Find out who the 10 richest women in the world are and where their wealth comes from Brasil Notícias

Photo: Reproduction/Forbes.

Although the positions of the world's richest people are still occupied by men, many women have recently entered the race. In 2023, around 60 new women stood out in the financial world and joined the list. Adding assets, the total value could reach $621 billion. Most of them, like men, inherited the wealth of large family conglomerates, but many not only knew how to maintain it but also managed to multiply their fortunes. This is the case of the three richest women in the world: the heiresses of L'Oréal, Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, and Walmart, Alice Walton and Julia Koch.

See the list:

1. Francoise Bettencourt Meyers

The granddaughter of the founder of L'Oréal, Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, 70, is currently the richest woman in the world. With around 33% of the shares in the family business, Françoise has been a board member and president of the family's holding company and philanthropic organizations since 1997, active in the science and art sectors in France. After the death of her mother, Liliane Bettencourt, at the age of 94, with whom the heiress had worldfamous controversies, Françoise moved to the top of the list of the richest.

L'Oreal heiress Francoise Bettencourt Meyers is the first woman to have more than $100 billion Photo: Francois Guillot/AFP

Françoise even donated $226 million to repair Notre Dame Cathedral after the fire in April 2019. Shortly before Liliane's death, a scandal between the two made headlines around the world. At that time, a man was convicted of manipulating and taking financial advantage of the older woman. The controversy was covered in a Netflix documentary.

2. Alice Walton

Unlike her brothers, Walmart founder Sam Walton's only daughter, Alice, is not involved in the family holding company. At 74 years old and with With a net worth of $62.9 billion, the richest woman in the United States has turned her attention to art curation. Alice Walton is the owner of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas. The collection includes art by Andy Warhol, Norman Rockwell and Mark Rothko.

Rob Walton (right), president of Walmart and son of the founder of the world's largest retail chain, Sam Walton. At his side are the brothers Alice and Jim Walton, shareholders of the network Photo: BETH HALL / Bloomberg /462010

In 2022, a holistic health foundation founded in the heiress' hometown was renamed the Alice L. Walton School of Medicine.

3. Julia Koch and family

Philanthropist Julia Koch, 61, widow of David Koch, is currently the third richest woman in the world, with an estimated fortune of $58.4 billion, according to Forbes magazine's realtime ranking. With a large fortune in real estate investments, she completed the sale of her sevenstory penthouse on the Upper East Side in New York for $41 million (equivalent to R$202 million at current prices).

She holds a degree in arts and sciences from the University of Central Arkansas.

4. MacKenzie Scott

Since divorcing Amazon founder Jeff Bezos in 2019, MacKenzie has become one of the most prolific philanthropists in history. Around 4% of the company's shares are owned by her exhusband, to whom she was married for 25 years. To date, she has donated more than US$14 billion (R$70.8 billion) to around 1,600 charities through her Yield Giving organization.

MacKenzie Scott in a photo from 2018 Photo: Bloomberg

With an estimated net worth of $41 billion, she advocates the style of giving in which the NGOs she supports have full control over the best use of the amounts received.

5. Jacqueline Mars

At 84, the fifth richest woman in the world has a fortune of $38.5 billion. Jacqueline Mars is the heiress to about onethird of Mars, the candy, food and pet products company founded in 1911 by her grandfather, Frank C. Mars.

Jacqueline Mars Photo: Forbes

Jacqueline is currently a board member of the U.S. National Archives. She previously served on the board of the Washington National Opera. Another activity related to the Mars heiress is the ownership of a horse farm in Virginia, where horses of Olympic champions are trained.

6. Miriam Adelson and family

Miriam Adelson was born in Israel and is the widow of former CEO and president of the Las Vegas Sands casino company, Sheldon Adelson. Following the businessman's death at the age of 87 in 2021, Miriam and her family now own more than half of the family business, with casinos in Singapore and Macau. In 2020, the Adelsons became major donors to the Republican Party of the United States, giving around $180 million to political causes.

Miriam Adelson, casino businesswoman expected to buy the Dallas Mavericks Photo: Saul Loeb / AFP

Miriam has a medical degree from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and her work focuses on people with opioid addiction issues. At 78, she shares the family empire with her five children.

7. Rafaela Aponte Diamond

Rafaela AponteDiamant is responsible for decorating MSC Cruises, a company she owns with her husband Gianluigi. She owns 50% of the family empire. They met during a trip to the island of Capri in the 1960s. The man was a ship captain and the two decided to invest around $200,000 in the company.

Currently, Rafaela has an estimated net worth of $31 billion and is considered selfmade rich as she did not inherit her wealth. In the company, Gianluigi is Chairman of MSC and her son Diego is President of MSC.

8. Gina Rinehart

The owner of an iron ore empire and daughter of explorer Lang Hancock, Gina Rinehart, 69, restructured the family business when she became managing director in 1992. It is currently the second largest livestock producer in the world, according to Forbes. Australia, with breeding facilities across the country. Rinehart is also active in the gas sector.

Gina Rinehart is one of the richest women in the world Photo: Photo: NELSON CHING / BLOOMBERG NEWS

With four heirs, Rinehart waged a lengthy legal battle with his sons over control of the companies.

9. Savitri Jindal and family

73yearold widow Savitri Jindal, president of the Jindal Group, runs her late husband's company. Savitri has an estimated net worth of $29 billion and has nine children, four of whom help her in the various areas of the Jindal business, which includes steel, power, cement and infrastructure.

Savitri Jindal is the richest woman in India Photo: Reproduction / X

The family patriarch died in a helicopter accident in 2005. As a result, most of the Indian group's wealth was managed by the couple's best son, Sajjan Jindal.

10. Abigail Johnson

With a master's degree in business administration from Harvard Business School and a bachelor's degree in arts and sciences, Abigail Johnson is the heir to Fidelity Investments, a company she has chaired since 2016. The family business was founded in Boston in 1946 by Abigail's grandfather, Edward Johnson II.

Abigail Johnson is one of the richest women in the world Photo: Forbes

Abigail, a mother of two, owns about 28.5% of the company, which has accumulated $4.5 trillion in discretionary assets, according to Forbes. In 2018, Fidelity launched a platform focused on cryptocurrency trading. Abigail joined the family business as an analyst in 1988 after completing her MBA at Harvard.

Photo credit: O Globo.