Judy Faulkner, founder and CEO of Epic, has earned a top spot on Forbes’ annual list of America’s Richest Self-Made Women, coming in at No. 3 with an estimated net worth of $9.6 billion.
Forbes released the list June 3. Ms. Faulkner’s net worth grew from $7.8 billion on last year’s list, where she ranked No. 2, to $9.6 billion in 2026, a nearly $1.8 billion increase year over year. Despite that growth, she slipped to No. 3 after Daniela Amodei, president of Anthropic, made her first appearance on the list at No. 2, with an estimated net worth of $15.5 billion.
Ms. Faulkner, 81, founded Epic in a Wisconsin basement apartment in 1979. The company has since grown to encompass the electronic medical records of more than 325 million patients and many of the largest health systems in the U.S. Epic reported $5.7 billion in sales in 2024. Ms. Faulkner owns an estimated 43% of the company.
Epic has never taken on venture capital funding or made an acquisition, a hallmark of Ms. Faulkner’s approach to building the company on her own terms. Today, Epic is the largest EHR vendor in the U.S. by market share.
Each year, Ms. Faulkner sells approximately $100 million in Epic shares back to the company and donates the proceeds to her Roots & Wings charitable foundation. She has also pledged to eventually give away 99% of her assets to charity.
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