Success in the world of finance and business is not limited to men only. There are many successful businesswomen who have achieved fortunes of billions of dollars from their work in various sectors, including finance, financial investments, mining, fashion, e-commerce, health, food industries, cosmetics, and other industries.
The top 10 women on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index are worth a combined $494.8 billion. This year, 369 of the 2,781 billionaires are women, or 13.3% of the total, up from 337 in 2023, when women made up 12.8% of the list, Forbes recently reported.
In this report, we will learn about the 10 richest women in the world as of July 14, 2024, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires List, and a brief about the success story of each of them, and the source of their wealth, according to what was stated by a number of specialized platforms and websites.
10th place.. Gina Reinhart
- Net worth: $22.2 billion.
- Age: 70 years.
- Nationality: Australian.
- Source of wealth: Mining
The Australian business magnate chairs the mining and agriculture company Hancock Prospecting Group. She inherited the company from her father, Lang Hancock, who died in 1992.
Her wealth has increased by 14% since March 2023, and she is now the richest person in Australia.
9th place.. Rafaela Opunte Diamant
- Net Worth: $27.3 billion
- Age: 79 years
- Source of wealth: Shipping
- Nationality: Swiss
Raffaella Oponti Diamante and her husband Gianluigi Oponti, co-founders of MSC, own a 50% stake in the company they founded in 1970, which has since become the world’s largest shipping company.
Diamant and her husband entered the industry using a $200,000 loan to purchase their first ship, and now own more than 500 cargo ships, with operations in more than 150 countries around the world, dominating the global shipping industry.
8th place.. Miriam Adelson and her family
- Net Worth: $33.3 billion
- Age: 78 years
- Source of wealth: Entertainment industry (casinos)
- Nationality: American
Adelson and his family own more than half of Las Vegas Sands, one of the world’s largest casino operators.
She inherited the stake after the death of her husband, Sheldon Adelson, who has long been known as the Republican Party’s “kingmaker.”
7th place: Savitri Jindal and her family
- Net Worth: $35.3 billion
- Age: 74 years
- Source of wealth: Steel, energy and cement industries
- Nationality: Indian
She is the richest woman in India, the chairperson of the Jindal Group and the widow of the founder. The Jindal Group is active in the steel, power, cement and infrastructure industries, and is one of the largest business conglomerates in India, with revenues exceeding $15 billion.
Following the death of her husband, in a helicopter crash in 2005, the group’s companies were divided among her four sons, who now run them independently.
Jindal was the richest woman in 2023; the company’s rising stock prices have boosted her wealth this year to sixth place on the list as of July 4.
6th place.. Abigail Johnson
- Net Worth: $33.1 billion
- Age: 62 years
- Source of wealth: Mutual funds
- Nationality: American
Johnson has been CEO of Fidelity Investments since 2014, taking over for her father, Edward Johnson III, who died in 2022.
Abigail Johnson owns about 28.5% of the company, which was founded by her grandfather in 1946 and has $4.9 trillion in assets under management and recently entered into spot bitcoin ETFs in the United States.
5th place.. Mackenzie Scott
- Net Worth: $40.3 billion
- Age: 53 years
- Source of wealth: Amazon
- Nationality: American
She is a prominent philanthropist and ex-wife of Jeff Bezos. After their divorce, she acquired a 4% stake in Amazon, and has since donated billions of dollars to various causes, including education, science, and the arts.
Her charitable efforts have made her one of the world’s most generous donors, with her lifetime giving totaling $17.3 billion as of March 2024, a month in which she gave $640 million to 361 organizations that applied in a funding competition, often unconditional and surprising to recipients.
Fourth place.. Jacqueline Mars
- Net Worth: $43.7
- Age: 84 years
- Source of wealth: candy, chocolate, pet food
- Nationality: American
Jacqueline Mars, heiress to the world-famous Mars Inc., ranks fourth on our list with a net worth of $38.5 billion.
She and her family own Mars, a company known for brands such as M&M’s, Snickers, Pedigree, and others.
Mars is one of the largest private companies in the world, with revenues exceeding $35 billion. The company was founded by her grandfather, Frank C. Mars, who began selling butter candy from his kitchen in 1911.
Third place: Julia Cook and her family
- Net Worth: $74.1 billion
- Age: 61 years
- Source of wealth: Koch Industries
- Nationality: American
The widow of billionaire and famous industrialist David Koch, ranks third with a net worth of $74.1 billion, down from the second place she held in 2023.
She inherited a 42% stake in Koch Industries, and oversees a diverse group of companies in oil refining, medical technology and paper products.
2nd Place: Alice Walton
- Net Worth: $89 billion
- Age: 74 years
- Source of wealth: Walmart global retail chain
- Nationality: American
The richest woman in America, her wealth has increased by $15.6 billion this year, due to the rise in the price of Walmart shares in the past months. She is the only daughter of Walmart founder Sam Walton.
Unlike her male siblings, she never sat on the company’s board of directors and instead focused on art.
She is known for her philanthropy and art collection, and founded the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in her hometown of Bentonville, Arkansas, which houses works by artists such as Andy Warhol, Norman Rockwell, and Mark Rothko.
1st place.. Françoise Bettencourt Meyers and her family
- Net Worth: $92.3 billion
- Age: 70 years
- Source of wealth: L’Oreal
- Nationality: French
The richest woman in the world for the fourth year in a row, she is the granddaughter of the founder of the global company L’Oréal, and most of her wealth is linked to her nearly 35% stake in the giant cosmetics group L’Oréal, which has revenues of $45 billion and owns famous brands such as “Maybelline” and “Lancôme”.
Under her leadership, L’Oréal continued to thrive, generating billions in revenue and a diverse portfolio of beauty product brands.
Bettencourt Meyers first appeared on the list of the world’s richest women in 2018 with a net worth of $42.2 billion, after inheriting the fortune of her mother, Liliane Bettencourt, who died in 2017, and her wealth has since doubled.
