Jessica Alba is smiling all the way to the bank as she looks back at you from the cover of Forbes’ Magazine’s “America’s Richest Self-Made Women” issue.
Jessica Alba herself did not make the top 50 list, which cuts off with Beyonce and Judge Judy Sheindlin at $250 million each. Jessica Alba herself is only with $200 million.
Only $200 million.
Jessica Alba’s business acumen is what gets her into the company of such women on this list as Oprah Winfrey, Meg Whitman, Madonna, Donna Karan, and Vera Wang.
Jessica Alba is co-owner in a business called The Honest Company, which helps to educate parents about protecting their children from harmful chemicals in products they buy. The company is now valued at $1 billion.
The company itself sells products like diapers and baby wash, and made $150 million last year. Word on the street is that the company may go public, selling on the New York Stock Exchange. If that is true, and the company is seen as profitable, Jessica Alba could be well set for life.
“It’s tempting to leave acting completely and focus on my company,” Jessica Alba said. “It’s definitely more fulfilling. And when I put my time into it, I feel like I’m doing something that’s productive and there’s a real outcome. With entertainment, I feel like you’re just throwing stuff against the wall and you don’t know if anyone’s going to see it.”
As for others on the list, some are in the tech field, as might be expected. But supermodel Kathy Ireland comes in at $420 million. According to Forbes, Ireland made her money through licensing deals. Ireland has “lent her name to some 17,000 unglamorous products from socks to ceiling fans.”