15 Of The Richest Women in the World!
15. Jocelyn Wildenstein
$2.5 Billion
Jocelyn Wildenstein, better known as “The Catwoman” for her extensive plastic surgery
to look more like a feline than a female. These cosmetic surgeries are said to have
cost over $2 Million. Although she comes from a wealthy family, she acquired most of her
vast fortune from a divorce settlement from former husband Alec Wildenstein. Although
reports on her actual net worth vary from source to source, she received $2.5 billion
from her divorce settlement, one of the largest in history. In fact, her yearly food and wine
expenditures alone reach over $500,000!
14. Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart
$4.9 Billion
Not only was Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart the 18th Duchess of Alba, Spain, according to
Guinness World Records, she was also the most titled noble in the world with about 50 royal
titles! The Duchess was most recently remembered for her marriage at the age of 85 to the much
younger Alfonso Díez, who was 24 years her junior. However, Cayetana should perhaps be
better remembered for her generous financial contributions to charity.
13. Sandra Ortega Mera
$6.4 Billion
Also from Spain Sandra Ortega Mera is not only is the richest woman in Spain, but she
is also the youngest billionaire in all of Europe. Mera is the daughter and heiress of
Spanish business magnate, Amancio Ortega Gaona (currently the wealthiest man in Europe),
who is the founder and chairman of Inditex fashion group. Mera inherited a 75% stake
in Inditex when her mother passed in 2013. The company is famous for its chain of Zara
clothing and accessories.
12. Katharine Rayner
$7.1 Billion
American billionaire heiress, Katharine Rayner, is the daughter of Anne Cox Chambers, the
current head of media conglomerate Cox Enterprises, Inc. Rayner became the 15th richest woman
in the world when her mother distributed 49% of Cox Enterprises, Inc. shares to her and
her siblings. Rayner like several of the other billionaires featured on this list is not
involved with her family’s company, but, is heavily involved with philanthropy. Rayner
is currently holds a position as board member of the Morgan Library and Museum in New York.
Rayner is also on the board of directors for the New York Public Library and the Animal
Rescue Fund of the Hampton's. She also has a bit of a “green thumb”, and has a sprawling
eclectic garden at her home that is worthy of a Disney film.
11. Margarita Louis-Dreyfus
$8.7 Billion
Margarita Louis-Dreyfus, known as “the tsarina" by the French press, is owner of global merchant
company: the Louis Dreyfus Company. Her company is involved in international shipping, telecommunications,
real estate, hedge funds, finance, agriculture, ocean vessels, food processing, and more.
Interestingly Margarita is the widow of Robert Louis-Dreyfus who was cousins with American
actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus, famous for playing Elaine in the TV show Seinfeld. Also Margarita
is the mother of two sets of twins. She gave birth to her new twin girls earlier this year
at age 53!
10. Massimiliana Landini Aleotti
$9.6 Billion
The Italian billionaire heiress, Massimiliana Landini Aleotti, owns giant pharmaceutical
company Menarini, along with her two children. The company is widely popular for being committed
to researching pharma-cological solutions for therapeutic areas such as asthma, anti-infectives,
oncology, inflammation, and cardiovascular diseases, among others. Although she has tried
to spend as much time out of the limelight as possible, in 2010 she was accused of Tax
Evasion, she however declined to comment publicly on the matter.
9. Blair Parry-Okeden
$10.7 Billion
Although she is Australia's richest person by net worth, Blair Parry-Okeden is actually
American born. Blair’s grandfather James M. Cox (once a governor of Ohio and U.S. Representative)
founded the communications and automotive company Cox Enterprises, Inc. Although the
media conglomerate is actually ran by Blair’s aunt, Anne Cox Chambers, Blair still holds
a large share of the company. Blair originally moved to Australia to be with her, now ex-husband,
where they started a family. Blair is known to be a very generous person in her community,
but, is also very modest and private. Interestingly she is also a bit of a wordsmith and has even
had a children’s book published.
8. Iris Fontbona
$10.8 Billion
Iris Fontbona widow, of billionaire Andronico Luksic, is the richest woman in Chile.. Her
and her family controls Antofagasta, one of largest copper mines in the world. The mining
company’s shares have almost tripled in the past year, a primary reason for Fontbona
and her family's fortune increasing dramatically since 2010. Fontbona also holds a large number
of shares in the beverage making and consumer packaging corporation, Quinenco which is one
of Chile’s largest business conglomerates with annual revenue of $20 billion
7. Gina Rinehart
$11.4 Billion
Mining heiress Gina Rinehart was Australia's first female billionaire. Rinehart took over
her her father’s mining company, Hancock Prospecting, at the young age of 21. At an
early age she surprised critics with her business savvy, and has revolutionized the mining business
during her career. Since 2010 Rinehart has been actively involved with Australian politics,
and has been pushing for the further development of the Australian North. She has also been
an outspoken advocate for the reduction of taxes and less regulations on business.Perhaps
her outspoken views on government issues has earned her unwanted threats, because Rinehart
is known to travel around in a bullet proof vehicle!
6. Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken
$13.1 Billion
Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken is a Dutch/English businesswoman who is the Executive Director
and owns 25% of the controlling interest of Heineken International, the third largest
brewing company in the world. When her father, Freddy Heineken, died in 2002, she inherited
nearly $3 billion, which made her the wealthiest person with (shared) Dutch citizenship.
5. Laurene Powell Jobs
$17.6 Billion
Although Laurene is often thought of as only being the widow of revolutionary tech whiz
Steve Jobs, like her husband, she has made quite an impact on the world through her philanthropy
and charity work. Laurene is the founder and executive of Emerson Collective, a foundation
focused on improving education and championing immigration reform, as well as environmental
conservation, and social justice. Laurene is also the president of the board of directors
and co-founder of College Track, an organization that helps prepare low income and disadvantaged
high school students for college.
4. Maria Franca Fissolo
$23.7 Billion
There clearly is great fortune to be had within candy manufacturing, because Italian candy
billionaire Maria Franca Fissolo ranks in as the world’s 4th richest women. Her company,
Ferro SpA, is the second largest confectionery company in Europe, and the third largest in
the World. It is famous for such sweets and candies as Tic-Tac mints, Mon Cheri, Kinder
chocolates, and Nutella chocolate hazelnut spread!
3. Jacqueline Mars
$27 Billion
Jacqueline Mars continues the trend of amassing great wealth through inheritance, as she inherited
⅓ of the candy and pet food processing corporation, Mars, from her father Franklin Clarence Mars
in 1999. Jacqueline does not actively participate in the running of her father’s candy corporation
and instead focuses her wealth and energies on the art industry. She is involved with
the US Equestrian Team as a trustee, which supports high performance horses by providing
funding for training, coaching, and traveling expenses for international events and shows.
In October 2013, Jacqueline fell asleep at the wheel while driving, crossing the highway
centerline, and hit a minivan carrying six people, one of whom died and another who lost
her unborn child. Jacqueline, 74 at the time, plead guilty to a misdemeanor count of reckless
driving and was fined $2,500 and had her license suspended for 6 months. No civil suit was
filed but a spokesperson for Ms. Mars stated “[Mars] has provided assistance to the families
involved since shortly after the accident”
2. Alice Walton
$33.5 Billion
Alice Walton, the heiress of mega superstore chain Wal-Mart, ranks in as the second richest
woman in the world with a whopping net worth of $32.3 billion!. Interestingly however,
she would have topped the list as richest woman in the world had her net worth not dropped
over $7 billion last year due to the dramatic drop in Wal-Mart’s stock. Alice Walton’s
life has been wrought with controversy. Besides being accused of not paying Wal-Mart employees
a liveable wage, she has allegedly had a number of horrendous automobile incidents, from driving
into a ravine, driving while under the influence, and even striking and killing a pedestrian
in 1989. Walton however has never faced any real consequences for any of these incidents
1. Liliane Bettencourt
$38.9 Billion
To put her wealth into perspective, Liliane Bettencourt could spend a million dollars
a day for 104 YEARS before running out of money. Liliane is the main shareholder of
the French mega cosmetics company, L’Oreal.The company was started by her father, French
chemist Eugène Schueller in 1909, and Bettencourt began working for the company as an apprentice
at the early age of 15. Liliane eventually inherited the company and was able to maintain
a majority stake once the company went public. Reportedly Bettencourt was one of the biggest
victims of Bernie Madoff’s pyramid scheme and lost some $22M euros. In 2011, Liliane
was placed under the guardianship of her family because of her declining mental health.