding Me," completing the EGOT.
Today, she also co-owns JuVee Productions, which produced "The Woman King."
Tap the link in our bio to see where she lands on the #Forbes250 Greatest Living Self-Made Americans list.
📸: Emma McIntyre/WireImage via Getty Images
A rainy Wednesday evening ahead of International Women’s Day, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived at Estiatorio Milos in midtown Manhattan for a gathering of global leaders, academics and philanthropists, Secret Service in tow.
Among the other guests: Sheryl Sandberg, founder of Lean In and former Meta Platforms COO; H.E. Dr. Fatima Maada Bio, First Lady of Sierra Leone; and Princess Mabel of Orange-Nassau, co-founder of Girls Not Brides.
All these women were on hand to discuss one issue: how to tackle child marriage, a persistent humanitarian crises.
The dinner was hosted by the Women’s Initiative at the Institute of Global Politics at Columbia University, with guests including Clinton and Sandberg who co-authored the foreword to the Initiative’s recent report on accelerating efforts to end child marriage.
“This is an issue that really goes to the heart of how women and girls are treated around the world,” Clinton tells Forbes in an interview earlier that day, “This is an economic problem for communities, nations and the world because when these young women are married so early, their education stops. Their economic participation becomes more limited. Health care costs increase. We’re talking about a very heavy economic burden directly caused by child marriage.”
Read the full story at the link in our bio.
📸: Columbia Engineering
Do you believe in life after love? Cher believed in herself first.
Raised by a struggling single mother, she left high school early and broke into music, building a legacy powered by resilience. @cher ranks No. 130 on the #Forbes250 Greatest Living Self-Made Americans list.
Explore the full list at the link in our bio.
📸: Martin Schoeller/August
