TEN (10) TOP WEALTHIEST SELF-MADE WOMEN IN THE WORLD

 

Of the 2,668 billionaires in the world, only 327 are women – most of them inherited their vast fortunes. But 101 women, including 11 who share a fortune with their husbands, made it happen themselves. With a combined fortune of $331 billion, these self-made women have had their fortune in everything from petrochemicals and roofers to casinos and Little Caesar’s pizza.

It has been a bearish year for billionaires overall, with 87 faces fewer on Forbes’ list of the world’s billionaires in 2022. The number of self-made women has also fallen by 7, thanks in part to marked declines such as Bumble co-founder Whitney Wolf Hurd and Tycoon Chinese vaping Kate and Wang, both newcomers last year.

There are 45 self-made women from China (compared to 57 last year) — including real estate developer Chan Laiwa, soy sauce mogul Li Xuhui and Qing Xue — more than any other country on the planet. Some of these women saw their fortunes increase by more than 50% due to rising stock prices. A 79% rise in the stock price of Qiu Minxiu’s semiconductor company, Zhejiang Jingsheng Mechanical & Electrical, raises her fortune to an estimated $2.5 billion – $1.2 billion over last year.

China also minted 3 self-made billionaires this year. One of them is Lu Yuen, co-founder of Darry Ring. The company, which went public in December, claimed to limit its customers to just one engagement ring in their lives because “true love lasts.” Miranda Chu, co-founder of e-commerce website Xiaohongshu (Little Red Book), is also new. Qu Store, which has collaborated with big names like L’Oreal, has been described as a mix between Instagram and Amazon.

China is second only to the United States, with 24 self-made billionaire women. Turkish immigrant Eren Ozmen’s fortune increased by more than $1 billion this year, after her and her husband’s Sierra Nevada aerospace company founded the DreamChaser space plane and related companies into a new company, Sierra Space, which raised the money in $4.5 billion. Meanwhile, Kim Kardashian has become $800 million richer this year after her lingerie company, Skims, was valued at $3.2 billion.

Faljoni Nayyar is now India’s richest self-made woman, with an estimated fortune of $4.5 billion, thanks to the success of beauty and fashion retailer Nykaa, which went public in November. Other notable newcomers to the list include Rihanna, whose stake in cosmetics company Fenty Beauty made Barbados’ first billionaire and Melanie Perkins, co-founder and CEO of Canva app, the youngest Australian billionaire. Filipino Betty Ang, who made her fortune from instant noodles and her own food company Monde Nissin; and Yoo Jong-hyun of South Korea, who co-founded and owns 14% of Korea’s largest video game company, Nexon.

These self-made women range from 95-year-old Alice Schwartz, who started Bio-Rad Labs with her late husband David in 1952, to Perkins and Rihanna, both 34-year-olds. Ambassador – Only 30% of billionaires are self-made compared to 76% of their male counterparts – these entrepreneurs are paving the way.

Below are the 10 richest self-made women in the world.

Net worth as of March 11, 2022.

1. Fan Hong Wei

Net worth: $18.2 billion

Source of wealth: Petrochemicals

Country: China

Fan Hongwei, the world’s 13th richest woman, heads Hengli Petrochemical, an oil refinery and chemical fiber company in China. Van’s fortune is unchanged compared to last year.

2. Rafaela Aponte

Net worth: $16.8 billion*

Source of wealth: Shipping containers

Country: Switzerland

Raffaella and her husband, Gianluigi, founded the Mediterranean Shipping Company in 1970. The company now has about 700 ships in 155 countries, making it the largest shipping line in the world. The couple’s fortune has risen by an estimated $6.1 billion this year as global supply chain problems boosted profits for shipping container companies.

3. Wu Yajun

Net worth: $15.3 billion

source of wealth: real estate

Country: China

Former journalist, Wu Yajun, co-founded Longfor Properties with her ex-husband in 1993. The Hong Kong-listed company is famous for having 61 shopping malls in China. In 2018, she transferred a 44% stake to her daughter, Kai Chenyi.

4. Diane Hendricks

Net worth: $10.7 billion

Source of wealth: construction

Country: United States of America

The richest self-made woman in America, Hendrix heads ABC Supply, the largest distributor of roofing materials in the United States. Hendricks, who co-founded the company with her late husband in 1982, grew the company from three locations to 811 and generated annual revenue in excess of $12 billion.

5. Judy Love

Net worth: $9.7 billion*

Source of wealth: retail and gas

Country: United States of America

Another distinguished couple, Judy and Tom Love, founded Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores in 1964. Judy has kept books and continues to serve as executive secretary for the company, which has more than 550 locations in 41 states and has 32,000 employees.

6. Wang Laixun

Net worth: $9.5 billion

Source of wealth: electronic components

Country: China

She is the Chairman and Co-Founder of Luxshare Precision Industry, a cable and connector manufacturer in China. One of its most prominent customers: Apple–Luxshare supplies iPhone connector cables and manufactures AirPods. Wang started working with her brother in 2004 and he went public on the Shenzen Stock Exchange in 2010.

7. Zhong Huijuan

Net worth: $8.1 billion

Source of wealth: Medicines

Country: China

A former chemistry teacher, she founded Hong Kong-listed Hansoh Pharmaceuticals in 2015. He chairs the company and owns more than three-quarters of its stock — which has fallen 50% over the past year — along with her daughter, Sun Yuan.

8. Linda Resnickx

Net worth: $8 billion*

Source of wealth: agriculture and water

Country: United States of America

Resnick is Vice President of The Wonderful Company, the group behind popular food products such as Wonderful Pistachios, Pom Wonderful, Mandarin Halos and Fiji Water. She and her husband, Stewart, founded the company in the late 1970s. Resnick oversees marketing and product development; She won a Gold Effie Award for her announcement on Teleflora, ‘Flowers in a Gift’.

9. Chu Convey

Net worth: $7.1 billion

Source of wealth: Smartphone screens

Country: Hong Kong, China

The former factory worker is the founder and CEO of Lens Technology, which supplies smartphone screens to popular brands such as Samsung, LG and Microsoft. In 2015, she was the richest self-made woman in the world after a successful initial public offering the stock price tripled. But, Qunfei lost more than half of its fortune last year as Lens Technology shares tumbled 54% since March 2021 amid concerns about performance by analysts due to poor net profit results.

10. Judy Faulkner

Net worth: $7 billion

Source of wealth: Health IT

Country: United States of America

Faulkner’s Epic Software is used by leading hospitals and other customers, who use it to record the medical information of more than 225 million patients. Epic was founded in a basement in 1979.