Who is the Richest Woman in Michigan?

The rich and powerful have fallen under some serious criticism lately. With seemingly every company announcing record profits while workers struggle to make ends meet, it's not hard to see why.

But sometimes there's a nicer story behind all the cash. And sometimes it's great to celebrate successful women. We aren't far removed from a time when wealthy women weren't really a thing. So props to women in Michigan and everywhere getting their bag.

That said, for any woman looking to take the mantle of the wealthiest woman in Michigan, you've got a monumental task in front of you. The wealthiest woman in the Mitten State is also the second-richest person in Michigan. While the gap between first and second is significant, her place as second-richest in the state is fairly comfortable.

Of course, the woman in question is Ronda Stryker. For Kalamazoo readers, that name should sound familiar. She's the heir to the Stryker Corporation, a medical technologies corporation based in Kalamazoo. Her grandfather, Homer Stryker, founded the company in 1941. Today, that company rakes in roughly $17 billion per year, as of 2021.

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A Western Michigan grad, the 69-year-old has been the director of Stryker Corporation for over 30 years. She's No. 344 on the Forbes World's Billionaire List with a net worth of $6.9 billion. That list was compiled earlier in the year. Today her Forbes profile indicates her net worth is closer to $7.5 billion. She's one of six billionaires living in Michigan from the list, which are listed below.

She's sure to give back to WMU, where she received her master's degree. In 2011 she donated $100 million to create the Homer Stryker medical school at WMU in honor of her grandfather.

Today, she lives in Portage, Michigan, with her husband Williams Johnston, the chairman of Greenleaf Trust.