So, who is the richest woman in the world?
When the Bezos announced an end of their marriage in January 2019, it was reported Ms. Mackenzie Bezos was going to walk away with loads of assets to put her among the top richest women in the world.
Around the world, she was perceived as the luckiest divorcee ever.
Who Is the Richest Woman In the World Right Now?
The Richest woman in the world is Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, with an estimated net worth of $51.4 Billion.
Of course, when you talk about the richest woman in the world, questions about Forbes richest man on earth will definitely come to mind.
Before I go on with the list, you should know why I dug deeper to find information about the wealthiest woman in the world.
With the Bezos wife thing, such people who viewed her only as of the beneficiary of the most expensive divorce while ignoring her enormous contribution to Amazon motivated me to highlight the life of some of the richest women in the world.
Top 10 Richest Women In the World
Here’s a look of top 10 richest woman forbes list.
1. Francoise Bettencourt Meyers ($54.1 Billion)
This French woman is the heir to L’Oréal, an author and the richest woman in the world since the death of her mother Liliane Bettencourt in 2017.
L’Oréal was founded by Eugene Schueller – her grandfather. As the current chairwoman of L’Oréal Francoise Bettencourt wealth and charity highlights include:
- 33 % stake in the makeup giant L’Oréal
- L’Oréal shares grew in worth last year due to increased revenue from sales after she took over.
- She’s now worth $54.1 billion
- A £200 million contribution to the restoration of Notre Dame
2. Alice Walton ($47.1 Billion Net Worth)
This American business magnate is the heiress to Walmart Inc.
Born in Arkansas, Alice Walton grew up in a family of 3 brothers and graduated from Trinity University in Texas with a Bachelor in Economics and finance.
Alice’s career and fortune information include:
- Working as an equity analyst at First Commerce Corporation then as head of invest activity at Arvest Bank and finally as a broker for EF Hutton
- She founded her investment bank -the Llama Company in 1988.
- She chaired the Northwest Arkansas Council and saw to the development of Arkansas Regional Airport
- Her shares in Walmart are worth over$1.1 billion
- Her Networth is worth $ 47.1 billion
3. Mackenzie Bezos (Net Worth $35 Billion)
She may now be known as the ex-wife to the world’s richest man, but Ms. Mackenzie had a successful life before her marriage.
The 49-year-old San Francisco born novelist holds a degree in English from Princeton University. Her fortune and career highlights include:
- Authoring 2 award-winning novels: “Traps” and “The Testing of Luther Albright.“
- Research associate for D.E. Shaw’s hedge fund
- Amazon’s first accountant – negotiated its initial freight contracts
- She now owns 4% of Amazon making her worth $35 billion
4. Jacqueline Mars ($26.7 Billion)
The Mars family established Mars Inc in 1911, am an American candy company which
Jacqueline is now the heiress to. Mars Inc is the 3rd largest candy maker company in the world. Mars now own 1/3rd of the company.
The 79-year-old holds a degree in anthropology from Bryn Mars College. As a Mars Inc heiress, Jacqueline is the 4th richest woman in the world with:
- The net worth of $26.7 billion
- 20 years of experience working at the company: she served on its board till 2016
- A seat among the trustees of the US Equestrian Team – she has a love for sports and art and contributes to various charities.
- As seen, the list of the richest women in the world abounds with women whose contribution in the finance and investment sector will forever be remembered.
5. Yang Huiyan ($21.2 Billion)
She’s a 38-year-old Chinese with a background in property development. Her company was 2016’s 3rd largest property developer.
She’s Asia’s richest woman. Her assets and Net worth include:
- 57 % ownership in Country Gardens Holdings, a company her father started in 1997.
- A claim in Bright Scholar – a Chinese Company of Education, listed in the Stock Exchange in the New York
- She’s worth $21.2 billion – her fortune grew by $6.1 billion last year, second only to Jeff Bezos 46.6 billion growth.
The women in this list are not just beneficiaries of inheritances and marriage, but their intelligent money management and investment skills have seen their assets net in loads of revenues.
Also See: top 10 World’s tallest men and their height
More of the Richest Self Made Woman In the World Today
Here’re additional richest women in the world, leaving a mark in the entrepreneurial field.
6. Laurene Powell Jobs ($20.1 Billion)
This American business magnate is the force behind Emerson Collective – an organization advocating for education and immigration reforms among other social and environmental issues.
The 55-year-old is the widow to the inventor Steve Jobs. Her education, career, and Networth highlights are:
- A Political science degree from Pennsylvania University.
- B.S in Economics from the school of Wharton.
- MBA from Stanford
- She founded Terravera – a distributor of natural foods
- A career at Meryl Lynch Asset Management
- 20 % stake in Monumental Sports and Entertainment – she partly owns the Washington Wizards,
- Washington Capitals and capital one arena.
- 7.3 % stake in Walt Disney company
- She’s worth $20.1 billion
7. Susanne Klatten (Net Worth $19.2 Billion)
The 57-year-old German heiress is the 7th richest woman in the world. She holds a degree in business finance.
Her Net worth and career highlights include:
- Working at Young & Rubicam advertisement firm (1981-1983)
- A career in financial management at Dresdner Bank
- A 19.2 % stake in BMW automobile
- 100 % ownership in Altana AG pharmaceutical which she has transformed to greatness using her M.B.A skills
- Ownership in energy firm Nordex Ag and SGL Group
- She’s worth $19.2 billion
8. Abigail Johnson ($16.6 Billion Net Worth)
The 57-year-old American billionaire is the CEO of Fidelity Investments founded by her grandfather. Her highlights include:
- A $ 16.6 billion Net-worth
- A 24.5 stake in Fidelity Management and Research. Her family owns 49 % of it. This makes her one of the richest women in the world.
- She is the chair of Fidelity international
- A career as an analyst and portfolio manager.
9. Gina Rinehart ($15.4 Billion)
This 9th richest woman in the world chairs the Hancock Prospecting – a mining company.
The 65-year-old Australian inherited the company from her father, Lang Hancock. What makes her the 9th richest woman in the world include;
- A $15.4 billion Net worth.
- A 76.6% control of Hancock Prospecting.
- Shrewd investment and management skills that saw the expansion of her $75million investment to billions.
- She owns several cattle ranches
- She’s been leasing capital from venture firms to develop undeveloped mineral deposits
- She’s a stake in Fairfax media
Related: The world’s richest families and their net worth
10. Iris Fontbona ($14.3 Billion)
After inheriting her husband’s Antofagasta PLC, this Chilean businesswoman became the country’s richest person.
The 77-year-old resides in Santiago Chile. Her property and career highlights include:
- Control of Antofagasta – a Chilean mining company.
- Control of Quinenco – a manufacturer of copper products
- Control of Chile’s most enormous brewer CCU
- Control of The CSAV shipping company – 16th largest in the world.
- Ownership of Chile’s second-biggest bank.
- She’s worth $14.3 billion.
- She employs around 69,000 people throughout her business
There you have the top ten richest woman in the world list. What about in Africa? Here all you need to know about the richest African woman.
The Richest Woman In the World (Summary)
In retrospect, the women in this list have their sound financial and investments skills to thank for turning their inheritances into billion-dollar ventures.
They’re not only rich and powerful but contribute to the world by creating employment opportunities and championing various social and environmentally conscious causes.
Their great influence in the world will remain for a long time don’t you think?
So tell us what you think about this list of the richest woman in the world by dropping your comments in box provided below.