Who is the Richest Woman in the World in 2018?

Alice Walton is the richest woman in the world, with a fortune estimated at $46.7 billion, according to Bloomberg. She is the daughter of WalMart founder Sam Walton and while she focuses on curating art, she also co-manages the family’s holding company Walton Enterprises.

When L’Óréal heiress Liliane Bettencourt died last year, her daughter Françoise Bettencourt-Meyers briefly became the world’s richest woman. Bloomberg estimates her net worth at $44.7 billion. She’s president of the Bettencourt Schueller Foundation and an author.

According to Forbes, Maria Franca Fissolo is worth $33.2 billion. She’s the widow of Michele Ferrero, who turned a simple chocolate-and-hazelnut spread called Nutella into an iconic brand, not to mention Ferrero Rocher chocolates. Speaking of famous brands: guess which ones are Canada’s most successful brands?

Jacqueline Mars owns a third of candy company Mars and Forbes estimates her net worth at $28.3 billion. She worked for the company and served on its board but these days she’s better known as a philanthropist.

According to Time, Zhou Qunfei dropped out of high school to start working in a factory that made lenses for watches. When she was 22, she started her own watch lens company, which went on to make glass screens for cellphones. The Chinese billionaire is now the richest self-made woman in the world, with an estimated fortune of $9.2 billion.

Canada’s richest woman is Sherry Brydson, who is the largest shareholder in investment firm Woodbridge. Bloomberg says she’s worth $7.46 billion and among the companies she owns are Viking Air, Vista Radio and Toronto’s Elmwood Spa.

(This photo is from 1970: Sherry Brydson stands on a chair at the Canadian Conference on Social Welfare shaking her finger at Health Minister John Munro.)

Diane Hendricks became pregnant when she was a teenager and studied at home so she could get her high school diploma, according to Forbes. She later married and, with her husband, built up building-supplies giant ABC Supply, becoming one of the world’s richest self-made women. Her net worth is an estimated $4.9 billion.

The daughter of real-estate mogul Yeung Kwok Keung, Yang Huiyan is the richest woman in China, one of the countries where the wealthiest 1% live. She’s the controlling shareholder in Country Garden Holdings and, reports Bloomberg, she made $2.1 billion in just the first four trading days of this year, pushing her net worth up to $25.6 billion.

Loretta Robinson is the widow of Ted Rogers, who founded Rogers Communications and built it up into one of Canada’s largest media and communications companies. Forbes estimates her and her family’s net worth at $7.9 billion and calls the $130 million they donated to create the Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research the largest single donation in Canadian healthcare history.

If it’s tough for a woman to make it in business, it’s even tougher to make it in the world of mining. Yet this is what Gina Rinehart did to become the richest person in Australia, with an estimated worth of $14.9 billion. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, she added $2.5 billion to her fortune in 2017.

Giuliana Benetton co-founded clothing giant Benetton along with her three brothers after a yellow sweater she knitted impressed her brother Lucian’s co-workers at a clothing store. Forbes estimates her net worth at $3.5 billion.

Doris Fisher graduated from Stanford University, according to Forbes, but what made her one of the world’s richest self-made women was jeans. She and her late-husband Donald founded Gap in 1969 when they couldn’t find jeans that fit him. She’s now worth an estimated $2.8 billion.

Oprah Winfrey is probably the world’s most famous self-made woman. While she has her OWN TV network, Forbes says that most of her $2.8 billion fortune comes from her years as talk show queen. Her endorsement can make a product an instant success in what is called the “Oprah effect”, unlike other celebrity endorsements that turned into disasters.

Laurene Powell Jobs is the richest woman in tech. The widow of Steve Jobs has degrees in economics, political science and business, according to Town & Country, and has become a notable philanthropist and activist.

Judy Faulkner is one of the richest self-made women in tech. In true tech-billionaire fashion, she started her company, Epic, which provides medical-record software, in a basement, although it was in Wisconsin and not in one of the best places for tech start-ups. Forbes estimates her worth at $3.7 billion.

Polyanna Chu and her husband started out in California real-estate investment but in 1993 they founded Kingston Investment Group in her native Hong Kong, even though they didn’t know much about finance. As Forbes says, she then built the business into a financial powerhouse and her net worth is now an estimated $12.6 billion.

Susanne Klatten not only inherited a 12.5 per cent stake in BMW after her father’s death but also his 50.1 per cent stake in Altana, which manufactures chemicals and pharmaceuticals. Shrewd investments made her Germany’s richest woman, showing how you can earn money while you sleep, and Bloomberg estimates her net worth at $23.6 billion.

The richest woman in the world of sport isn’t Serena Williams or another athlete but Denise York, the owner of the San Francisco 49ers American football team. She’s co-chairman of the team too and Forbes says she’s worth $2.5 billion.

Wu Yajun started her career as an engineer but then switched to journalism, covering real estate. She left journalism after six years and, with her then husband, she co-founded real-estate developer Longfor Properties and Forbes now estimates her net worth at $8.6 billion.

At 24, Alexandra Andresen is the youngest billionaire in the world and has an estimated worth of $1.2 billion. The Norwegian heiress has won numerous horse dressage competitions and, according to The Independent, she's an avid traveller.