29. NEHA NARKHEDE

$925 million  SOURCE: Software AGE: 36 • RESIDENCE: Palo Alto, CA SELF-MADE SCORE:  A former LinkedIn software engineer, Narkhede left in 2014 to cofound Confluent, a cloud company that helps organizations process large amounts of data. Confluent debuted on the Nasdaq in June at a $9.1 billion valuation. Narkhede stepped down from her roles as chief technology and product officer in 2019 but still serves on Confluent’s board.