CommonCentsMom.com is advertiser-supported: we may earn compensation from the products and offers mentioned in this article. However, any expressed opinions are our own and aren't influenced by compensation. The contents of the CommonCentsMom.com website, such as text, graphics, images, and other material contained on this site (“Content”) are for informational purposes only. The Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional financial or legal advice. Always seek the advice of your Financial Advisor, CPA and Lawyer with any questions you may have regarding your situation. Never disregard professional advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website!
There are a handful of women who have built their fortunes from the ground up. Others have amassed it through means of inheritance. Nonetheless, we provide you with a list of the top ten richest women in the world.
How are the richest and most famous women of the world spending their fortune? Are they using their platform to make a difference in the world? We’ll discuss some of the most interesting facts of each woman on the list.
Let’s take a look now at the first richest woman on the list.
1. Francoise Bettencourt Meyers
Topping our list is Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, who’s net worth is a stunning $82.5 billion. She is the granddaughter of Eugene Schueller, the founder of L’Oreal. She currently owns the company as of 2023.
She inherited the fortune from her Mother Liliane in 2017 when the elder Bettencourt passed. Since then, she was able to use her fortune for the purpose of philanthropy. She donated millions of dollars to various charities in the past several years.
Aside from her giving back, she’s also an author that has written plenty of books. One of them was a commentary on The Bible among other religious related texts. She also helped pledge over $200 million to help repair the Notre-Dame de Paris after it was damaged by a fire.
She is also known to be a talented piano player.
2. Alice Walton
The daughter of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton, Alice is the second richest woman in the world. Her net worth is $68.7 billion. She has a passion for art and has collected several pieces over the years.
That passion went beyond collection as she donated millions of dollars to various art museums. She owns a ranch in Texas where she has built a successful career as a horse breeder. It comes as no surprise since she happens to love horses herself.
She also lent her hand in the healthcare industry founding the Whole Health Institute in 2019. The organization is designed to provide health systems and expand access to holistic healthcare services. Her foundation formed a partnership with the Cleveland Clinic to help improve healthcare services in the northwestern region of Arkansas.
3. MacKenzie Scott
She is famously known for being the ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. At $57 billion, she is the third-richest woman in the world. A significant amount of her fortune was from the divorce settlement from Bezos in 2019.
She has used her fortune for philanthropy efforts and donated billions of dollars to charities – particularly organizations supporting women and people of color. Aside from her philanthropy, Scott is also an accomplished novelist.
She teamed up with Melinda French Gates to form the Equality Can’t Wait Challenge. The contest was aimed at promoting gender equality and expanding power and influence in women.
Her first book was published in 2005 titled ‘The Testing of Luther Albright’. The book won an American Book Award the following year. After divorcing Bezos, she was later married to a Seattle-based educator.
That marriage ended in divorce in 2023.
4. Julia Koch
Julia Koch has a fortune of approximately $45 billion. The fortune was inherited from her husband David Koch, the co-owner of Koch Industries. Even though she amassed the fortune and sits on the board of Koch Industries, she is not one to seek attention from the public.
Like many of the female billionaires on the list, Koch donated to several charitable organizations that she’s a part of. She is also a collector of art and is a trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
She has also made donations alongside her husband. They were able to donate to the Lincoln Center, and the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History among others. Currently, she splits her time between Palm Beach, Florida and Southampton, New York.
She had recently put her NYC apartment on 740 Park Avenue on the market.
5. Yang Huiyan
Image Source: scmp.com
Yang Huiyan inherited her $34.3 billion fortune from her father, Yeung Kwok Keung, the founder of Chinese real estate company Country Garden. Though born in China, she now lives in the island nation of Cyprus.
Because she gained Cypriot citizenship, she had to relinquish her Chinese citizenship since her birth country does not recognize dual-citizenship. Her name was mentioned in leaked documents known as ‘The Cyprus Paper’. Despite this, she was also recognized on the Global 100 list for hospitality in 2022 as one of the top 100 most powerful people in the industry.
Her philanthropy efforts include donations to the education sector. She is responsible for forming the Bright Scholar Education Holdings Limited. The organization is aimed at providing educational services for grades K-12 throughout China.
6. Jacqueline Mars
Image Source: facebook.com/jacquelinemarsfoundation/photos
The sixth richest woman in the world is Jacqueline Mars with a net worth of $31.3 billion. Her grandfather is Frank Mars, who founded Mars Inc., a candy manufacturing company. She was active within the company from 1982 until her retirement in 2001.
She was also involved in several different organizations in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States including the Land Trust of Virginia, Washington National Opera, and the National Advisory Council of the Journey through Hallowed Ground.
The organization promotes the heritage of America from Gettysburg to Monticello (the residence of Thomas Jefferson). She has also donated several times to the League of Conservation Voters. She is also a lover of horses and has been involved with the U.S. Equestrian Team for several years as a trustee.
7. Susanne Klatten
Image source: nairametrics.com/2022/05/06/meet-susanne-klatten-germanys-richest-woman/
Susanne Klatten is the daughter of Herbert Quandt, who was the co-owner of BMW. She also owns Altana, a chemical company based in Germany. Her net worth is estimated at approximately $27.7 billion. She also went by the professional name of Susanne Kant.
She would work as an intern for her father’s company. During her tenure, she met Jan Klatten, who worked as an engineer for BMW. The two married in 1990 and were separated in 2018.
As the richest woman in Germany, she is involved as a member of the University Council of the Technical University of Munich. She has also made several donations to the Christian Democratic Union, a political party in her home country.
8. Zhong Huijuan
Image source: scmp.com/magazines/style
With a fortune of $24.6 billion, Zhon Huijan is the founder of Hansoh Pharmaceutical, a company in China. Prior to leading the company, she became a chemistry teacher. She also broke into the pharmaceutical industry and has been awarded and recognized on several different occasions.
She is also one of the winners of the prestigious China Pharmaceutical Industry Development Contribution Award. She also received the March 8th Red Banner Pacesetter Award, which recognized working women in China. Zhong founded Hansoh Pharmaceuticals in 1995 and grew the company quickly in the first two years.
It went public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2019, raising $1 billion in its initial public offering (IPO). She is considered to be the richest self-made woman in Asia. Hansoh Pharmaceutical is currently one of the largest producers of psychotropic drugs in China.
9. Laurene Powell Jobs
Laurene Powell Jobs inherited her fortune in 2011 from her husband, Steve Jobs. The co-founder of Apple passed away in 2011 from cancer.
Her inheritance catapulted her to the top ten list at a net worth of $21.5 billion. Her philanthropic efforts include issues such as education, immigration reform, and environmental conservation. She is also the founder and president of the Emerson Collective, which is a social impact organization that focuses on issues of social justice and environmental conservation.
10. Abigail Johnson
Abigail Jonson’s net worth is approximately $21.2 billion. She is the current CEO of Fidelity Investments, founded by her grandfather. Her father was Ned Johnson III, who passed away in 2022.
At this point, she currently owns a quarter stake in the firm. Fidelity Investments handles managed assets totaling to approximately $4.2 trillion. She is the last entrant of the top ten richest women in the world and may continue to climb the list for years to come.
Her firm was one of the first major investing institutions to trade cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin and Ethereum. Johnson has served on several boards including the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association. She also serves on the board of the Financial Services Forum, making her the first and only woman to do so.
Final Thoughts
This list of the ten richest women of the world may change over time. One thing is for sure – some of them may be slated to stay there for a long time. Some of these women have earned their way through while others have inherited a spot.
Only time will tell on who may crack the list within the next few years. But for now, these women are making the most of their fortunes by giving back to their communities and their favorite causes. They use their fortunes for the better of humanity even though they are earning more through their companies.
