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Hurun Research Institute’s list features 150 self-made women billionaires from 20 countries. Of them, 115 saw their wealth rise, while 50 experienced a decline.
The Hurun Research Institute on Tuesday, March 17, released the Hurun Richest Self-Made Women in the World 2026 and featured three Indian-origin women in the list. The list included Radha Vembu, Falguni Nayar and Kiran Mazumdar Shaw as the self-made women billionaires in the world.
Hurun Research Institute’s list features 150 self-made women billionaires from 20 countries. Of them, 115 saw their wealth rise, while 50 experienced a decline.
Indians in the Hurun List of Richest Self-Made Women
For India, Hurun said that the country was grabbing the global spotlight with a powerhouse trio of self-made women billionaires – Radha Vembu from Chennai-based business management systems platform Zoho ($6.8 billion); Falguni Nayar of lifestyle and beauty retailer Nykaa ($4.6 billion), and Kiran Mazumdar Shaw of Bangaluru-based drug maker Biocon ($3.4 billion).
“Together, their success showcases India's rapidly maturing ecosystem for women in business or stay the same, of which 15 dropped out entirely. Total wealth was up 52 per cent, from US $310 billion in 2023 to US $470 billion in 2026, with 63% making their money from listed companies,” it said.
Who is Radha Vembu?
Radha Vembu is the co-founder of Zoho Corporation. She is also the sister of business tycoon Sridhar Vembu, Chief Scientist at Zoho Corporation.
Radha Vembu leads among women appearing most frequently on Hurun lists, including the 2025 Candere Hurun India Women Leaders List.
According to Fortune India, Radha Vembu “holds approximately a 47.8% stake in the Tamil Nadu-based privately held Zoho. Despite her significant wealth and business influence, she generally prefers to stay out of the limelight and has rarely appeared in interviews.”
Who is Falguni Nayar?
Falguni Nayar founded Nykaa in 2012. Falguni completed her Masters in Business Administration (MBA) in Finance from Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.
Later, she became a manager at AF Ferguson & Co. At Kotak Securities, where she held multiple positions, Falguni spent 13 years.
She was Director and Head of Institutional Equities Business at Kotak Securities from 2001 - 2007. For four years, from 2007, Falguni Nayar served as Managing Director at Kotak Investment Banking before founding Nykaa.
Who is Kiran Mazumdar Shaw?
Kiran Mazumdar Shaw completed her Bachelors in Science (B Sc) from Bangalore University and Masters from University of Melbourne.
Currently, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw is Chairperson and Managing Director of Biocon. According to her LinkedIn, Kiran Shaw is ranked among ‘World's 25 Most Influential People in Biopharma’ by Fierce Biotech, Forbes magazine’s ‘World’s 100 Most Powerful Women’ and Fortune’s ‘Top 25 Most Powerful Women in Asia-Pacific.’
“She has been featured in ‘The Worldview 100 List’ of the most influential visionaries by Scientific American magazine and named among the ‘100 Leading Global Thinkers’ by Foreign Policy magazine. She has ranked No. 1 in the Business Captains category on ‘Medicine Maker Power List' 2018, an index of the 100 most influential people across the globe in the field of medicine, where she has been among the Top 10, consecutively since 2015. Most recently, she is elected as a full-term member of the Board of Trustees of The MIT Corporation, USA,” her inkedIn mentions.
She was awarded the Padma Shri in 1989 and the Padma Bhushan in 2005.
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