worlds no 1 reachest woman?
Favorite Answer
SANDRA BULLOCK, MADONNA, JULIA ROBERTS and NICOLE KIDMAN have made it into the top five of a new list of rich celebrities. The quartet was beaten only by Oprah Winfrey in the OK! magazine Top 10 Female Breadwinners countdown – she topped the list with a $1.5 billion net worth. The publication’s top 10 also featured Christina Aguilera, Halle Berry and Jessica Alba, the youngest star on the list.
Helen Walton (85), the widow of Sam, is also good for lunch, with an estimated net worth of $18 billion. She currently resides in Bentonville, Arkansas, where she sponsors a preschool.
Liliane Bettencourt (82), the daughter of L’Oréal founder Eugene Schueller, is the next lady on the list, with approximately 17.2 billion. She lives in France, where she awards a science prize every year.
Nine of the world’s fifty richest people are women. The richest self-made woman in the world is Rosalia Mera (61) of Spain, who is worth approximately $2 billion. She started off making gowns and lingerie in her home. Her business eventually grew into the apparel manufacturer Inditex, which sold $6 billion worth of clothes last year.
And what about Oprah? According to Forbes, the media mogul is worth around $1.3 billion. Not too shabby, but still a ways behind the Walton women.
1. Liliane Bettencourt
At the grand age of 83, Ms Bettencourt is the wealthiest woman in the world and the richest in France according to Forbes, sitting at 15th richest overall. She inherited her $16 billion (£8.4 billion) fortune through her family’s firm, L’Oreal. She is the daughter of L’Oreal founder Eugene Schueller and retains a controlling stake in the cosmetics giant so is likely to get richer still. Because she’s worth it.
2. Christy Walton
Christy, 51, is the widow of John Walton, the Wal-Mart heir who died when his ultralight aircraft crashed in June 2005. She and her son Luke inherited $15.9 billion (£8.4 billion) from the company originally founded by Sam Walton, who opened his first store in 1962 and took it public in 1970. Wal-Mart is still the world’s largest retailer with more than 5,100 stores serving 138 million customers a week and ringing up sales of $285 billion (£151 billion). All of which makes Christy the 17th richest person in the world.
3. Alice Walton
As you would expect with the Waltons, family ties run deep. Alice, 56, is the sister of the late John Walton and her fortune of $15.7 billion (£8.3 billion) puts her at number 20 in the world’s rich list. Brother Rob serves as chairman and the company donates a small fortune to charity via the Walton Family Foundation.
4. Helen Walton
The third Walton to feature here, 86-year-old Alice is the mother of John Walton and the widow of Sam. Her $15.6 billion (£8.2 billion) fortune makes her the 24th richest person in the world.
Salary checker: do you earn enough?
5. Abigail Johnson
The 28th richest person in the world, Abigail’s $12.5 billion (£6.6 billion) – and growing – inheritance comes from Fidelity Investments, America’s largest mutual fund company. The firm was founded by her grandfather in 1946. Abby, 44, interned at Fidelity while pursuing a Harvard MBA and returned full-time in1988. She became president of the company’s mutual fund division in 2001, dodged the taint of corruption during a scandal in 2003 and picked up $31 billion (£16.4 billion) in fund assets during her first six months as competitors withered. In May 2006 she took over Fidelity’s employer services division, administering payroll and employee stock plans. Busy girl.
6. and 7. Barbara Cox Anthony and Anne Cox Chambers
Barbara, 82, and Anne, 86, inherited $12.4 billion (£6.6 billion) each from the family’s media firm Cox Enterprises. Dad James Cox’s empire includes 17 newspapers, 15 TV stations, 79 radio stations and also cable systems. As if that wasn’t enough, the business also runs to cars, including Manheim Auctions, America’s leading used-car auction business and majority ownership of AutoTrader.com, the world’s largest online auto classifieds site. Last year the family took cable arm Cox Communications private in an $8 billion (£4.2 billion) deal. They are the world’s 28th richest people.
8. Jacqueline Mars
With a $10 billion (£5.3 billion) fortune inherited from the family confectionery business, Jacqueline, 66, is the 44th richest person in the world. Her grandfather Frank Mars started making chocolates from his kitchen in Washington State in 1919. Her father, Forrest Sr, took over, introducing the malt-flavour nougat which became the cornerstone of the Mars bar line: Milky Way, Snickers etc. The business also produces M&Ms, Twix and Skittles, as well as pet food (Whiskas, Pedigree) and Uncle Ben’s Rice. It’s easy to imagine how $10 billion could help you work rest and play.
9. Susanne Klatten
More inherited money in ninth place as Ms Klatten, 43, scooped up $8.1 billion (£4.3 billion) via a 12.5% stake in BMW cars and a 50% stake in pharmaceutical manufacturer Altana from her late father, Herbert Quandt. A trained economist with an MBA, Klatten is credited with helping transform Altana into a world-class pharmaceutical/chemical corporation with $3.6 billion (£1.9 billion) in sales and almost 11,000 employees.
10. Cristina Green
Mrs Green may derive some of her wealth from husband Philip’s retail empire, Arcadia, but I bet she’s earned it. And as the only Brit in the top 10 richest women and the only one with self-made cash, she deserves our applause. Their $7 billion (£3.7 billion) fortune makes the Greens the 74 richest people in the world and they like to protect their cash from the taxman by living in Monaco. Arcadia Group is Britain’s third-largest clothing retail group and includes high street favourites Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Miss Selfridge. Green also owns 94% of BHS, the country’s 10th-largest clothing retail chain. Together, the companies have sales of $4.7 billion (£2.5 billion).
