The world's wealthiest women!

We explain how the world's richest females made their fortunes...

Every year, US magazine Forbes publishes its famous list of the world’s dollar billionaires.

The billionaires’ club

In its 2010 survey, Forbes lists 1,011 billionaires. As I revealed in Seven secrets billionaires know about money, you would need roughly £650 million to make this list.

The vast majority of the members of this exclusive club are male, including the 11 richest people in the world. This is partly due to inheritance rules favouring males, and partly because of the traditional domination of men at the highest levels of business. However, as times change, more and more women will enter the rich lists.

Females with fortunes

Although most of the world’s richest ladies inherited their wealth, a few self-made billionaires jumped into this year’s rich list, too.

Here are the world’s six richest women:

The world’s richest woman, Christy Ruth Walton, inherited the bulk of her wealth on the death of her husband, John Thomas Walton, son of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton. Likewise, Christy’s sister-in-law, Alice Walton, made her pot by inheriting shares in the world’s largest retailer from her late father.

Like the Walton sisters, Europe’s richest woman -- France’s Liliane Bettencourt -- got rich through inheritance. Her father became one of France’s richest men by founding cosmetics firm L'Oréal more than a century ago. Madame Bettencourt was recently criticised by her daughter for giving nearly £1 billion to a younger male friend. (I wonder if she told him it was, “Because you're worth it”?)

The developing world’s richest lady is Savitri Jindal, who inherited a large stake in steel and power conglomerate O.P. Jindal on the death of her husband Om Prakash Jindal in 2005.

Sixth and last on my list is Abigail Johnson, who has made a name for herself in the investment world as one of the kingpins of giant fund manager Fidelity, which is 49%-owned by the Johnson family. When her father retires, Abby is tipped to step into the top spot.

Do they deserve it?

Some cynics would point out that all of these women inherited their wealth from men.

But remember, many of these women have been heavily involved in family businesses, as well as raising families. In many cases, they are ‘the power behind the throne’ and so deserve a fair share of family financial success.

The richest self-made female tycoons

Only 14 women in the world have made $1 billion or more from their own efforts, versus 665 men. Here are the top six, plus the only self-made British female billionaire to make the Forbes list:

You may not recognise several of the names on this list, especially those who made their money outside of Europe and the US. For example, Elena Baturina is probably better known in the West for being the wife of Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov than as the founder of several industrial and construction firms.

However, while you may not know Doris Fisher, you will know her Gap stores, which she co-founded with her late husband Donald in San Francisco in 1969. Today, the group has over 3,000 outlets, including Banana Republic, Gap Kids and Old Navy.

Sixth on my list is celebrity extraordinaire Oprah Winfrey, talk-show host since 1986. Despite starting life on a farm in Mississippi, Oprah has gone on to become of the world’s richest TV personalities. Her ownership of production company Harpo Productions (‘Oprah’ backwards) and other entertainment businesses enable Ms Winfrey to maximise her personal earnings.

Last on my list -- and just clearing the billion-dollar barrier -- is the world’s richest author, J K Rowling. 45-year-old Jo hit the jackpot by writing the hugely popular series of books about teenage wizard Harry Potter, plus she made a mint from the spin-off films. It took JK 13 years to make a billion -- not bad for a single mum who wrote her first book in 1997 while getting by on benefits!

Keep it in the family

If I’ve learnt one lesson from researching these mega-wealthy women, then it would be this: keep things in the family.

For example, Rosalia Mera and her ex-husband Amancio Ortega started out small, making lingerie and dressing gowns in their home, before going on to build the mighty Zara clothing empire. Likewise, Donald and Doris Fisher worked together as a team to make Gap one of the world’s biggest retail brands.

So, if you’ve no chance of inheriting a fortune, forget the National Lottery. Instead, try starting an entrepreneurial family business. Who knows, with hard work, you could be the next Oprah or JK!

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