The year 2014 was a good year for many women around the world – according to Forbes, they have broken their own record from last year, rising to the number of 172 women on the Forbes list of World Billionaires. They are still taking up only 10% of the list, but in comparison with last year’s 138, we can see a great progress.
They are women from America, Germany, France, Switzerland, etc, and they all have one thing in common: money, and lots of it. Whether it is inherited (which is the case for most of them) or they made it on their own, one thing is certain – they are very good at keeping and even amassing their fortunes, along with being good mothers and wives.
These are the world’s 15 richest women in the last year, according to the Forbs’ list of World Billionaires :
1. Christy Walton
Ranking 6th on the overall billionaires list, we can say that Mrs. Walton knows her way with money. She inherited most of her wealth from her late husband John Walton, who died in a plane crash in 2005. His father, John Walton, was the founder of one of the world’s biggest retailers, Wal-Mart. With an amazing $42.1 billion, Christy shows she was not only able to pick a good family to marry into, but also to keep up the business when she was left a widow. Another source of Christy’s net worth is her 27% stake in the First Solar Company, which is worth around $1.8 Billion, making her the richest of the Waltons.
She is ranked as the highest female philanthropist according to the amount of money she gives as a percentage of her wealth. Between 2002 and 2006, when her estimated wealth was $16.3 billion, she gave a total of $3.5 billion to charity. She is well known for taking part in many non-profit organizations.
Apart from making and keeping her money, 60-year-old Mrs. Walton keeps a very private life in Jackson, Wyoming.
