Top 10 Richest women 2023
According to Forbes, every year the number of women who get rich and multiply their fortunes is steadily growing. And probably this year, we could observe the same positive dynamics, if not for the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Therefore, in 2023, 228 women were among the richest people on the planet – 13 less than last year. But paradoxically, their combined wealth has increased by $570 billion (as the stock markets slowly start to recover).
#1 Francoise Bettencourt Meyers
Country: France
Wealth: $73.6 billion
What she does: Co-owner of L’Oréal
The French entrepreneur and granddaughter of the founder of L’Oreal first made it to the Forbes list in 2018, and a year later she rose to number 15 and became the leader among women. She took over a 33% stake in L’Oreal in 2017 when her mother, Liliane Bettencourt (who held the top spot on Forbes’ women’s list for many years) died. Françoise Bettencourt Meyers has become a worthy successor to the family business, because under her the company’s revenues continued to grow, and the share price rose by 17 percent in 2018. On the eve of the 2020 economic crisis, Françoise’s fortunes declined slightly, but not nearly as dramatically as those of many of her peers. I must say that the Frenchwoman has long been engaged in the affairs of L’Oreal – since 1997 she has been on the board of directors. In addition to business, Francoise is the president of a charitable foundation,
#2 Alice Walton
Country: USA
Wealth: $61.8 billion
What she does: Co-owner of Walmart Corporation
Although Alice Walton was born with a silver spoon in her mouth (her family owned and owns the world’s largest retail chain Walmart), she did not immediately join the family business. Instead, a young graduate of Trinity University (Texas) decided to work on her own first, starting with economics and finance. And only after gaining enough experience in analytics and brokerage, Alice accepted a stake in her father’s company, which still brings her impressive dividends. In addition to business, however, Alice, like any self-respecting rich woman, patronizes the arts, finances political parties (Republicans regularly receive the honor to receive her money), and gets dirty in scandals – they are associated with drunk driving in an American woman. By the way, in 2011, Alice Walton opened the Crystal Bridges Museum in her hometown of Bentonville, Arkansas.
#3 Julia Koch
Country: USA
Wealth: $46.6 billion
What she does: Koch Industries heiress and philanthropist
In the 1980s, Julia Koch proved herself in the design field – she was the assistant to the personal stylist of the first lady of the United States, Nancy Reagan. But after meeting a businessman and one of the richest people in the world, David Koch, she began to devote more time to her family and charity. Her husband had suffered from prostate cancer since the 1990s – it was a hard and long struggle with periods of exacerbations and remissions. David passed away in 2019 at the age of 79. His widowed wife, who inherited a huge fortune, continues her husband’s work and sponsors medical developments. According to publicly available data, between 1998 and 2012, David donated at least $ 395 million to the development of American medicine. Julia also donates incredible amounts to charity.
#4 Mackenzie Bezos
Country: USA
Wealth: $53 billion
What she does: Amazon.com stockholder and philanthropist
Mackenzie is the ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. They met in 1992 while working together at the DE Shaw hedge fund, and got married two years later. While her husband was developing Amazon, McKenzie wasted no time: she wrote two novels, worked as an assistant to the American writer Toni Morrison, and even founded the anti-bullying company Bystander Revolution. However, after 25 years of marriage, the couple decided to divorce. They parted remarkably amicably, writing on Twitter: “We feel incredibly happy that we found each other, grateful for each other for every year that we were married. If we knew that we would get divorced in 25 years, we would still repeat everything again. But their divorce proceedings turned out to be the most expensive in the world. As a settlement, Jeff gave Mackenzie 25% of his stake in Amazon (or 4% of all shares in the company), which instantly turned the woman into one of the richest in the world. After the divorce, Mackenzie also signed a “giving pledge”, that is, she promised to donate at least 50% of her fortune to charity.
#5 Jacqueline Mars
Country: USA
Wealth: $31.1 billion
What he does: Chairman of the board of Mars Incorporated
Jacqueline also inherited her share in the “sweet” company. She is an anthropologist by training, but her lack of knowledge and experience in business does not in the least prevent her from earning a huge fortune selling famous chocolates. Jacqueline Mars joined the family business in 1982 (she started as head of the food department) and today she owns 1/3 of Mars Incorporated. Meanwhile, the family company is not Jacqueline’s only source of income. Among other things, the woman acts as a trustee of the US Horse Team, and also serves on the board of directors of the Washington National Opera.
#6 Gina Rinehart
Country: Australia
Net Worth: $23.6 billion
What she does: Owner of iron ore company Hancock Prospecting
Gina Rinehart – the richest person in Australia – owns the largest iron ore mining company – and, like many of her colleagues on the list, inherited her 76.6% stake from her father. In 2017, her wealth skyrocketed from $8.8 billion to $15 billion and hasn’t dropped below that mark since. However, in the Rinehart family, not everything is as smooth as in business. Bypassing her father’s will (according to which, Hancock Prospecting should become the property of the woman’s four children after the youngest of them turns 25), Gina the father for a long time did not let the children access the assets of the fund, for which she was “punished” in court. At the moment, her children control the family trust fund, but the Rinehart family’s litigation has not yet come to an end.
#7 Miriam Adelson
Country: USA
Wealth: $38.2 billion
What she does: Las Vegas Sands heiress
Sheldon Adelson was considered the king of the US gambling industry and the main sponsor of Donald Trump. In 1989, he bought the Sands Hotel casino hotel, having created Las Vegas Sands the year before, which became his main asset for the rest of his life. By 2020, Adelson was ranked 28th on the Forbes richest list with a fortune of $ 26.8 billion, owned casino hotels around the world, and was one of the main “donors” of the US Republican Party. The billionaire passed away in January 2021 at the age of 87. Most of his fortune passed to the widow – Miriam Adelson (in particular – 56% of the shares of the casino operator Las Vegas Sands). Thus, the woman was immediately in fifth place in the Forbes ranking among women. However, in addition to the gambling empire, Miriam Adelson got all the problems of the business of the deceased spouse. Las Vegas Sands ended 2020 with a net loss of $1,
#8 Susanne Klatten
Country: Germany
Net Worth: $28.7 billion
What she does: the owner of the pharmaceutical company Altana and a major shareholder of the BMW automaker
The wealthiest woman in Germany, Susan Klatten, inherited tidbits in Altana and BMW from her father, but she did not simply burn through the resulting fortune but immediately took up the development of both companies in accordance with the requirements of the new time. Frau Klatten received an excellent background in business administration in Switzerland, and before joining the family business she worked in advertising and PR and as an engineer at BMW. It was under her leadership that Altana evolved from an average pharmaceutical company into the third largest company in Germany – Susan is still actively advocating for investment in chemistry and medicine to discover new innovative drugs. At the moment, a woman is the sole owner and vice chairman of Altana, with annual sales in excess of $2.5 billion. It also owns stakes in Nordex AG (a European company that develops, manufactures,s and sells wind energy equipment) and SGL Group (a leading manufacturer of carbon products). Against the background of the pandemic, sales of BMW cars slowed down: the shares of the auto giant fell by 24%, and Susanne Klatten’s fortune decreased by $4.2 billion. But by the end of the year, the business recovered. The German automaker’s 2020 total revenue was nearly $119 billion, with the BMW heiress $10.9 billion richer. Against the background of the pandemic, sales of BMW cars slowed down: the shares of the auto giant fell by 24%, and Susanne Klatten’s fortune decreased by $4.2 billion. But by the end of the year, the business recovered. The German automaker’s 2020 total revenue was nearly $119 billion, with the BMW heiress $10.9 billion richer. Against the background of the pandemic, sales of BMW cars slowed down: the shares of the auto giant fell by 24%, and Susanne Klatten’s fortune decreased by $4.2 billion. But by the end of the year, the business recovered. The German automaker’s 2020 total revenue was nearly $119 billion, with the BMW heiress $10.9 billion richer.
#9 Iris Fontbona
Country: Chile
Net Worth: $23.3 billion
What she does: Owner of the mining company Antofagasta
The widow of billionaire Andronico Luxis, Iris Fontbona is today considered the richest person in Chile. The woman and her children earn income both from the activities of the family company and from their shares in the Bank of Chile, several local transport companies and two resorts in Croatia. At the start of 2020, Fontebon’s net worth declined, but she is now back in the top 10 richest women in the world.
#10 Abigaile Johnson
Country: USA
Net Worth: $20.9 billion
What he does: Chief Executive Officer of Fidelity Investments
Abigail is now the third generation of the Johnson family to lead Fidelity Investments, a company that serves investors around the world. Today, in addition to asset management, a woman receives additional income from her 24.4% stake – this alignment makes her not only one of the richest billionaires of our time, but also one of the most active. Johnson also always keeps up with the times, which allows Fidelity Investments to be ahead of its competitors. Her company uses cryptocurrencies, and in 2018 she launched a platform that made it possible for investors to operate with bitcoins.