Top 10 Richest Women in the World

What Are the Top 10 Richest Women in the World?

This is the current list of the world's wealthiest women, based on available data on Forbes in 2025. Note that net worth figures can fluctuate significantly based on market conditions and stock prices.

1. Françoise Bettencourt Meyers

Françoise Bettencourt Meyers isn't your typical billionaire. She's sitting at the top of the women's wealth charts thanks to her massive chunk of L'Oréal - about a third of the company that her grandfather started way back in 1909 when he was whipping up hair dyes. This huge stake landed in her lap after her mom Liliane passed away in 2017. But despite having more money than most people can imagine, she tends to keep to herself, spending a lot of time buried in books and writing about religion, especially focusing on connections between Jewish and Christian traditions. She does show up for the important stuff at L'Oréal's board meetings and helps run her family's charity foundation. And her bank account just keeps getting bigger as L'Oréal's stock keeps climbing - pretty good for someone who'd rather study scripture than show off their wealth.

2. Alice Walton

Unlike her brothers, who jumped into the family business, Alice Walton took her Walmart fortune and ran in a completely different direction - she's become this massive force in the art world. Although she's loaded thanks to her share of her father Sam's retail empire, she's never really been interested in running stores. Instead, she poured her energy and millions into building this incredible art museum called Crystal Bridges in her hometown of Bentonville, Arkansas. She has an amazing eye for picking out important American art, but you won't find her strutting around flaunting her wealth. She's more likely to be hanging out on her Texas ranch or hunting down the next great painting for her museum. It's pretty cool how she's used her share of the world's biggest retail fortune to pursue her true passion - making great art accessible to everyone.

3. Julia Koch

When Julia Koch first met David Koch at a gathering in 1991, she was working for fashion designer Adolfo and wasn't a member of the millionaire club. What a transformative meeting! They hit it off, married five years later and established themselves as mainstays of New York's high society. But when David died in 2019, everything changed. Julia and their three children now owned a massive 42 per cent stake in Koch Industries, a huge private company that deals in everything from pipelines to chemicals. While her husband was always in the spotlight with his political activities, Julia has kept a low profile. These days she sits on the company's board and runs its foundation, but you won't see her making headlines like David used to. Pretty wild how she went from being a fashion assistant to owning a controlling stake in one of America's largest private companies.

4. Jacqueline Mars

Jackie Mars comes from serious candy royalty - her grandad Frank started cooking up sweets in his kitchen back in 1911, and that little venture turned into the company that gave us M&Ms and Snickers. These days, she shares the massive Mars empire with her brother John and her late brother Forrest's kids. She actually put in about 20 years working for the family business and sat on the board until 2016, but she's not one for the spotlight. Even though Mars has grown way beyond just candy into pet food and other stuff, you won't catch her bragging about it. She's more interested in supporting horse events and the arts with her fortune. It's pretty wild to think that those kitchen experiments from over a century ago turned into this huge private company that keeps making the Mars family richer and richer.

5. MacKenzie Scott

MacKenzie Scott has a pretty unique story among billionaires - she actually helped build the fortune she ended up with. Fresh out of Princeton, she was working at this hedge fund when she met Jeff Bezos. She was in the trenches when Amazon was just starting out, helping to write its business plan and becoming one of its first employees. They married in 1993. When she and Bezos parted ways in 2019, she took 4% of Amazon with her, and now she's one of the richest women on the planet. What's interesting, though, is that she's giving all that money away like it's no big deal, rather than simply hoarding it. She is essentially rewriting the norms of billionaire giving: giving large sums of money to organisations she believes are doing good work, particularly in the areas of social justice and equality, without the need for elaborate foundations or convoluted applications. There are no requirements or restrictions - just "here's the money, do what you want".

6. Savitri Jindal

Savitri Jindal became India's richest woman after the untimely passing of her husband, O.P. Jindal, in a helicopter crash in 2005. With no prior business background, she stepped up as chairperson of the Jindal Group, a massive conglomerate involved in steel, power, cement, and infrastructure. She prioritizes family unity, entrusting her four sons with managing different divisions while she provides overall strategic direction. Under her leadership, the company has seen significant growth, though she continues to lead a humble personal life. In addition to her business role, she is an active politician, serving in the Haryana Legislative Assembly and contributing to social causes through the Jindal Foundation.

7. Rafaela Aponte-Diamant

Rafaela Aponte-Diamant, along with her husband Gianluigi Aponte, transformed MSC (Mediterranean Shipping Company) from a single ship in 1970 into the world's largest shipping line. They started with a small loan to buy their first cargo vessel and steadily expanded their fleet by reinvesting profits and making smart acquisitions. While Gianluigi oversaw daily operations, Rafaela played a key role in managing finances and shaping the company’s long-term strategy. Today, MSC operates over 700 vessels and employs more than 180,000 people worldwide. Despite her vast fortune, she keeps a low profile in Geneva, Switzerland, focusing on growing MSC’s shipping and cruise businesses while keeping the company privately owned.

8. Miriam Adelson

Miriam Adelson's path to becoming one of the world's wealthiest women is intertwined with both her medical career and her marriage to casino magnate Sheldon Adelson. Born in Israel, she established herself as a respected physician specializing in drug addiction treatment before meeting Sheldon on a blind date in 1988. After their marriage, she became increasingly involved in the Las Vegas Sands casino empire, which transformed both Las Vegas and Macau's gaming industries. Following Sheldon's death in 2021, she inherited a controlling stake in Las Vegas Sands, making her one of the most powerful figures in the global gaming industry. Known for her significant political donations and philanthropy, particularly to medical research and Jewish causes, she continues to expand her influence while maintaining her medical interests through addiction treatment clinics.

9. Gina Rinehart

Gina Rinehart transformed her father's struggling mining company into Australia's largest private company, becoming the country's richest person in the process. After inheriting Hancock Prospecting from her father Lang Hancock in 1992, she aggressively expanded the business during the mining boom of the early 2000s. Her most significant achievement was developing the Roy Hill iron ore mine, a massive $10 billion project that helped cement her position among the world's wealthiest. Known for her hard-driving business style and controversial political views, particularly on climate change and taxation, Rinehart has also diversified into agriculture, becoming one of Australia's largest cattle producers. Despite family feuds that have made headlines, she maintains tight control over her empire while continuing to expand her interests in mining and agriculture.

10. Abigail Johnson

Abigail Johnson represents the third generation of leadership at Fidelity Investments, taking the reins as CEO in 2014 after working her way up through various positions within the company. Unlike many wealthy heirs, she started at the bottom, joining Fidelity as a portfolio manager after earning her Harvard MBA. Under her leadership, Fidelity has embraced technological innovation, particularly in cryptocurrency investments and digital assets, helping the firm maintain its position as one of the world's largest investment managers. Known for her hands-on management style and forward-thinking approach, Johnson owns an estimated 24.5% stake in the firm her grandfather founded. Despite being one of the most powerful women in finance, she maintains a low-key presence while actively steering Fidelity through the rapidly evolving financial services landscape.

An Increase in the Number of Self-Made Women

The distribution of wealth among the world’s richest women highlights a shift in how fortunes are built and maintained. While many of the top 10 billionaires inherited their wealth from family businesses, the rise of self-made female billionaires is becoming increasingly noticeable. This trend, particularly evident in 2023 and early 2024, has been driven by industries like biotech, retail, and technology, which have provided new opportunities for women to amass significant wealth through innovation and entrepreneurship. In Asia, figures like Fan Hongwei of Hengli Petrochemical and Zhao Yan of Bloomage Biotech have built multibillion-dollar companies from scratch, showcasing this shift. However, inherited wealth still dominates the upper ranks, highlighting both progress and the ongoing gap in wealth creation.

The Impact of Self-Made Women Billionaires

The rise of self-made women billionaires is reshaping not just wealth rankings, but the very nature of global business leadership and entrepreneurship. Unlike previous generations where female billionaires primarily inherited their wealth, today's self-made women are building revolutionary companies in sectors ranging from artificial intelligence to sustainable energy. They're not just accumulating wealth – they're driving innovation, creating jobs, and often approaching philanthropy with fresh perspectives that emphasize direct impact and systemic change. These pioneers are also actively dismantling traditional barriers, creating new networks and opportunities for the next generation of women entrepreneurs through mentorship programs and venture funds specifically targeted at women-led startups.

Conclusion

As we've explored the stories of the world's wealthiest women, it's clear that the landscape of wealth and power is evolving. While many of today's top female billionaires inherited their fortunes, a new generation of self-made women is emerging, including successful women in forex and other financial markets. These pioneers are proving that gender is no barrier to success in traditionally male-dominated fields. For aspiring traders, starting with a Forex demo account can provide valuable experience in understanding market dynamics and building trading strategies. Whether through inheritance, entrepreneurship, or strategic investment, these remarkable women demonstrate that success comes in many forms, and their influence continues to inspire future generations to break barriers and create their own paths to financial success.

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