Diane Hendricks

Diane Hendricks is an American billionaire entrepreneur and film producer best known as the co-founder, sole owner and chair of roofing-supply giant ABC Supply. Forbes has ranked her the richest self-made woman in the United States for eight consecutive years, estimating her fortune at $22.3 billion on its 2025 list of "America’s Richest Self-Made Women," a sum that also lands her on both the global Billionaires List and the Forbes 400.

In 1975 she married roofer-turned-contractor Ken Hendricks. The couple poured their real-estate profits into a new venture, securing a loan in 1982 to launch ABC Supply in Beloit, Wisconsin. Their idea was simple: treat roofing contractors like first-class customers and keep branches close to job sites. The strategy worked, and the chain hit its first $1 billion in sales by 1998.

Hendricks’ wealth makes her a sought-after political donor. Federal filings show millions of dollars in recent contributions to Republican candidates, state parties and conservative super PACs, keeping her high on OpenSecrets’ list of top individual givers.

Much of that fortune also flows into Beloit, the de-industrialized river town she has spent decades rebuilding. Through Hendricks Holding Company and the Hendricks Family Foundation, she has restored factories into the Ironworks innovation campus, funded schools, a minor-league baseball park and dozens of downtown renovations. Those efforts are the subject of the A&E series, "Betting on Beloit," co-starring her daughter Konya Hendricks Schuh.

Away from construction, Hendricks has quietly dabbled in entertainment. She served as executive producer on several independent films, including "The Stoning of Soraya M." (2008), "An American Carol" (2008) and "Snowmen" (2010).