The top 10 richest women in the world in 2024

Who are the richest women in the world? Which industries do their wealth originate from? Learn all this and more about the top women billionaires

By Forbes India

Published: Apr 12, 2024 03:06:56 PM IST

Updated: Apr 12, 2024 05:53:59 PM IST

Top billionaires in the world are celebrities in their own rights, famous for their wide range of endeavours across industries, including finance, fashion, e-commerce, and hair and skincare. One can’t help but find their stories fascinating, especially regarding the women billionaires who have made their mark in a man’s world. Forbes tracks the wealth of billionaires worldwide in real-time, which prompts our list of the richest women in the world.

Top 10 richest women in the world

Here are the women billionaires topping our list as of April 11, 2024:

Rank and Name	Net Worth (as of April 9, 2024)	Source of Wealth
1. Francoise Bettencourt Meyers and Family	$92.2 billion	L'Oréal
2. Alice Walton	$72.7 billion	Walmart
3. Julia Koch and Family	$66.1 billion	Koch Industries
4. Jacqueline Mars	$38.7 billion	Mars Inc
5. MacKenzie Scott	$37.7 billion	Amazon
6. Savitri Jindal & family	$35.5 billion	JSW Group
7. Rafaela Aponte-Diamant	$33.3 billion	Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) Group
8. Miriam Adelson and Family	$32.1 billion	Las Vegas Sands
9. Gina Rinehart	$30.7 billion	Hancock Prospecting
10. Abigail Johnson	$29.6 billion	Fidelity Investments

Deeper insight into the wealthiest women in the world

What earned the top women billionaires their wealth? Let’s find that and more about them:

Francoise Bettencourt Meyers and Family

Age: 70
Country: France

Generational wealth, as hers may be, means Francoise is the richest woman in the world at the moment. The granddaughter of the founder of L'Oréal, she and her family own over a third of the entity. Francoise serves as the chairwoman of the family holding company.

While the firm's performance sank during the pandemic, it has since rebounded greatly; in fact, Francoise was recorded as the first woman to have $100 billion in fortune at the end of 2023.

Age: 74
Country: United States

Yet another heiress, Alice Walton is one of the offsprings of the Walmart founder Sam Walton; she has three brothers, two of whom have joined the business, unlike her. Art has been her domain of choice. In 2011, she founded the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas—her hometown.

Just around a month ago, Alice made headlines after selling over $21 million in value from the Walton Family Holdings Trus stocks, which she is part of as a trustee.

Julia Koch and Family

Age: 62
Country: United States

Julia Koch and her three children inherited 42 percent of Koch Industries from her husband David when he passed away in 2019. Julie has made a name for herself as a philanthropist; the Julia Koch Family Foundation™ has gifted $75 million to NYU Langone Health for a new, state-of-the-art Ambulatory Care Center in West Palm Beach.

Jacqueline Mars

Age: 84
Country: United States

Jacqueline Mars owns about a third of Mars, the candy, food, and pet care firm established by her grandfather. She served on the company board for about two decades until her retirement in 2016, when she passed the mantle on to her son, Stephen Badger.

Among her noted hobbies, Jacqueline owns a horse firm in Virginia, one known for having trained horses ridden by Olympic medalists.

MacKenzie Scott

Age: 54
Country: United States

During her divorce from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, MacKenzie received a 4 percent stake in the firm. She pledged to give away about half of her wealth right after announcing the terms of said divorce, and she has already given about $16.5 billion to almost 2,000 nonprofits. She’s also an author, having published two books so far.

Savitri Jindal & family

Age: 74
Country: India

The only Indian name on the list of the top ten richest women in the world, Savitri is the chairperson of the Jindal Group, which spans industries like steel, power, cement, and infrastructure. Notably, she inherited the position and fortune from her late husband, Jindal founder Om Prakash Jindal.

Savitri has also delved into politics, having served as a minister in the Congress government led by Bhupinder Singh Hooda in Haryana. As of March 28, 2024, she and her son, Naveen Jindal, have moved their alliance to the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Rafaela Aponte-Diamant

Age: 79
Country: Switzerland

Rafaela Aponte-Diamant owns a 50 percent stake in MSC, which happens to be the largest shipping line in the world, along with her husband, who owns the other 50 percent. Unlike most others on this list, she is a self-made woman, as the couple started the business together.

The holiday cruise arm for the shipping line is named MSC Cruises, and Rafaela is responsible for decorating ships in this area.

Miriam Adelson and Family

Age: 78
Country: United States

The widow of Sheldon Adelson, the ex-CEO and chairman of the casino company Las Vegas Sands, Miriam, along with her family, owns over half of the firm, which has renowned casinos in Singapore and Macao.

She had donated $90 million to Donald Trump´s 2020 presidential campaign with her husband, becoming the largest donor that time around.

Gina Rinehart

Age: 70
Country: Australia

While Gina’s father, Lang Hancock, initially built Hancock Prospecting—a mining and agricultural firm—Gina rescued it from financial straits and rebuilt the business. She took over as executive chairwoman in 1992.

Hancock Prospecting has been revealed to be a major shareholder in MP Materials, the rare-earth material company that recently discussed a merger with Lynas Rare Earths.

Abigail Johnson

Age: 62
Country: United States

Abigail Johnson became the CEO of Fidelity Investments in 2014, inheriting the firm from her father. She owns a 28.5 percent stake in the company. Notably, Fidelity has recently forayed into Bitcoin spot ETFs in the US, the instrument operating under the ticker FBTC.