Judy Faulkner, 82, founded Epic Systems in 1979 with $70,000 and built it into the health records software platform processing data for over 325 million American patients, giving her a 43% stake worth $7.8 billion on paper. She gives 99% of her fortune to the charitable foundation she co-founded with her husband.

 

Judy Faulkner, 82, founded Epic Systems in 1979 with $70,000 and built it into the health records software platform processing data for over 325 million American patients, giving her a 43% stake worth $7.8 billion on paper. She has never spent it on herself. Faulkner signed the Giving Pledge in 2015, committing to give away 99% of her fortune, and is already in active execution: she sells roughly $100 million in nonvoting Epic shares annually back to the company, channeling the proceeds directly into Roots and Wings, the charitable foundation she co-founded with her husband. In 2024 alone the foundation donated $67 million to 305 organizations, targeting healthcare, education, and housing for low-income families and children. The goal is $100 million annually by 2027.

In a philanthropic landscape dominated by pledges that never materialize, Faulkner is notable for the operational specificity of her giving. Her office buildings in Verona, Wisconsin are themed after Harry Potter and Alice in Wonderland. She holds monthly grammar lessons at company-wide meetings. She is one of the wealthiest self-made women in American history and one of the least recognizable. She would apparently prefer it that way.

Sources: Fortune, Forbes, Yahoo Finance, Giving Pledge, NewsBreak, August 2025 to August 2026

United Humanists