With turbulent markets and even more tumultuous times, just over half of the 234 women on the new Forbes list of the World’s Billionaires are worth less than a year ago. Alice Walton, however, bucked that trend. An heir to part of the Walmart fortune, she ranks as the richest woman in the world this year, up from second richest last year. She’s worth an estimated $54.4 billion — $10 billion more than a year ago. She swaps with L’Oréal heiress Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, who’s the second richest woman on the 2020 list. Forbes used stock prices and exchange rates from March 18, 2020 to calculate the net worths.
Among the women at the top of the list, BMW heiress Susanne Klatten took one of the biggest net worth hits amid the coronavirus-induced stock market slide. Shares of BMW fell by more than a third since January, helping to push Klatten’s net worth down to $16.8 billion, $4 billion less than a year ago. In the U.S., Las Vegas billionaire Elaine Wynn’s fortune decreased 33% from last year, as shares of Wynn Resorts fell dramatically in the past few months. But others, like Zhong Huijuan, chairwoman of Chinese drugmaker Hansoh Pharmaceutical, are worth significantly more than a year ago. In June 2019, Hansoh raised $1 billion in its Hong Kong initial public offering and shares rose more than 25% since then. Zhong is worth $14.6 billion.
This year, 234 women made the list, down from 244 last year. As a group, the women on the list are worth $927.4 billion. Despite the recent economic instability, they are collectively $29.4 billion richer than last year. An additional seven women share their fortunes this year with either their husband, child or sibling, down from nine women who shared their fortunes last year.
Nineteen women are new to the list. Of these, the richest newcomer is Julia Koch, who inherited her husband David Koch’s fortune after he died in August 2019. Another notable newcomer: MacKenzie Bezos, who gained her fortune after finalizing her divorce with the world’s richest man, Jeff Bezos, last summer.
Also new to the list is Neerja Sethi, who cofounded IT consulting and outsourcing firm Syntel with her husband Bharat Desai. Sethi is one of the 67 self-made women who appeared on this year’s list, down slightly from 68 self-made women last year. Joining her is self-made newcomer Qian Ying, who cofounded Shenzhen-listed Muyuan Foods with her husband Qin Yinglin. Shares of Muyuan Foods, a pig breeder and processor, nearly tripled in the past year, bringing her net worth to $1.4 billion.Here are the top 10 richest women in the world; Net worths are as of March 18, 2020.
1. ALICE WALTON
NET WORTH: $54.4 BILLION
COUNTRY: UNITED STATES
SOURCE OF WEALTH: WALMART
The only daughter of Walmart founder Sam Walton reclaims her title this year as the richest woman in the world, after losing that spot to L’Oréal heiress Francoise Bettencourt Meyers in 2019. Despite recent market turbulence, Walton has seen her fortune increase 23% since last year. Walton, who does not have a role at Walmart, is helping to lead a program at the Walton family foundation that will issue $300 million in bonds to help charter schools invest in and renovate facilities.
2. FRANCOISE BETTENCOURT MEYERS & FAMILY
NET WORTH: $48.9 BILLION
COUNTRY: FRANCE
SOURCE OF WEALTH: L’OREAL
The granddaughter of L’Oréal founder Eugène Schueller became France’s reigning L’Oreal heiress in 2017 after her mother Liliane Bettencourt, then the world’s richest woman, died at age 94. Bettencourt Meyers’ fortune has declined $400 million since last year’s list amid the coronavirus pandemic, as shares of the cosmetics giant dropped 12% in the first two weeks of March. In March, the company announced that its factories would start making hand sanitizer to support the needs of French and European health authorities.
3. JULIA KOCH & FAMILY
NET WORTH: $38.2 BILLION
COUNTRY: UNITED STATES
SOURCE OF WEALTH: KOCH INDUSTRIES
New to this year’s list, Koch joined the billionaire ranks after she and her three children inherited a 42% stake in Koch Industries from her husband, David, who died in August 2019 at age 79. A native Iowan, Koch moved to New York City in the 1980s and worked as an assistant to fashion designer Adolfo.
4. MACKENZIE BEZOS
NET WORTH: $36 BILLION
COUNTRY: UNITED STATES
SOURCE OF WEALTH: AMAZON.COM
Bezos makes her debut on the list after finalizing her divorce with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos in July 2019; the award-winning novelist received a quarter of her ex-husband’s shares in the e-commerce giant. MacKenzie signed the Giving Pledge, promising to give away at least half of her fortune, in May 2019.
5. JACQUELINE MARS
NET WORTH: $24.7 BILLION
COUNTRY: UNITED STATES
SOURCE OF WEALTH: CANDY, PET FOOD
Mars and her brother, John, each inherited one-third of the $35 billion (sales) candy company known for M&Ms and Milky Way bars. Her late brother Forrest Jr’s. four daughters own the rest of Mars, which also has a large pet food and vet care business. Jacqueline Mars worked for the company for nearly 20 years and served on the board until 2016.
6. YANG HUIYAN & FAMILY
NET WORTH: $20.3 BILLION
COUNTRY: CHINA
SOURCE OF WEALTH: REAL ESTATE
The 38-year-old owns 57% and sits on the board of Hong Kong-listed real estate developer Country Garden, which her father founded and chairs. In response to the coronavirus pandemic, the company set up robotic, automated food serving stations in Wuhan (where the virus originated) to feed Chinese medical workers.
7. SUSANNE KLATTEN
NET WORTH: $16.8 BILLION
COUNTRY: GERMANY
SOURCE OF WEALTH: BMW, PHARMACEUTICALS
An heir to carmaker BMW, Klatten has seen her net worth tumble 20% in the past year. As car sales slowed amid the pandemic, BMW’s stock fell 24% in the first half of March. Klatten is also the sole owner and deputy chairman of Altana, a pharmaceutical and specialty chemicals corporation.
8. LAURENE POWELL JOBS & FAMILY
NET WORTH: $16.4 BILLION
COUNTRY: UNITED STATES
SOURCE OF WEALTH: APPLE, DISNEY
The widow of late Apple cofounder Steve Jobs (d. 2011), Powell Jobs heads Emerson Collective, a hybrid philanthropic and investing limited liability company she founded in 2016. Speaking about her wealth, Powell Jobs told the New York Times in February, “I’m not interested in legacy wealth buildings, and my children know that. Steve wasn’t interested in that. If I live long enough, it ends with me.” Her fortune is down $2.2 billion from last year in part due to a decline in Disney’s share price, but also because Forbes got better insight into her total assets.
9. ZHONG HUIJUAN
NET WORTH: $14.6 BILLION
COUNTRY: CHINA
SOURCE OF WEALTH: PHARMACEUTICALS
Zhong chairs Chinese drugmaker Hansoh Pharmaceutical, which produces oncology, psychoactive, anti-diabetic and other drugs. The stock rose 10% from early January through mid March, when coronavirus was most prevalent in her home country. Zhong is married to Sun Piaoyang, the billionaire chairman of Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine.
10. GINA RINEHART
NET WORTH: $13.1 BILLION
COUNTRY: AUSTRALIA
SOURCE OF WEALTH: MINING
Rinehart, Australia’s richest person, built her fortune on iron ore. The daughter of high profile iron-ore explorer Lang Hancock, she’s chaired mining and agriculture company Hancock Prospecting Group since 1992. Rinehart’s fortune declined by $2 billion in the past year, as the coronavirus pandemic pushed down values in the iron ore industry.
