Sara Blakely — Spanx ($1.2 Billion)

Sara Blakely transformed her $5,000 savings into a global shapewear empire by selling fax machines door-to-door and cutting the feet off her pantyhose to invent Spanx. With no fashion experience or business degree, she wrote her own patent to avoid legal fees. Spanx generated $400 million in annual revenue by 2023, and Blackstone's majority stake valued the company at $1.2 billion. At 41, her journey outpaced Oprah Winfrey in becoming the youngest self-made female billionaire in history. She celebrated by giving each employee two first-class tickets and $10,000. This is a story of resourcefulness over resources, from fax machines to Forbes.