The most popular wealth list has always been about the top richest men, while Forbes releases the list of women amassing wealth in billions yearly, the spotlight is less shone on them. An average individual can easily name “Jeff Bezos” as the richest man in the world, but the internet would be needed to get the name of the richest woman.
In this article we bring you the list of the top 10 richest women in the world, according to their net worth from various online sources including Forbes magazine. The source of wealth of these strong ladies differs, while some made fortune on their own, some are through inheritance and divorce.
Here are the top 10 richest women in the world:
No. 1 Richest Woman In The World – Francoise Bettencourt-Meyers
• Francoise Bettencourt-Meyers – Francoise is the heiress to L’Oreal cosmetics fortune. The cosmetic line that was owned by her mother Liliane Bettencourt – who died aged 94 in September 2017. Together with her family, she own 33% of the company. The sixty-five year old heiress is reported to worth an estimated value of $49.3bn which makes her the 15th richest person in the world (according to the Forbes magazine), and the richest female on earth. Apart from the Cosmetic line, Francoise is also an author; she has published books on Greek gods and Jewish-Christian relation.
2nd Richest Woman In The World – Alice Walton
• ALICE WALTON – The 69-year-old is one of the offspring of Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart – unarguable a household name when it comes to the supermarket biz in U.S. Alice Walton didn’t focus more on the family business, she ventured into art. This decision actually paid off for Alice, as she’s currently the chairperson of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in her hometown of Bentonville, Arkansas. Alice is said to be worth $44.4bn which makes her the 17th richest person in the world.
3rd Richest Woman In The World – MacKenzie Bezos
• MacKenzie Bezos – The 48-year-old lady is the ex-wife of the richest man in the world Jeff Bezos. She had four kids with the Amazon founder until both party decided to call their 26 years-old marriage quit on the 4th of April 2019, after announcing the intending action on twitter 4-months earlier. MacKenzie failed to make the Forbes list of richest women in 2019 because the list was due for release before the finalization of her divorce. Her value of stake in amazon alone is $35.6bn, which means her true net worth maybe higher.
Mackenzie was one of Amazon’s first employees and joined as an accountant, the mother of four has also published two fiction books. Toni Morrison, a seasoned author, described Mackenzie as one of the best-ever student to train under him.
4th Richest Woman In The World – Jacqueline Mars
• JACQUELINE MARS – The 79-year-old woman owns a third of Mars – the largest manufacturers of pet food in U.S and world’s largest confectioner. Mars was set up by her grandfather in 1911 and the heiress worked for the family firm for 20 years and stayed up on board until three-years ago.
Jacqueline is widely referred to as a philanthropist due to her charitable character. She’s set to worth $23.9bn which makes her the 4th richest woman in the world and the 33rd riches person in the world according to the last released Forbes list.
5th Richest Woman In The World – Yan Huiyan
• Yan Huiyan – Yan is a 37-year-old graduate of Ohio state university. The richest woman in china is the major stakeholder in the China’s leading property company – Country Garden holdings. According to the company’s website, it was the third biggest property developer in the world in 2016.
Yan is said to worth $22.1bn, making her the 42nd richest person in the world, the 5th female in the world, and the richest female in china. She inherited most of her shares which is said to be 57% of Country Garden from her father.
6th Richest Woman In The World – Susanne Klatten
• Susanne Klatten – Coming in on the 6th spot is the 56-year-old German who’s estimated to worth $21bn, making her the 46th richest in the world. The major source of her wealth comes from cars and Pharmaceuticals. She inherited 50% of a chemical company Altana AG from her parents and also own 50% of BMW alongside her brothers. Suanne has successfully made Altana private (all hers) and also own shares in various companies dealing with wind power, graphite production and so on.
7th Richest Woman In The World – Laurene Powell Jobs
• LAURENE POWELL JOBS – Laurene is the widow of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. She and her family inherited approximately $20bn in stakes from Apple and Disney when her husband died. She has since invested in Journalism, Coding, Immigration and education reform amongst others. She reportedly spent $16.8m on a six bedroom mansion with views of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. Laurene is worth $18.6bn making her the 54th richest in the world.
8th Richest Woman In The World – Abigail Johnson
• Abigail Johnson – The 58-year-old has been the CEO of Fidelity Investment, an American investment firm since 2014. She also doubles as the chairman of the firm’s international sister company Fidelity International.
The firm was founded by her grandfather and her father remains the Chairman emeritus. As at six years ago, the family owned 49% of the company’s share with Abigail holding half of the family share. She’s said to worth $15.6bn making her the 71st richest person in the world.
9th Richest Woman In The World – Iris Fontbona
• Iris Fontbona – The Chilean businesswoman is the widow of Adrino Luksic Abaroa, the founder of Antofagasta Plc one of the largest mining company in Chile. Most of her wealth came from her husband’s inheritance; she’s presumably the wealthiest person in Chile, fifth richest in Latin America and the 91st richest person in the world. The 76-year-old is worth $15.3bn.
10th Richest Woman In The World – Gina Rinehart
• Gina Rinehart – The 65-year-old Australian mining manganite and heiress comes in as the 10th richest female in the world. She’s the chairperson of Hancock Prospecting, a mineral exploration and extraction company founded by her father. According to Forbes in 2019, she’s worth $14.8bn while Australia’s Financial Review estimates her worth to be A$13.81bn.
There you have it, the list of the richest women in the world!