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Forbes' America's Richest Self-Made Women list includes Austin faces, plus the woman behind SpaceX

Gwynne Shotwell has been working with SpaceX since 2002, as one of the first 11 employees. (Laura Figi/Austonia)
Women nationwide are getting richer—Forbes reported that the wealth of the top self-made women has soared 31% since last year—and Austin's women are no exception. Out of the top 100 women who climbed their way to the rankings, five have Austin ties.
Austin, and Texas', notable addition Gwynne Shotwell is changing the space-scape of the city as we know it. As SpaceX's president and COO, Shotwell came in 62nd place with a net worth of $460 million.
Announcing this year's richest #SelfMadeWomen in America https://t.co/8qkg4i5xFg
— Forbes (@Forbes) August 5, 2021
Shotwell, an Illinois native, is now living outside Austin and Waco in Jonesboro, Texas. She works closely with Austin-transplant Elon Musk, having joined SpaceX back in 2002, and manages the operations of the company that wants to put human civilization on other planets.
Having watched the Apollo 11 launch as a child and the tragedy of the Challenger shuttle soon after she graduated college, Shotwell has a complicated relationship with space travel. In fact, Shotwell wasn't even interested in space until she began working at The Aerospace Corporation, which she later left to become director of the space systems division at Microcosm Inc.
Enter Elon Musk, one of the most celebrated entrepreneurs of her generation, who crossed her path at a Konigsmann launch. A little of her own business advice landed her an unexpected job as VP of sales position at SpaceX.
Shotwell's part in the company has led to a negotiation of the first Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA, a driving force behind the 50 launches with the Falcon Vehicle and the subsequent $5 billion in generated revenue.
What's next for Shotwell? Besides landing her second year on the America's Richest Self-Made Women list, Shotwell is entering an exciting time for SpaceX. SpaceX's Starbase is nearing completion while the company prepares to send the Super Heavy rocket to space. Plus, the Starlink satellite internet service, which will soon have a factory in Austin, is rapidly gaining popularity with more than 100,000 customers.
Moving rocket to orbital launch pad pic.twitter.com/zZLiXIPD6M
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 4, 2021
Familiar faces on the list include SHI International CEO Thai Lee, who ranked sixth with a net worth of $4.1 billion; Bumble CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd, ranking 21st with a net worth of $1.3 billion; Kendra Scott jewelry founder Kendra Scott, coming in 35th place with a net worth of $800 million; and Advanced Micro Devices CEO Lisa Su, who ranked 52nd with a net worth of $600 million.
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Popular
(Tesla)
Giga Texas, the massive Tesla factory in southeast Travis County is getting even bigger.
The company filed with the city of Austin this week to expand its headquarters with a new 500,000-square-foot building. The permit application notes “GA 2 and 3 expansion,” which indicates the company will make two general assembly lines in the building.
More details about the plans for the building are unclear. The gigafactory has been focused on Model Y production since it opened in April, but the company is also aiming for Cybertruck production to kick off in mid-2023.
While there is room for expansion on the 3.3 square miles of land Tesla has, this move comes after CEO Elon Musk’s recent comments about the state of the economy and its impact on Tesla.
In a May interview with Tesla Owners Silicon Valley, Musk said the gigafactories in Berlin and Austin are “gigantic money furnaces” and said Giga Texas had manufactured only a small number of cars.
And in June, Musk sent a company wide email saying Tesla will be reducing salaried headcount by 10%, then later tweeted salaried headcount should be fairly flat.
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(Dullnig Ranch Sales)
You’ll have to leave city limits if you’re looking for a proper ranch property like 417 Acres Shipp Lake Ranch, aptly named for its acreage. The property comes built out with three farmhouses, one of which has bedrooms and two bathrooms and two of which have two bedrooms and one bathroom. The nearly untouched property, which surrounds the 100-plus-acre Shipp Lake, has remained in the same family since the early 1900s and gives you picturesque views for the making of a dream home. In fact, the previous owners ran a water ski camp on the property.
Sitting waterside on Lake Austin, this home gives you the unique opportunity to own a piece of the lush Hill Country with views of Mount Bonnell. The 2,750-square foot, three-bedroom, four-bathroom house allows you to integrate indoor and outdoor life with large windows opening to an outdoor living area. The crown jewel is the .76-acre parcel of land that tapers off to your own lakeside resort, featuring an covered outdoor kitchen, fire pit, stone boat house to store your water sports supplies and veranda sitting at the mouth of the water, perfect for an entertainer.
Got dreams of becoming a real Texas rancher? 7814 Brown Cemetery Rd. is the perfect place to start with 40 rolling acres of land and its very own swimming hole. Just east of Austin in Manor, the modest-on-the-outside home clocks at 4,412 square feet with five bedrooms and five-and-a-half bathrooms, but there are an additional two living structures on the property. The horseshoe-shaped pond sits in the heart of the property and comes equipped with a water slide, diving board and a fishing dock.