Elizabeth Holmes (38) – $4.5 Billion

In 2015, the American entrepreneur Elizabeth Holmes was listed in Forbes’s list of wealthiest self-made women, with a staggering net worth of $4.5 billion. Today, though, her net worth may be sitting at $0. Convicted of criminal fraud, Holmes was once at the head of a $9-billion biotechnology company that proved to be nothing but a scam.

Holmes used her charisma to attract the investment of numerous venture capitalists, promising to revolutionize the blood-testing industry. However, her company Theranos was never capable of delivering on such promises. Holmes’s story is depicted in the 2022 TV series “The Dropout.”