With a net worth of $7.4 billion, Epic founder and CEO Judy Faulkner ranked third on Forbes' June 1 list of the richest American self-made women.
Ms. Faulkner, 79, of Madison, Wis., started the company in 1979 with $70,000, writing the original code on a 16-bit minicomputer, the news outlet reported. Forbes gave her an 8/10 self-made score and 1/5 philanthropy score, noting that she has pledged to give 99 percent of her wealth to charity.
She owns 47 percent of Epic, the nation's largest EHR vendor by market share with $4.6 billion in sales in 2022, according to the story. The company has never raised venture capital or made an acquisition.
"I always liked making things out of clay," Forbes quoted her as saying. "And the computer was clay of the mind. Instead of physical, it was mental."
Epic declined to comment to Becker's on the Forbes list.