Today, there are approximately 658 million women around the world who are founders and owners of various companies. For comparison, among men, this figure is 722 million. This is reported by the magazine “Forbes”, based on the data of Global Entrepreneurship Monitor in="" an="" article.<="" a><="" p="">
in="" an="" article.<="" a><="" p="">“These women have amassed wealth in industries ranging from collagen to coal across 13 countries and 4 continents (currently, there is no one from Africa or South America). Their combined wealth totals $276 billion, which averages out to $5.5 billion each”, the report states.
The wealthiest self-made woman in the world has been declared to be Raphaela Aponte-Diamante, a Swiss shipbuilding magnate. Her net worth is $38.8 billion.
She and her husband, Gianluigi Aponte, founded the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), which is now the world’s largest shipping company with over 136,000 employees, 900 ships, and 675 offices. Raphaela started the company with a $200,000 loan, with which they purchased their first ship and expanded the fleet to 17 ships within 9 years. At the age of 80, she still responds for the design of ship interiors and decorations and remains a member of the MSC foundation’s board of directors.
Second place is held by American Diane Hendricks, with a wealth of $22.3 billion. She is a co-founder of ABC Supply, one of the largest distributors of roofing, exterior building materials, and other construction materials.
In third place is the former Chinese chemistry teacher Zhong Huijuan, with a fortune of $15.6 billion. She founded Hansoh Pharmaceuticals in 1995, and four years later achieved significant success with Gainuo, a drug for the treatment of late-stage lung cancer. Hansoh’s annual revenue amounts to $1.7 billion. The company specializes in the treatment of oncological, infectious, and autoimmune diseases.
Fourth place goes to another Chinese woman – Zhou Qunfei, with a net worth of $10 billion. She founded Lens Technology, a company that manufactures touch screens and counts Apple, Samsung, Tesla among its clients. Formerly a migrant worker, Zhou founded the company in 1993 and it has grown to over 136,000 employees and annual sales of $9.5 billion.
Other women in the ranking:
- Denise Coates (United Kingdom) – $8.5 billion. She runs an online gambling platform together with her brother.
- Judy Faulkner (USA) – $7.8 billion. She founded Epic Systems, a medical software development company.
- Wang Laichun (Hong Kong) – $7.2 billion. She owns Luxshare Precision Industry, a company that manufactures electronic components.
- Marian Ilitch (USA) – $6.9 billion. She is the owner of the Little Caesars pizza chain.
- Lin Tan (Canada) – $6.6 billion. She is an investor in AppLovin, a company that deals with marketing programs and online games.
- Linda Resnick (USA) – $6.3 billion. Together with her husband, she founded Wonderful Company, an agricultural company.
