How do you become the richest self-made woman in American real estate? For Dorothy Herman, the path to success includes surviving childhood trauma and raising a daughter as a teenager. Nicknamed Dottie, she joins Forbes' second annual richest self-made women list this year with an estimated $270 million net worth. It's all thanks to the real estate brokerage empire she started building in the 1990s, first with Prudential Long Island Realty and later with storied brokerage house Douglas Elliman.
"You have to be passionate about what to do. Not that I grew up and wanted to be a real estate person. I didn't. But opportunity presents itself and I think most people don't take advantage of it or they're afraid to. They are afraid of failing. I was not," Herman told Forbes.
