At the top, Christy Walton reclaims her spot as the richest woman with a $36.7 billion fortune. The widow of John Walton has had that title for four out of the last five years. She has boosted her fortune above the rest of the Walton family members through her ownership of First Solar shares. That stock rose nearly 50% in the past year.
Back in second place after a year at the top: Liliane Bettencourt, worth $34.5 billion. The L’Oreal heiress remains France’s richest person. Her fortune increased this year thanks to the company’s stock surging. She is 91, and it’s been years since she’s been involved in running the company.
The third richest woman is another Walton family member – Alice Walton ($34.3 billion). The daughter of visionary retailer Sam Walton is Christy’s sister-in-law. She opened her Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas in 2011. It features works from her personal collection.
The other newcomer self-made billionaire women include Folorunsho Alakija ($2.5 billion), Nigeria’s first female billionaire, whose Famfa Oil owns a prolific oil bloc. There’s UK’s Denise Coates ($1.6 billion), the co-CEO and largest shareholder of online gambling site Bet365; Liu Xiaomeng ($1 billion), who holds a stake in the Suning Appliance Group, which in turn owns 14% of Suning Commerce Group, China’s largest appliance retailer; and Wang Laichun ($1 billion) Chairman of Shenzhen Luxshare Precision Industry Co., Ltd.
Newcomers that came to their fortunes through an
inheritance include Sandra Mera Ortega, daughter of the late
billionaire Rosalia Mera. Mera, along with then husband and now
third-richest person in the world, founded clothing giant Inditex (best
known for its Zara brand).
Finally, in a case involving a very loyal daughter, this year’s
youngest billionaire is a woman. Perenna Kei, at only 24 years old, is
the controlling owner of Chinese real estate giant Logan Properties. Kei
is the daughter of Logan’s chairman and CEO, Ji Haipeng. Company
documents indicate that she is the majority shareholder, the settler of
the trust and acts “in accordance with Mr. Ji’s directions.” The company
went public in December 2013 and its stock rose 2.4% on the first day
of trading, making Kei a billionaire.
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