Love's Co-Founder Ranks Among Richest Self-Made Women

OKLAHOMA CITY — Judy Love, the co-founder of Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores, finds herself among the top 10 richest self-made women.

Judy Love, who founded the Oklahoma City-based retail chain with her husband Tom, is tied in the No. 9 slot on Forbes magazine's America's Richest Self-Made Women list with a net worth of $1.9 billion.

According to the report, Judy and Tom Love founded Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores in 1964. With a $5,000 gift from her parents, the couple leased an abandoned gas station in Watonga, Okla. Within a few years, the company had 40 stations and began to open convenience stores alongside the gas pumps. Today, Love's has more than 300 locations in 39 states. 

In the beginning, Judy Love handled accounting and ran the company with Tom Love until 1975, when she returned to college to complete her degree. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in science from the University of Central Oklahoma. Today, Tom Love serves as chairman and CEO, and three of their four children work for the company. 

Judy Love is secretary of Love's and chairman of the Love Family Fund, the family's charitable foundation and serves on the boards of a number of Oklahoma-based charities. Most recently, she joined the board of Mercy Hospital Oklahoma City, Forbes noted.

This the magazine's second-annual ranking of America's wealthiest, more successful self-made women. The list consists of 60 trailblazers. Judy Love was ranked No. 7 on the list in 2015. 

Earlier this year, Judy and Tom landed at the No. 205 spot, with a net worth of $5.9 billion on Forbes magazine's 2016 The World's Billionaire list. Among just U.S. billionaires, the couple holds the No. 72 position, as CSNews Online previously reported.