Wal-Mart heiress Christy Walton tops the list as the wealthiest woman in the world. The largest retail chain has been good to her — she has an estimated net worth of $37.9 billion.The list of the world’s richest women has recently been revealed by Wealth-X, a leading ultra high net worth (UHNW) intelligence and prospecting firm. And It has covered all the seven continents, starting from North America, covering Asia, Africa and the Pacific. Collectively, the women on the Wealth-X list control $114.6 billion of personal wealth.
Here’s the list of the wealthiest women in the world:
- Christy Ruth Walton- She is the wife of the late John T. Walton, one of the sons of Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart. After John’s death in June 2005, she inherited his fortune(a portion of the Walmart empire) of US$18.2 billion. Today, after nine years, the estimated net worth of empire stands at $37.9 billion. Forbes reported that till March 2014, she was the richest woman in the world for seven years running, and now she continues to rule even now.
- Liliane Bettencourt– Liliane Betterncourt is the heiress of the French cosmetic giant L’Oreal. She follows Walton closely with her empire’s net worth being estimated at $31.3 billion. She is a well known personality in the French elite circle. Known to be socialite, businesswoman and philanthropist apart from being the heiress of one of the biggest cosmetic brands of the world, Bettencourt is the second richest lady in the world, but richest in Europe.
- Gina Reinhart– Rinehart was born to Hope Margaret Nicholas and Lang Hancock in Perth, Western Australia. Today she is the Chairman of Hancock Prospecting group, Australia. The estimated worth of her entire wealth is $14.8 billion. She took over the company, which is privately listed after her father’s death in March 1992. She dropped out of University of Sydney where she studied economics for a brief time, before working for her father, gaining extensive knowledge of the Pilbara iron-ore industry. In 2010, she became the largest shareholder in Fairfax Media.
- Vanessa Paola Slim Hajj, Maria Soumaya Slim de Romero, Johanna Monique Slim Ayub– The three daughters of Carlos Slim, a well known business tycoon, investor, and philanthropist in Mexico. He is also known as the “Warren Buffet of Mexico”. In 2010, América Móvil estimated Slim’s net worth at $49 billion. Slim has six children: Carlos, Marco Antonio, Patrick, Soumaya, Vanessa, and Johanna. Each of them get their own share of their father’s riches. All the three daughters Vanessa Paola Slim Hajj, Maria Soumaya Slim de Romero and Johanna Monique Slim inherit a net worth of $6.3 billion each. This makes them the fourth richest women in the world.
- Yang Huiyan– Yang Huiyan holds the majority shares of Country Garden Holdings, one of the biggest companies in China. Her father Yang Guoqiang, transferred 70% of Country Garden’s shares to her before its IPO in 2007, who started his company Biguiyuan in 1997. At 33, she is the youngest woman on the list, Huiyan’s wealth has a net worth of $6.3 billion.
- Shari Arison– Arison was born in New York to businessman Ted Arison and Mina Arison Sapir. After her father’s death in 1999, she inherited 35 percent of his empire. She initially went back to Israel to join the Israel Defence Forces. Today she is the owner of Arison Investments that comprises several business companies, the largest among them Bank Hapoalim, and of several philanthropic organizations that are subsidiaries of The Ted Arison Family Foundation. In total her wealth’s net worth is $4.2 billion.
- Folorunsho Alakija– Alakija is a business tycoon from Africa involved in fashion, oil and printing industries. Of her many posts, she is the group managing director of The Rose of Sharon Group and the executive vice-chairman of Famfa Oil Limited. The net value of her empire is $1.2 billion. She was born in 1951 to the family of Chief L. A. Ogbara in Ikorodu, Lagos State. In November 1976, she married a lawyer, Modupe Alakija. They reside in Lagos, Nigeria with their four son
