Normally, becoming a billionaire takes many years, excellent business sense, and tons of hard work. There are billionaires and there are these women. These young female magnates change the idea of what it means to be ridiculously rich. Some of these women are self-made and business savvy enough to reach a financial stratosphere. The others were lucky enough to inherit their fortune. Not only were these ladies born into the right families, but they have the absolute freedom to do whatever they want.
Just imagine what it’s like to hop on a private jet and go wherever you want. Now, imagine not having to work a day in your life and being able to buy anything you can dream of. Those are the perks, though. For many of these young women, with the fortune comes responsibility and thus stress.
These are world’s youngest female billionaires, ranging from ages 19 to over 50.
Holly Branson
Holly Branson is an heiress worth $3.8 billion. Her father, entrepreneur, Sir Richard Branson, controls more than 400 companies with his own net worth of $4.9 billion. The heir to the Virgin fortune, Holly became an executive at Virgin Group and Virgin Unite. But Holly isn’t a spoiled daughter of a billionaire. She has proven that she too has the brains of a Branson. Holly went to medical school, specializing in neurology.
She then became a doctor, working in the neurology department of the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. She also travels the world doing humanitarian and philanthropic work. She’s now the author of “WEconomy: You Can Find Meaning, Make a Living, and Change the World.”
Coming up: an heiress worth a cool $3.6 billion
Serra Sabanci
The 46-year-old is worth $1.1 billion from her family’s business. She is one of the shareholders and board members of Sabanci Holdings, Turkey’s largest financial and industrial corporation. Her father, Ozdemir Sabanci, was gunned down in 1996 inside his office in Sabanci Towers in Istanbul. The armed group DHKP-C hired assassins to take him out. An heiress with a tragic family past, Serra became the 28th richest person in Turkey.
After their father’s death, Serra and her only sibling, Demir, took spots on the board at Sabanci Holding. Serra went on to study Economics at the University of Portsmouth. Her net worth has gone up and down over the years, but her family had recent success. Sabanci Holding now operates over 60 companies in its group, with over 60,000 employees across the world.
Ana Lucia de Mattos Barretto Villela
Ana is 45 years old and worth $2 billion. It’s all thanks to her great-grandfather who founded Itau, one of the largest banks in Brazil. Itau merged with Unibanco and are now known as Itau-Unibanco, which is currently the largest non-state bank in Latin America. Ana is the youngest female billionaire in Brazil at the moment with a fortune that means she’s set for life.
She isn’t in the public eye much, but Villela is using her wealth to spread awareness on all kinds of things. She’s been running a non-profit group with her brother for over 20 years, fighting childhood obesity among other things. They even won a lawsuit against McDonald’s for providing toys with their Happy Meals.
Find out who Jackie Kennedy’s granddaughter is and how she makes it onto this list…
Lee Seo-Hyun
The 45-year-old is worth $1.5 billion as the president of Cheil Industries, a textile manufacturer. She’s the second daughter of Samsung chairman Lee Kun-hee as well as the granddaughter of Samsung founder Lee Byung-chull. She stepped up to lead Cheil Industries in 2015, expanding the company into a fashion and chemicals business. Lee merged her company with Samsung SDI and Samsung Everland, which made them the leading producer of energy storage solutions.
Lee then became one of the 50 richest people in Korea. She is also credited for starting Italy’s 10 Corso Como, which is a prestigious concept store. The relatively young billionaire is married to Kim Jae-youl and both of the extremely busy tycoons managed become parents to four children.
Aerin Lauder
Aerin Lauder is a 48-year-old heiress to the Estée Lauder line, meaning she has a net worth of $2.3 billion. As the eldest daughter of Ronald Lauder and the granddaughter of Estee Lauder, the founder, Aerin, is one lucky gal. While she may look like she gets to sit back and enjoy a life of luxury, Aerin is a busy young woman.
She got her Bachelor of Arts and Science at the University of Pennsylvania. She was made the image director of their cosmetics business. But Aerin branched out to create her own brand called AERIN, a fashion, perfume, cosmetic, and furniture line. She still owns 16 million shares of the Estée Lauder Company, though.
Soon, you’ll meet two of the richest sisters in the world…
Dylan Lauren
Dylan Lauren is the lucky daughter of fashion designer Ralph Lauren, which means she has a net worth of $4.7 billion. What did she do with her share of the fortune? She did what any young kid who is told that she has all the money in the world and can do whatever she wants with it – she opened the largest candy shop in the world! The store is called Dylan’s Candy Bar.
She decided not to follow in her father’s fashion tycoon footsteps. But she did let him design her wedding dress when she got married to Paul Arrouet in 2011. Dylan isn’t in the fashion business, but said that her dad taught her how to be business-savvy. And we can tell!
Kylie Jenner
In July of 2018, Kylie Jenner was featured on the cover of Forbes magazine, which claimed that she was about to become America’s youngest self-made billionaire with a net worth of $1 billion. The 21-year old reality TV star and half-sister of Kim Kardashian started a popular cosmetics line called Kylie Cosmetics. The line alone earned her $900 million within three years.
That Forbes piece brought some real backlash because many people had an issue with the term “self-made.” Even dictionary.com tweeted that the term means “having succeeded in life unaided.” I think it’s clear that they were not in agreement that Jenner is in fact self-made, considering the fact that she’s been “aided” in many ways. If she wasn’t a member of the Kardashian-Jenner family, I’m not so sure she would be on this list. But who knows…
Amanda Hearst
Amanda Hearst is media mogul William Randolph Hearst’s great-granddaughter with an estimated net worth of $8.7 billion. The 25-year-old was born and raised in New York City and attended the prestigious Chapin School and Fordham University. She even enrolled in Boston College, but dropped out to try her hand at a modeling career.
She’s the current associate marketing editor of Marie Claire and the founder of the organization Friends and Finn, which prevents the mistreatment of puppies in puppy mills. Hearst is passionate about animals and uses her money and fame to make her cause known. She works with more than one non-profit organization to promote a positive message on animal rights. And with a face like that, I think she has the power to make people listen!
Marie Besnier Beauvalot
Marie Besnier Beauvalot is only in her later 30s and she already has a net worth of $2.5 billion. Her grandfather was the founder of a company called Lactalis, the largest dairy products group in the world. Her father was the CEO of the company, and now Marie and her two brothers own 100% of Lactalis.
The company is based in Western France and is well-known for making Président brie cheese, which grew so popular that it made the company a huge success. Although Marie has the means and the looks to live a life of luxury and fame, Marie lays low, and is rarely heard about in the media. But I think that’s wise on her part.
Soon, see how Jackie Kennedy’s granddaughter made billions…
Charlotte Casiraghi
Charlotte Casiraghi, the 30-year-old model, is worth $5.7 billion. Her mother is Caroline, the Princess of Hanover, and her father is Italian industrialist Stefano Casiraghi. Charlotte is 8th in line to the throne of Monaco. In 2013, Charlotte made headlines when it was revealed that she had a son out of wedlock with French actor, Gad Elmaleh, who’s 16 years older than her.
But this royal lady didn’t get the fairy-tale ending as they abruptly split up just two years later. A source told PEOPLE magazine: “He wasn’t around enough and she wanted a father for her son.” The young billionaire earned a philosophy degree from Sorbonne University and is also a decorated equestrian. Where have you seen her? In high fashion ads as she’s the face of Gucci.
Sara Blakely
Sara Blakely is a 45-year-old self-made billionaire with a net worth of $1.14 billion. She founded the popular company Spanx, which makes undergarment apparel, pants, and leggings. I’m sure you’ve heard of Spanx! She appeared as a guest investor on several episodes of Shark Tank. In 2012, Time named Blakely one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Forbes named her the 93rd most powerful woman in the world.
In 2005, she came in second place as a contestant on The Rebel Billionaire, a reality series that introduced her to Richard Branson, who later supported her in becoming an entrepreneur and philanthropist. She went on to be a judge on ABC’s American Inventor. The Florida-native married Jesse Itzler, the co-founder of Marquis Jet and together they have four children.
The next billionaire is the youngest in the world..
Alexandra Andresen
It’s hard for any teenager to imagine becoming a billionaire at such a young age, but that’s what happened to Norwegian heiress, Alexandra Andresen, that young lady we saw at the very beginning of this article. Andresen inherited a fortune that is currently estimated at $1.4 billion. And she got it all before her 20th birthday!
Andresen, who was born and raised in Oslo, Norway, is now 22 years old, which means she’s the youngest female billionaire in the world. She’s the daughter of Johan H. Andresen Jr., the Norwegian industrialist who owns Ferd AS. Ferd is a finance and real estate company. Johan isn’t pressuring his daughters to join the family business, but he did transfer 80% of his shares from Ferd Holding to both Alexandra and her sister, Katharina.
Tamara Ecclestone
You have probably heard of the name Ecclestone before. Tamara Ecclestone is the 32-year-old daughter and heiress to her father Bernie Ecclestone. He is the billionaire and chief executive of the Formula One Group. Tamara has become a socialite and television personality with a net worth of $3.6 billion.
She has been a presenter for Sky Sports Italia and is involved in other racing productions. In 2013, Tamara made headlines for a completely different reason. It was revealed that her ex-fiancé, Derek Rose, tried to blackmail her for £200,000 which involved selling her “intimate secrets” to the public. He was convicted and sent to jail for four years. She is now married to Jay Rutland and the two live in a mansion (obviously) in Kensington.
Athina Onassis
Athina Onassis has become the last surviving descendant of Greek shipping billionaire, Aristotle Onassis. That’s right, it means she’s the granddaughter of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis – through marriage. Athina is estimated to be worth as much as $5 billion after she famously received $800 million-worth of inheritance on her 18th birthday.
Recently, the heiress fell on harder times. There’s speculation that her fortune is dwindling down, between the cost of her extravagant lifestyle and her $100 million divorce settlement to a philandering ex-husband. Even the press in her home country of Greece is debating the heiresses’ financial state, with a headline stating: “Athina Onassis May Not Be a Billionaire anymore!” it just goes to show, that getting a ton of money is one thing. Keeping it is another.
Petra Stunt
Tamara Ecclestone isn’t the only heiress to the Formula One fortune. Petra Stunt is Bernie Ecclestone’s other daughter. Like her sister, Petra is also a famous socialite and model, as well as a fashion designer. In 2011, she married James Stunt, a billionaire businessman in a ceremony that allegedly cost £12 million!
Recently, the couple made headlines for their real estate projects, including buying mega-producer Aaron Spelling’s mansion and listing it for $200 million. Also similar to her sister, Petra had bad luck with some shady characters who were close to her. In 2014, it was revealed that she was conned out of £1.6 million by the same person she hired to help renovate her mansion. The man was eventually sentenced to prison.
Perenna Kei
Perenna Kei, from Hong Kong, China, is only 30 years old. She was even younger, aged 24, when she became a billionaire. She got her fortune when she followed in her father’s footsteps. Her father is Ji Haipeng, the chairman and CEO of a major real estate company. Perenna became the non-executive director of the company, owning 85% of it, and earning her a net worth of $1.3 billion.
She is also the only shareholder of the company Logan Property in the Cayman Islands. She may have enough money to retire young, but Perenna enjoys being a businesswoman, and she’s darn good at it, too. Kei earned her place on Forbes’ annual list of billionaires. This young beauty is single, fellas.
Yvonne Bauer
Yvonne Bauer is a 43-year-old worth $2.4 billion. The woman owns 600 magazines, 400 digital productions, and 50 radio and TV stations around the world. That’s impressive! Bauer Media, a printing company based out of Germany, was founded in 1875. So she’s the 5th fifth generation to run the family company. Yvonne took over the company as CEO in 2010 when her father transferred over 85% of the company to her.
Bauer Media is Europe’s largest magazine company, which focuses on women’s content. It publishes magazines, radio programs, and designs digital formats over four continents in 17 countries. Before taking over the family company, Yvonne was an apprentice at publishing house Hoffmann und Campe. Yvonne married a journalist and together they have twins.
Laurene Powell Jobs
Laurene Powell Jobs is best known for being married to the late tech genius, Steve Jobs. But she is also famous for all her work as a philanthropist. As of 2018, Laurene has a net worth of $20.5 billion, making her by far one of the richest women in the world. The 56-year-old got her bachelor’s degree in Art and Science from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. She also earned an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Laurene founded the Emerson Collective, which is an organization that helps under-resourced students move through entrepreneurship. Powell spends most of her time investing and involved in philanthropic activities. She advocates for policies about education and immigration reform, social justice, and environmental conservation.
Margarita Louis-Dreyfus
Margarita Louis-Dreyfus is a 57-year-old worth $9.5 billion. Her life is a true rags to riches story.
She was orphaned at an early age in Russia and raised by a grandparent. When she later found love and met her future French billionaire husband, Robert Louis-Dreyfus, on a transatlantic flight, it caused a major family feud. The two married in 1992, but the family went to court.
A $900 million buyout was done to seize control of a 167-year-old company. Ms. Louis-Dreyfus is now the majority shareholder of the Louis Dreyfus Company, one of the world’s biggest crops and foodstuffs traders. When he passed away, Robert left the family’s company to Margarita. Is the name familiar? It’s because Margarita is the second cousin of actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus aka Elaine on Seinfeld.
Lynsi Snyder
When Lynsi Snyder turned 35 on May 5, 2017, she got the final share of her inheritance. She is the heiress to the In-N-Out Burger franchise fortune. Snyder now owns 97% of the burger chain and is worth $3 billion. Sadly, she has led a difficult life despite her financial freedom. For one thing, her uncle was killed in a plane crash in 1993. Then in 1999, her father died of a drug overdose.
In 2018, she became the fourth-best CEO in the country on the job site Glassdoor, which is solely based on employee reviews. In-N-Out was founded in 1948 by Harry and Esther Snyder. Lynsi is the only child of Lynda and H. Guy Snyder. Being the only child, there’s no sibling rivalry in her worries.
Jane Lauder
Jane Lauder is 47 years old and worth a nice $4.3 billion. She’s the older sister of Aerin Lauder and another heiress to the Estée Lauder cosmetics company. Jane sits in the position of the company’s global president and the general manager of Estée Lauder, Origins, Ojon, and Darphin. Since joining the family’s business in 1996, she now has ownership of 20 million shares in the company.
Jane’s net worth went up by $1.5 billion this past year. She’s currently ranked No. 461 on the Bloomberg’s Billionaire Index, right behind New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft. Jane is married to a man of power; Kevin Warsh, a member of the Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee. It only makes sense that she would be part of a power couple.
Zhou Qunfei
50-year-old Zhou Qunfei is now the second richest woman in China. She also holds the title of the world’s richest self-made woman, with a net worth of $9.8 billion. She comes from honest roots, having grown up in a poor family. Her mother tragically passed away when she was only five years old. Her father was badly injured at work in an accident. But despite the odds, Zhou became a successful entrepreneur.
She went on to start a company called Lens Technology, which makes touch screens. Her company supplies screens to electronics companies like Samsung, Apple, and Huawei. Zhou owns a $27 million estate in Hong Kong. What does the richest self-made woman do in her spare time? She loves mountain climbing and playing ping pong.
Sandra Ortega Mera
Sandra Mera is 51-years-old is a Spanish heiress and billionaire worth $7.3 billion. She inherited the family fortune when her mother, Rosalia Mera, died in 2013. Sandra’s father, Amancio Ortega Gaona, is the fourth richest person in the world. That makes Sandra the richest woman in Spain. The family company is named Rosp Corunna and Sandra owns 89% of it. She has a stake in her father’s clothing company, Inditex, too.
Mera spends her time working with the foundation that her mother founded. Fundación Paideia Galiza is meant to help those with mental and physical disabilities. Sandra is married with three children and lives in A Coruna, Spain. Sandra graduated from a Catholic school and earned a psychology degree from the Universidad de Santiago de Compostela.
Yang Huiyan
Yang Huiyan is a 38-year-old Chinese businesswoman who is worth $25.8 billion. Yang is the richest woman in all of Asia. Her father, Yang Guoqiang, founded a company called Country Garden Holdings, the Australian real estate developing business. Her father then transferred the ownership to his daughter. When the company started selling shares, they earned $410 million, which raised her net worth instantly.
In fact, her wealth increased by $2.1 billion in the first four days of the year’s trading. The young billionaire earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing and logistics from Ohio State University. While China has 60% of the world’s most successful female entrepreneurs, Yang Huiyan succeeded in keeping the streak going on as China’s richest woman for 7 straight years.
Susanne Klatten
The German heiress, Susanne Klatten, is 57 years old and worth $25.1 billion. She is Germany’s richest woman because she inherited the company BMW after her parents passed away. She now owns 50% of the company; her brother owns the other half. But BMW isn’t the only company she owns. Susanne also inherited Atlanta AG, the pharmaceutical giant that she ended up selling for $6 billion.
In 2007, Klatten was blackmailed by a 44-year-old Swiss national named Helg “Russak” Sgarbi, who threatened to release material showing the two having an affair. Sgarbi was charged with other blackmail schemes against other women, and was arrested in January 2009 and sentenced to six years in jail. Italian hotel owner, Ernano Barretta, allegedly filmed Sgarbi and Klatten with hidden cameras.
Abigail Pierrepont Johnson
Abigail Johnson is 58 years old and worth $15.8 billion. As the CEO and President of Fidelity Investments and the chairman of Fidelity International, she keeps busy. Her grandfather founded Fidelity. Abigail has a 49% stake in his company. According to Forbes, she’s the 19th most powerful woman in the world.
Since 2016, Abigail has been making headlines as the most powerful person in the world of finance. She’s heading a company that is worth $2.1 trillion. Johnson is redefining gender roles as she is taking on a male-dominated industry. She combines her family’s inheritance with her own achievements, making her the fourth richest woman in the United States. Fidelity Investments recently set up its own independent press, Fidelity Insight.
Allison Sarofim
Allison is an heiress worth $1.5 billion. Her father, Fayez Sarofim, started the business Fayez Sarofim & Co. Her mother is also an heiress to Brown & Root. Allison is an actress, producer, and founder of Sixty-Six Productions, the New York-based independent film production company. As an actress, she has appeared in: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe and The Nanny Diaries.
Sarofim produced Lake City, which starred Sissy Spacek, Troy Garity, Rebecca Romijn, and Dave Matthews. Her most recent project is The Untitled Anita Bryant, starring Julianne Moore and Chris Pine. Paper Magazine listed Allison as one of their “50 Most Beautiful People.” She might be the only person on this list who has gotten involved in the behind the scenes industry of Hollywood as much as she has.
Anna Anissimova
Speaking of actresses who are also billionaires: meet Anna Anissimova. She’s professionally known as Anna Schafer after she married Peter Schafer in 2010. She is an actress and producer, best known for The Whistleblower, Father of Invention, and Always Woodstock. The actress is worth $2 billion and it’s not because of her acting career. Anna is known as the Russian Paris Hilton because she’s the daughter of a billionaire who built his fortune by metal trading.
Anna is another heiress with tragedy in her past. Her sister was killed by the Russian Mafia. Anna was then sent to America for her own safety. She made her way into Hollywood and worked in modeling, acting, real estate, and film production.
Anna Getty
47-year-old Anna Getty is worth $2.4 billion. Her great-grandfather, Paul Getty, was the man who founded Getty Oil Company. Anna now holds the Getty fortune and has her own line of eco-friendly health products. Before starting her business, she used to be a yoga instructor and actress. She runs a few nonprofit organizations that promote health and well-being.
Anna debuted in her acting career when she was in the 1997 romantic comedy Little City. The movie also starred Jon Bon Jovi, Penelope Ann Miller, and Joe Bellan. She then played a waitress in the movie Break Up, a 1998 thriller about a woman looking to leave her abusive husband. Anna Getty married screenwriter Greg Pruss in 2003 and they have been together ever since.
Ivanka Trump
Ivanka Trump is worth $3 billion, which her father obviously had a hand in. So saying that she is a self-made billionaire is definitely not a way to describe her. She appeared on The Apprentice, her father’s former reality business show, where she managed a few teams. She is currently the Executive Vice President of Development & Acquisitions at the Trump Organization. She was one of Trump’s key advisors in the 2016 Election Campaign.
In 2005, Ivanka started dating real estate developer Jared Kushner. The two met through mutual friends. They actually broke up in 2008 due to Kushner’s parents’ objections. But they ended up getting back together and got married in a Jewish ceremony on October 25, 2009. I’m assuming that was his parents’ condition.
Hind Hariri
Hind Hariri is the daughter of Rafik Hariri, a Lebanese businessman, and she’s worth $5.5 billion. Her father was killed and she ended up inheriting his wealth. She tends to stay out of the spotlight, but she’s one of the youngest billionaires alive at the age of 35. She is married with two sons.
In November 2018, Hariri was said to be behind the controversial decision to relocate the historical site of Lycée Abdel Kader School. She allegedly put the high school up for sale with the goal to build a mall in its place. L’Orient Le Jour, a French Lebanese newspaper, reported that students, their parents, and professors were against the move and protested in front of the school’s entrance.
Josie Ho
Josie Ho is from Hong Kong and worth $7 billion thanks to her father, Stanley Ho, who is the owner of many casinos in Macau. Stanley is known as “The King of Gambling.” Aside from inheriting her father’s casino fortune, Josie went on to pursue a career in singing and acting. She even starred in some movies where she played a prostitute.
As you can imagine, her father was not happy about that, but she still is still part of the family fortune. Ho is the youngest daughter Stanley Ho and Lucina Lam. She has three older sisters and one younger brother: Pansy, Daisy, Maisy and Lawrence. In 2003, Ho got married to musician and actor Conroy Chan Chi-chung in Australia.
Alannah Weston
Alannah Weston is the first Canadian on this list, and she’s worth $7.9 billion. The Weston family fortune was founded upon a chain of supermarkets and bakeries. Her family is the second-wealthiest in Canada. It’s pretty impressive considering the fact that Canada is one big country (second largest in the world). Alannah used to be the creative director for Selfridges, then she moved up to deputy chairman of the Selfridges Group.
Before Selfridge, Weston has a career in journalism. She once worked as a journalist for The Daily Telegraph and wrote for Tatler and British Vogue. She also worked at Burberry as their head of press. Weston is married to Alexander Cochrane, an architect, and the couple has two daughters.
Samantha Kluge
Samantha Kluge, worth $9.5 billion, is the daughter of John Kluge. Her late father was a television industry mogul (of Metromedia) and at one point was the richest man in America. In her past life, Samantha was a club-hopping, hard-partying New York socialite. She partied her way through her 20s, but worked professionally as an editor at publications such as Glamour and Cosmopolitan.
Now in her forties, Samantha traded in alcohol for juice, nights out with friends for nights in with her son, and a hectic job for solo artistic pursuits like making jewelry, interior design, and clothing creation in her home studio. Samantha has been divorced three times and has one son at the moment. It looks like he really is the love of her life.
Georgina Bloomberg
Georgina Bloomberg, the daughter of billionaire businessman and former mayor of New York City Michael Bloomberg, is worth $11.5 billion. From an early age, she got into riding horses at a young age and even got to make a career out of it. The young equestrian is sponsored by Ariat International. She does more than riding horses, though. She participates in many philanthropic activities on the side.
Ms. Bloomberg, age 36, just recently added a $10.19 million apartment in Manhattan’s Upper West Side to her real estate endeavors. She bought the home from Sherry Bernstein’s estate, who is otherwise known as Baroness Sherry Von Korber-Bernstein. She was a fixture of the famous Studio 54, who died in October 2019 at age 97.
Christy Walton
Christy Walton, with a net worth of $22.5 billion, is the widow of John Walton, the son of Walmart’s founder. Christy is the second richest woman in the world with the majority share of the company. She gives a lot of her fortune to charities and is conservative with spending it as well.
In 2005, her husband John died in a plane crash, making her the heir to his fortune, which was $18.2 billion. Forbes listed Christy as the richest woman in the world for a number of years. Her net worth was as high as $41.7 billion in 2015, most of which came from her Walmart shares. But, it was also from First Solar. In 2015, it was revealed that most of her husband’s wealth was transferred to her son, Lukas Walton. That meant her net worth decreased to $5 billion.
Delphine Arnault Gancia
Delphine Arnault is worth $26 billion because she is the daughter of Bernard Arnault, the vice president and director of Louis Vuitton. Delphine went to school for a business degree London’s School of Economics. Delphine started working in the family business in 2000 and is on the board of directors. She is a member of the board of directors for labels like Céline, Moët Hennessy, Loewe and Pucci, and M6.
The oldest child of Bernard Arnault and Anne Dewavrin has a younger brother, Antoine. Delphine married Alessandro Vallarino Gancia, the heir to the Italian winemaker Gancia, in 2005. They later got a divorce in 2010. She now lives with the French businessman, Xavier Niel, with whom they have one daughter who was born in 2012.
Vanisha Mittal Bhatia
Vanisha Mittal Bhatia is a 39-year-old who’s worth a whopping $51 billion. Her father, Lakshmi N. Mittal, is the CEO and chairman of ArcelorMittal, the steelmaking company. When he passes away, she will inherit the billions of dollars and 34% equity in the company. Her family, by the way, is the wealthiest in India.
The daughter of India’s richest person got married to banker Amit Bhatia in a ceremony held at the Palace of Versailles The wedding took place near the 17th century Chateau Vaux le Vicomte. Their wedding was highlighted by a performance by the famous pop star Kylie Minogue. Oh, and there were fireworks at the Eiffel Tower. How many of us could say that about our weddings?
Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken
65-year-old Charlene is worth $16.3 billion and controls 25% of the brewing company Heineken International. Did you know that Heineken is the third-largest brewery in the world? Charlene is the executive director at Heineken. She’s married to Michel de Carvalho, a powerful financier. She went to Rijnlands Lyceum Wassenaar and got a law degree from the University of Leiden.
What is Heineken worth, you ask? The stock-market value of Heineken is $45 billion, which makes de Carvalho-Heineken’s stake in the company worth over $11 billion. Charlene is one of Europe’s wealthiest women as well as one of the world’s least-known billionaires. Heineken International was bought in 1864 by Gerard Adriaan Heineken in Amsterdam. Anyone in the mood for an ice-cold Heineken right now?
Sheryl Sandberg
Sheryl Sandberg is 50 years old and worth $1.8 billion. She’s the Chief Operating Officer at Facebook and the founder of leanin.org. Before she ever joined Facebook, she was the vice president of Google’s Global Online Sales and Operations. In 2012, Time named her one of the most influential people.
She married Brian Kraff in 1993, but divorced a year later. In 2004, she then married Dave Goldberg, who was an executive with Yahoo! who became the CEO of SurveyMonkey. The couple have a son and a daughter. On May 1, 2015, Goldberg died unexpectedly from a head trauma after falling from a treadmill, when they were vacationing in Mexico. His cause of death was deemed due to an arrhythmia, and not from the fall.
Tory Burch
Tory Burch is 53 years old with a net worth of $1 billion. She has made her fortune as a fashion designer, philanthropist, and businesswoman. As the CEO, chairman, and designer of Tory Burch LLC, she has her hands full and her wallet stashed. Forbes listed in 2015 as one of the most powerful women. She studied at the University of Pennsylvania, having majored in art history.
She dated Lance Armstrong for a period of time in 2007. Afterward, she was linked to Lyor Cohen. Then, in 2018, Burch married Pierre-Yves Roussel, who was the chairman and CEO of LVMH. He then became the CEO of Burch’s company in 2019 whereas Burch became Executive Chairman and Chief Creative Officer. The couple have been together since 2014.
Caroline Hagen Kjos
Caroline jumped in, rolled up her sleeves, and took over the family business, which is a budget grocery chain. At 35 years old, the Norwegian heiress is the chairman of the company, owning over 97%. Her net worth is estimated at $2.8 billion. She was elected to the Board in 2016. She studied at Parsons School for Design in New York.
She also works as Project Manager in Canica International AG in Switzerland, where she shares responsibility for their investments and strategies with the Managing Director. She has been employed as Project Manager in the past in marketing and purchasing for Jernia Gruppen. Caroline is enjoying her responsibilities and her net worth in the beautiful country filled with mountains, hot chocolate, and ski resorts.
Gina Rinehart
Gina Rinehart, the chairman of Hancock Prospecting, is worth $6.06 billion. She is an heiress as the company was founded by her father, Lang Hancock. She inherited 76.6% of the company, which does mineral extraction and exploration in Australia. The company has the rights to some of the biggest land leases in Western Australia.
According to Forbes and The Australian Financial Review, Rinehart was Australia’s richest person from 2011 to 2015. Her wealth peaked at $29 billion in 2012, overtaking Christy Walton’s position as the world’s richest woman. Forbes listed her as one of The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women. Her net worth later dropped significantly the following years due to a decline in the Australian mining sector, but still, her fortune is immense.
Dona Bertarelli
At age 52, the Swiss businesswoman with Italian descent, Dona has a net worth of $4.5 billion. The billionaire inherited her fortune when her family’s biotech business was sold for $9 billion in 2007. She did more than just sit back and let the money pile up. She had a hand in the company as its Director of Public and Personal affairs.
Since the company, called Serano, was sold, Dona started businesses of her own. In 2015, she became the fastest woman to sail around the world! Bertarelli has been an avid sailor and since 2007 she’s raced with her team, Spindrift Racing. Bertarelli and her sailing team won the Bol d’Or Mirabaud race in 2010. She was the first helmswoman to win the race since its inception back in 1939.
Chu Lam Yiu
Chu founded a flavor company in Hong Kong, which sells her product for food and beverage flavors, fragrances, cosmetics, and more. After she made the company public, her net worth is estimated to be $1.9 billion and growing. She is now 50, and Chu has achieved remarkable success.
Yiu is one of China’s most successful, and most secretive, entrepreneurs. She’s also one of the world’s youngest self-made female billionaires, according to Forbes. Not much is known about her other than the fact that she was born and raised in Sichuan, China. She launched the company that became Huabao in Shanghai in 1996. Huabao is an investment holding company listed in the Hong Kong stock exchange. The company also produces flavors for tobacco.
Meg Whitman
You’re looking at the former face of eBay right here. Is there anyone who hasn’t heard of eBay? I didn’t think so. After graduating from Princeton, Whitman kicked off a career at Procter & Gamble, Disney and Hasbro. She later became the President and CEO of eBay. At eBay, she made the company grow from 30 employees to over 15,000, and helped launch the business internationally.
She’s now the President and CEO of Hewlett-Packard Enterprise as well as the Chairwoman of HP Inc. Although she was never elected into office after her campaign to become Governor of California, she has a lot of power. Her estimated net worth is $2.1 billion. The American business executive is a political activist and philanthropist. She’s also the CEO of Quibi, and serves on the boards of Dropbox.
Marissa Mayer
Do you surf Yahoo? 44-year-old Marissa Mayer sure hopes you do. The Stanford graduate became Google’s first female engineer before moving on to become Yahoo’s President and CEO. She led the company to meet major milestones, including buying out Tumblr (which was worth $1.1 billion). She was ranked 6th in Fortune’s “40 under 40” list in 2014 and the 16th most powerful businesswoman in the world.
Mayer married Zachary Bogue, a lawyer and investor in 2009. On the day Yahoo! announced her coming on board, Mayer revealed her own surprise – that she was pregnant. She had a boy on September 30, 2012. She even asked for baby name suggestions on social media, eventually choosing the name Macallister. In 2015, Mayer announced that gave birth to twin girls, Marielle and Sylvana.
Amy Wyss
The daughter of Hansjorg Wyss, a Swiss billionaire and the founder of the Wyss Foundation, is an heir to his fortune. The 49-year-old serves on the board of directors in several organizations and companies. She has dual citizenship in Switzerland and the U.S. Amy has an estimated worth of $1.8 billion.
Wyss and her husband, Ed Jaramillo, are passionate about philanthropy. She served on the board of trustees for the National Outdoor Leadership School and the Wyss Foundation. Wyss and her husband established the LOR Foundation, which is a grant-making organization that is dedicated to improving livability in rural locations across the West through community-driven conservation. It’s nice to see a husband and wife couple making the world a better place!
Maggie Magerko
Maggie got a fortune from the lumber industry. She learned and inherited her family’s business from her father, Joe Hardy, who founded 84 Lumber. In 1992, she took over and grew their market by developing relationships with Home Depot and Lowes. At 54 years old, Maggie is worth $1.3 billion.
Knox developed 84 Lumber’s 2017 Super Bowl commercial, which happened to stir controversy before airing. The commercial featured a border wall separating a mother and a child from freedom, following their journey to it. The wall was seen as too political by Fox and thus got censored. The Washington Times said “she’s a staunch supporter of President Trump and his proposed U.S.-Mexico border wall” and how she “personally helped develop the commercial but said her politics had nothing to do with its message.”
Maria Asuncion Aramburuzabala
Coming from Mexico, Maria inherited a stake in her father’s successful beer company, Grupo Modelo, the brewing company that makes Corona beer. Back in 1925, her grandfather co-founded the company, 50% of which was sold off in 2013 to beverage giant Anheuser-Busch for $20.1 billion. It was also sold in cold hard cash. Maria, at 56, has a net worth of $5.6 billion.
Cervecería Modelo was founded by a group of businessmen, including Don Pablo Díez Fernández, the company’s President, CEO and major stockholder as well as Felix Aramburuzabala. Felix’s son, Pablo Aramburuzabala, was the executive vice president, but he died unexpectedly in 1995 to lung cancer at the age of 63. After that, several groups tried to get control of the family’s share in Modelo.
Milane Duncan Frantz
Based in Houston, Texas, her father’s pipeline business has nearly 49,000 miles of pipelines. The now 50-year-old inherited her stake in the company that her father co-founded (Enterprise Products Partners). When he passed away in 2010, her net worth rose to $6.3 billion.
Milane was born in 1970 to Barbara Ann and Dan Duncan. The children, Dannine, Scott, Milane, and Randa all inherited a tax-free $10 billion share the estate. That was when the so-called “death tax” was temporarily repealed. Each of the children have an estimated net worth of around $6 billion. Her sister Randa is the most visible of the four Duncan heirs, as the chairwoman of Enterprise Products Partners LP. Last year, the company earned a revenue of $36.5 billion.
Shari Arison
Shari is Israel’s wealthiest woman having inherited her fortune from her father’s cruise line business, Carnival Corp. To keep her $3.9 billion net worth intact, she invests in companies who protect the environment while also giving back to nonprofit research organizations in both education and health.
Shari is an American-Israeli businesswoman and a philanthropist. She was born in the United States in 1957. Her parents are Mina Arison Sapir and Ted Arison. She leads the Arison Group, the global business and philanthropic company. Arison developed a values-based model, bringing fundamental human values to consciousness of businesses, organizations, and communities. In 2013, she was given the Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from George Mason University. It looks like she has her priorities in order.
Tatiana Casiraghi
Tatiana struck gold twice. Once when she inherited the wealth from her family’s Colombian brewery business and the twice when she married Andrea Casiraghi, the eldest son to The Prince of Hanover. He’s also second in line to the throne in Monaco. At only 36 years old, Tatiana has a net worth of $1.9 billion.
Tatiana is known for her unique fashion sense, which goes from elegant to vintage, boho-chic. She cites Loulou de la Falaise as her main style inspiration. The heiress is fluent in Spanish, French, English, Portuguese and Italian. That’s more than anyone else on this list can say! She is also close friends with socialites Charlotte Casiraghi, Eugenie Niarchos, Gaia Repossi, Dana Alikhani, and Teresa and Margherita Missoni – some of which are on this list.
Charlotte Soderstrom
At 43 years old, Charlotte boasts a net worth of $1.9 billion. She inherited her wealth from her grandfather’s business that he founded in 1947. That business? Clothing retailer H&M. Her father sits as chairman of H&M and is the richest person in Sweden, where they both live. By the looks of it, her fortune should only continue to grow.
Hennes & Mauritz is known for offering quality fashion at good prices. The company was founded in Västerås, Sweden, back in 1947 by Erling Persson. At first, they only sold women’s clothing. Back then, it was called Hennes, which is Swedish for “hers.” That leaves us with the conclusion that the name H&M stands for hers and his. Which is kind of clever when you think about it.
Julia Oetker
German billionaire, Julia Oetker, is one of eight children who were lucky enough to inherit the family fortune. Julia claimed $2.1 billion to her name. Her father and grandfather built the baking and pudding powders business that have grew exponentially since its establishment in 1891. At 40, Julia and her siblings happen to be in disagreement about the direction of the company and how they should be dividing the wealth. But as the 66th richest person in Germany, she seems to be doing okay.
Julia owns 12.5% of Dr. August Oetker, the $13 billion (in sales) company with interests in food, drinks, financial services, and hotels. Her great-grandfather, pharmacist August Oetker, started selling a non-perishable baking powder. Julia is married to Italian count, José Antonio Sigurtà.
Katharina Andresen
From the country of Norway, Katharina has become a very rich heiress with a net worth of $1.25 billion. This wealth was inherited at the young age of 21, which placed her as the second-youngest billionaire in the world. She’s the daughter of Johan H. Andresen Jr., the owner of Ferd AS. In 2007, Johan transferred 42.2% ownership stakes to both Katharina and her sister Alexandra. Ferd has been a major player in the tobacco industry and sold for a cold $480 million.
Fast forward 10 years and inn November 2017, Andresen was fined 250,000 kr for drunk driving. Her blood-alcohol content was 3 times the legal limit. In addition to the fine, her sentence included 18 days in jail and a 13-month license suspension.
Lee Boo-Jin
At 49, Lee is the richest woman in South Korea with a net worth of $1.9 billion. Her father is Lee Kun-Hee who owns the Samsung empire. Lee is in the position to inherit the business with her siblings. She currently runs an upscale hotel chain, Hotel Shilla. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Yonsei University, and later an MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston.
In a court ruling in 2017, Lee had been ordered to pay her ex-husband, Im Woo-jae, $7.6 million. It was part of their divorce settlement. Lee received sole custody of their son. He ex is counter-suing, looking to get $1.1 billion as a division of assets. That’s a lot of money to request in a divorce settlement!
Denise Coates
The founder and co-CEO of Bet365, the online gambling company, boasts a net worth of $3.8 billion. She’s the UK’s 14th richest person and owns and runs the company with her brother. Denise grew up around betting shops, and saw the opportunity to take the whole business online. That business became widely successful; and now it’s one of the largest online gambling companies in the world.
Coates was criticized for paying herself £217 million in 2017. Mike Dixon, the CEO of Addaction, said “It cannot be right that the CEO of a betting company is paid 22 times more than the whole industry ‘donates’ to treatment.” Denise married Richard Smith and they live in a farmhouse in Cheshire. She drives an Aston Martin (of course). The two have five children; four of them adopted from the same family.
Gong Haiyan
Gong was born in a rural village in China, displaying her entrepreneurial skills from an early age. She overcame every hurdle in life, including a tractor accident that damaged her leg and face as a child. She never slowed down, though, eventually launching an online dating service that became very successful. When she later took her business to NASDAQ, the company was worth $77 million.
Gong Haiyan made a name for herself as one of China’s most celebrated female tech entrepreneurs. She founded Jiayuan, China’s answer to Match.com, in 2003. She was CEO through its IPO in 2011 and until 2012, when she voluntarily stepped down in order to start another entrepreneurial journey. This is a true rags to riches story!
Magdalena Martullo-Blocher
Magdalena took her father’s role in 2004 on the federal council in the government of Switzerland. The billionaire has a net worth of $3.7 billion. She previously worked in top management for Johnson & Johnson. She is the 8th wealthiest person in Switzerland.
Magdalena owes most of her fortune to her stake in EMS-Chemie, the Swiss chemical manufacturing giant. She took the reins when her father, Christoph Blocher, stepped down. He sold his shares to her and her three siblings; Rahel, Miriam and Markus. They are also billionaires. In 2015, Magdalena followed in her father’s path and went into politics. She was elected to the Swiss parliament as a national councilor.
Elizabeth Holmes
Elizabeth Holmes is a 35-year-old who once had a net worth of $4.5 billion. She left Stanford to start a blood testing company named Theranos when she was 19. She used her college money to fund the company and made her way onto Forbes’ lists and headlined as a wealthy, self-made woman.
But later, she and her company came under fire for their testing methods. In a drastic reversal of her fortune, the company’s evaluation of $9 billion quickly dropped to $800 million. She has a 50% stake in the company, but it doesn’t look like she’ll get much of it after paying back investors. Forbes downsized their approximation of her worth from $4.5 billion to a flat $0 in 2016. One word: ouch.
Chloe Green
Chloe Green’s father, Sir Philip Green, is the chairman of the retail company Arcadia Group. It includes the British chain Topshop. His worth is $5.1 billion, so Miss Green is one rich heiress. When she was 22 years old, she dated a 45-year-old named Marc Anthony and even met his children whose mother is Jennifer Lopez.
Green works in the fashion industry, which is most likely how she met Jeremy Meeks. He is the famous ex-felon-turned-model. The two were seen out together a lot before they announced their engagement. They have been together since 2017. They’re not married yet, but probably will be soon. Apparently, she was seen on a yacht with another man, but it didn’t change their engagement plans.
Virginie & Claire Courtin-Clarins
Virginie and Claire are heiresses to the Clarins Cosmetics fortune. Their grandfather is Jacques Courtin-Clarins, who founded the company in 1954. He was estimated to be worth $3.6 billion. Both Virginie and Claire are daughters to father, Christian Courtin-Clarins and mother, model Corrine Maine de Biran.
Virginie has a degree in business. She owns her own swimsuit line called Luz. Claire is an artist in New York City who studied architecture and graphic design. Both girls have been featured in Vogue and on Vanity Fair’s best dressed list. Being in the position they’re in, they’re constantly sent clothes, shoes, and accessories by big brands just so they can walk around and flaunt their products to the world. not too shabby, huh?
Prisca & Jenna Courtin Clarins
The other two sisters of the Clarins Cosmetics fortune are twins Prisca and Jenna. Jenna was a photography student in Paris, and Prisca co-owns The Nail Factory salons throughout Paris. Their family is worth a combined $2 billion. The cousins became staples of Fashion Week and are brand ambassadors as well as shareholders for the family company.
Prisca and Jenna have an active connection with the company. They have full-time positions and contribute their opinions to the 60-year-old company as it aims to rebrand itself. It must be fun for two young twin heiresses to give their input on makeup and make a fortune for it!
We’ve come to the end of the list. I need to get back to work now and make my own modest living!