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10 Of The Richest Women In The World

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The world’s ten richest women in 2017 didn’t get there by picking stocks — they got there by inheritance, boardroom seats, and a handful of household brands you buy every week.

Forbes’ wealth rankings for early 2017 put a French cosmetics heiress at the very top of the list, ahead of Walmart, Mars candy, and BMW money. The names on this list rarely make gossip pages, but their combined fortunes run into the hundreds of billions, built on companies that stock nearly every kitchen cabinet and medicine cabinet in the world.

• Liliane Bettencourt topped the list with an estimated $38 billion net worth tied to her family’s controlling stake in L’Oréal, the cosmetics giant her father founded.
• Alice Walton ranked second at roughly $34 billion to $35.4 billion from her share of the Walmart fortune, money she’s poured into building the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Arkansas.
• Jacqueline Mars sat third with about $23.9 billion from Mars, Inc., the candy and food company her grandfather started.

Bettencourt’s L’Oréal Fortune Sits At The Top

Liliane Bettencourt’s $38 billion made her the wealthiest woman on the planet as of early 2017, and it all traced back to L’Oréal, the beauty conglomerate founded by her father, Eugène Schueller, in 1909. Bettencourt herself, much like certain royal family members who are nothing like they seem, spent decades staying largely out of public view despite controlling one of France’s largest corporate fortunes. Her daughter, Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, would eventually take over the estate, but that transfer hadn’t happened yet as of this ranking — Bettencourt was still alive and still holding the title.

Walton, Mars, And Ferrero: Retail And Candy Money

Alice Walton’s fortune came straight from Walmart, the chain her father Sam Walton built into the world’s largest retailer, and her personal wealth landed between $34 billion and $35.4 billion depending on the valuation. She’s better known these days for art than for retail — Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, which she founded in Bentonville, Arkansas, houses works spanning American art history and has become her signature project outside the family business.

Jacqueline Mars came in third with an estimated $23.9 billion, her share of Mars, Inc., the candy and food manufacturer her grandfather Frank C. Mars founded. Right behind her sat Maria Franca Fissolo, widow of Michele Ferrero, holding roughly $23.6 billion as Italy’s richest person on the strength of Ferrero SpA — the company behind Nutella, Ferrero Rocher, and Tic Tac.

Four of the top five fortunes on this list didn’t come from founding a company — they came from marrying into one, or being born into one.

German Industry And American Tech Widows

Germany’s Susanne Klatten rounded out the top five at approximately $17.6 billion, her wealth split between major holdings in chemical manufacturer Altana and a substantial stake in automaker BMW. Unlike heiresses who put their money into art collections or museums, Klatten’s fortune has stayed locked into industrial and pharmaceutical holdings passed down from her father.

Just behind Klatten was Laurene Powell Jobs, Steve Jobs’ widow, at $17 billion tied to Apple and Disney stakes she inherited after his death. Dutch Heineken heiress Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken followed at $13.3 billion, and Fidelity Investments CEO Abigail Johnson checked in at $13 billion — notable as one of the only women on this list who earned her position running the company rather than simply holding shares in it.

The Final Two: Cox Enterprises And Australian Mining

Cox Enterprises heiress Blair Parry-Okeden closed out the ninth spot with $10.2 billion, her stake tracing back to the Atlanta-based media and communications company. Rounding out the top ten was Australian mining magnate Gina Rinehart at $10 billion, whose fortune came from Hancock Prospecting, the iron ore business she inherited and expanded from her father Lang Hancock.

What jumps out across this entire list is how few of these fortunes were built from scratch. Bettencourt, Walton, Mars, Fissolo, Klatten, Powell Jobs, de Carvalho-Heineken, and Parry-Okeden all inherited their positions — only Johnson and Rinehart actively run the operations behind their money day to day, which says plenty about how generational wealth still moves at the very top of the list.