daniel chigunwe
According to Forbes’s ranking of “The World’s Billionaires,” there are a total of 239 women in the list this year, coming from different parts of the world and various industries such as mining, real estate, finance, pharmaceutical, and others.
But among this long list of moneymaking females, let us find out who made it to the top 10 — the most affluent in the list made up of heiresses and self-made magnates and what exactly made them worthy of the coveted billionaire label.
Top 10 Richest Women in the World for 2022
Francoise Bettencourt-Meyers (France): $53,2 billion
Alice Walton (US): US$46,4 billion
Jacqueline Mars (US): US$27 billion
Yang Huiyan (China): $22,4 billion
Laurene Powell Jobs (United States): US$20,6 billion
Susanne Klatten (Germany): US$19,6 billion
Abigail Johnson (United States): US$16,9 billion
Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken (The Netherlands): US$15,8 billion
Gina Rinehart (Australia): US$15,5 billion
Iris Fontbona (Chile): US$14,5 billion
The first thing that might come across your mind looking at the list of the richest women in the world is that their fortune is practically handed over to them.
True, the Waltons, Mars and Heinekens are no strangers to the list, but it isn’t fair to label their fortune as an inheritance alone.
One, we don’t dismiss the richest men in the world with the same condescension as easily as with women.
Two, and most importantly, inheritance is difficult to keep afloat if you lack the financial acumen.
The richest women won’t be on this list today if it weren’t’ for their leadership and guts.
Not a few cases when we hear infamous inheritance feuds destroying the next-generation fortune, but these women were able to, not just preserve their wealth, but grow it.
Alice Walton, in fact, added yet another six billion to her net worth this year from US$40 billion as one of the richest women in the US last year. Of course, the richest among us have the government to thank for when you realise that wealth is taxed way too low compared to income tax.
Just two years ago, the House doubled the exemption value for estate tax, which allows the rich to shelter tons of money away from the prying eyes of Uncle Sam.
The list of the richest women in the world is also quite telling for one thing: the lack of diversity.
We only have one Asian making it to the list. The rest are from the West and unsurprisingly white. It does put a damper on talks about wealth distribution in a globalised economy. — financesonline.com.
Online Reporter