A new study by City Index reveals that the United States is home to more than double the number of female billionaires than anywhere else in the world. Based on Forbes’ real-time billionaire tracker, the study found that America currently boasts 97 female billionaires to be exact. China comes in second with 42 female billionaires, followed by Germany with 22, Italy with 19 and India with 15.
Impressively, the City Index study also finds that the United States dominates the ranking of the individuals with the highest net worth, with 80% of the female billionaires with the highest net worth hailing from America. Though four of the five richest women are from the United States, the wealthiest woman in the world is Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, from Paris, France, with an estimated fortune of $100 billion. Meyers is the only child and heir of Liliane Bettencourt, and the granddaughter of Eugène Schueller, founder of L'Oréal, the world’s largest cosmetics company. She ranks as the 13th richest person in the world among both men and women.
Walmart heiress Alice Walton comes in second, worth an estimated $71.8 billion, while fellow American Julia Koch sits in third with a $61.2 billion fortune. Candy heiress Jacqueline Mars and Miriam Adelson (an American-Israeli physician and widow of Sheldon Adelson, the former CEO and chairman of casino company Las Vegas Sands) and family round out the top five.
Other notable females from the United States include philanthropist and former spouse of Jeff Bezos, MacKenzie Scott, who sits in the 45th richest female slot with a cool $35.2 billion net worth; Abigail Johnson, American billionaire businesswoman, and the granddaughter of late Edward C. Johnson II, the founder of Fidelity Investments in 58th place with a $29.4 billion net worth; and Diane Hendricks, founder of a shingle supply company that she grew with late husband Ken Hendricks, who comes in at number 84 with an estimated net worth of $23 billion.
Somewhat surprisingly, the Forbes tracker shows that despite the United Kingdom falling in the top 10 economies in the world, not a single male or female from the country break the top 100 on the billionaires list. According to the study, Denise Coates is only one of the two female billionaires in the United Kingdom, worth approximately $7.8 billion. Coates is the founder, majority shareholder and joint chief executive of online gambling company Bet365. Real estate mogul Maritsa Lazari and family comes in second out of the two U.K. female billionaires, worth some $2.8 billion.
