The 10 richest women in the world, ranked by net worth

Country: United States

Since 2014, Abigail Johnson has served as CEO of American investment firm Fidelity Investments, assuming its chairmanship from her father, Edward C. She also serves as chair of international sister company Fidelity International. Fidelity was founded by her grandfather Edward C. Johnson II.

Country: Chile
Along with her children, Iris Fontbona controls Antofagasta, a 133-year-old, massive Chilean mining company bought in the 1980s by Fontbona’s husband, Andrónico Luksic, who passed away in 2005. Along with mining, the family is invested in beer and banking.

Country: Germany
With a 19.1-percent stake in BMW, courtesy of her parents Johanna and Herbert Quandt, Susanne Klatten was well positioned to reap a recent surge in automotive sales as the world begins to move again emerging from the pandemic. She also owns specialty chemicals company Altana AG, another little family project.

Country: United States
With her husband Sheldon’s last name and a majority stake in the Las Vegas Sands, which he owned before his death in January, 2021, Miriam Adelson is incredibly wealthy despite the financial hit Vegas casinos took during the pandemic.

Country: Australia
Another mining heiress, this time in Australia, Gina Rinehart is the daughter of Lang Hancock, a mining magnate famous for discovering the largest iron ore deposit in the world in 1952. With a 77-percent stake in Hancock Prospecting Group, which also deals in agriculture, Rinehart is pretty well set.

Country: United States
One third of Mars, the global candy company, belongs to Jacqueline Mars, granddaughter of founder Frank C. Mars. The company isn’t restricted to sweets though, with business segments in petcare, drinks, and nutritional science.

Country: United States
Though her marriage to tech billionaire Jeff Bezos ended in 2019, MacKenzie Scott has made a name for herself during the COVID pandemic through her hefty philanthropic donations, including, Forbes notes, giving away $5.8 billion in grants to 500 nonprofits.

Country: United States
The Koch family owns the vast majority of Koch Industries (the largest private company in the U.S. as of 2020), and Julia, widow of David Koch who passed away in 2019, owns 42-percent of it along with her kids.

Country: United States
The Walmart scion, Alice Walton used to sit at the top of this list, thanks to the huge fortune left to her by Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart and Sam’s Club.

Country: France
Cosmetics have been good to Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, granddaughter of L’Oréal founder Eugene Schueller, and board member of the global cosmetics behemoth.