World’s Wealthiest Women
By Allison Medoff
Love it or hate it, Wal-Mart is the leading money maker in the world. The top two richest women in the world are in the family of Wal-Mart descendants. Christy Walton tops Forbes 20 Richest Women in the World list worth $20 billion. She is the widow of Wal-Mart successor, John Walton who died in a 2005 plane crash. Staying in the family, Alice Walton comes in second, worth $19.5 billion. Her father Sam Walton and his brother started a general store in Arkansas in 1962, becoming the world’s largest retailer today. Wal-Mart controls almost 8,000 stores, employs two million people, and reaps annual sales of $400 billion.
The 20 richest women in the world have a combined net worth of $160 billion, formulated from industries in manufacturing, finance, real estate, and commodities. Even with the bad economy taking a toll on their funds, the group has added another $20 billion since March to their collective wealth.
Third and fourth on the list have been involved with some scandal of late. 86 year old L’Oreal Heiress Liliane Bettencourt, worth $15 billion, had a criminal complaint filed by her daughter, after Bettencourt gave $1.3 billion in the form of gifts, life insurance benefits, and assets to 61 year old photographer Francoise-Marie Banier. Susanne Klatten, daughter to the man that saved BMW from bankruptcy, is worth $12 billion, and the victim of blackmail after former lover, Helg Sgarbi, threatened to post secret videos of the two having sex on the internet. He is now sentenced to serve six years in prison for the crime.
Holding second spot on Forbes Celebrity 100 list, Oprah Winfrey, worth $2.7 billion did not make this year’s richest women list. Female billionaire J.K. Rowling missed the list as well, though one can hardly feel sorry for those women coming up short. With a hopeful turn of events in the economy, there’s always a chance for next year.
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