Jayshree Ullal, Neerja Sethi on Forbes’ List of ‘America’s Richest Self-Made Women’

Jayshree Ullal and Neerja Sethi are tow Indian Americans on Forbes third annual edition of “America’s Richest Self-Made Women” list, released on May 17.  Both Jayshree Ullal and Neerja Sethi had made the list a year ago.

According to reports, Ullal, who has made her $840 million fortune in the technology industry, came in at No. 21 on the list. At No. 24 on the list, Sethi has a net worth of $750 million. The minimum net worth needed to make this year’s list is $260 million, up from $250 million in 2016.

Ullal, the 56-year-old chief executive officer of computer networking firm Arista Networks, where she has been since 2008, was born in London and raised in India before settling in California.

The former Cisco employee helped Arista go public in June 2014. The company reported $1.1 billion in revenues in 2016, according to Forbes. Ullal owns 7 percent of Arista’s stock. Ullal’s former employer, meanwhile, is suing Arista for alleged patent infringement, which the company steadfastly denies. Ullal won the Ernst and Young U.S. Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2015.

The Florida-based Sethi, 62, is the vice president of IT consulting and outsourcing company Syntel, a company she founded with her husband Bharat Desai in 1980 in their Troy, Mich., apartment.

Syntel started with an initial investment of $2,000 and made just $30,000 in first-year sales. Today, Syntel has $966 million in sales and about 23,000 employees across the globe — 80 percent of whom are in India.

Topping the 60-person list was Marian Ilitch of Michigan. The 84 year old earned her $5.1 billion net worth from Little Caesers. Rounding out the top five were Diane Hendricks of the roofing industry, Judy Love of retail and gas stations, TV mogul Oprah Winfrey and Doris Fisher of Gap, who earned $4.9 billion, $2.9 billion, $2.9 billion and $2.7 billion, respectively.

The 60 women, who have a record combined net worth of $61.5 billion, have created their own fortunes, deploying invention and innovation and achieving unparalleled success, Forbes said.

“These 60 entrepreneurs, innovators and entertainers made their fortunes in everything from makeup and music to fashion, food and finance,” said Luisa Kroll, Forbes’ assistant managing editor of wealth, in a statement. “A number of them saw their fortunes increase as investors and corporate buyers rushed in.”