Top 15 Richest Women in the World 2014

      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.

The Most Powerful Women in Busines

Nearly half the women on our list run huge companies—a record. And all are working hard to transform their businesses.

By Caroline Fairchild, Beth Kowitt, Colleen Leahey, and Anne VanderMey, with additional reporting by Michal Lev-Ram and Patricia Sellers

More CEOs, more industries, more power, more challenges. That’s the story of Fortune’s 2014 ranking of the 50 Most Powerful Women in ­Business, which features an all-time record of 24 large-company CEOs in its pages. Our women are leading—and in many cases pushing through difficult transformations—in heavy industries such as tech, energy, defense, and autos. Ginni Rometty, No. 1 for the third time running, continues to retool IBM. No. 2, Mary Barra, must fix General Motors from the inside out. And Marillyn Hewson, the CEO of Lockheed Martin and our fourth-ranked woman, is looking beyond defense for growth. Today eight of our top 10 MPW lead large industrial, tech, and consumer products companies.

It’s a long way from our original 1998 list, on which, we noted at the time, most members “came from industries with a premium on creativity,” such as advertising, media, and publishing, with “no top women at blue-chip firms.” Creativity is still a requirement for success, of course, but you no longer have to work in a “creative” industry to advance as a woman. Another common denominator is change: Seven of our top 50 were named to their jobs in the past year, and nine are newcomers to the list. That suggests more turnover at the upper echelons of business—which, it’s fair to say, is a very good thing for a whole lot of powerful women. —Jennifer Reingold

See our Methodology

Top Stories

·         The Most Powerful Women of Asia-Pacific

·         The Most Powerful Women of Europe, the Middle East and Africa

·         Cashing in on power: Fortune's Most Powerful Women ranked by pay

·         Mary Barra's (unexpected) opportunity

·         IBM CEO Ginni Rometty gets past the Big Blues

·         Why it takes a crisis to get women in leadership

1-Ginni Rometty

Rank	1
Previous Rank	1
Age	57
Title	Chairman, CEO, and President
Company	IBM
Industry	Tech

Rometty three-peats as No. 1, even though IBM’s revenue declined for the second consecutive year, falling 5% to $99.8 billion in fiscal 2013. But her strategy of investing in new technologies is showing results : In nonlegacy areas like mobile and cloud services, revenue rose 69% for each division last year. Rometty has also signed strategic partnerships, such as a deal with Apple to provide IBM’s services on the iOS platform. And in October, IBM will move its newly formed Watson business group to a new building in downtown Manhattan. Rometty has also pledged to invest $1 billion in the development and commercialization of the cognitive computing system, another future growth area for the company.

Top 10 Sexiest Models In The World 2015

    The runway is not only filled with stylish people, but it is also the perfect place to spot the hottest women in the world. In fact, these top 10 sexiest models featured in this list never fail to grace the runway each time they strut their stuff. Find out more about these gorgeous models that make any fashion show a must-see event.

10. Karlie Kloss

     In 2008, Karlie was labelled as the best model in the world by People Magazine. Aside from her stunning looks, she was renowned for her moody walk and intense stare. With her amazing good looks and body, it is unlikely for her to go out of style easily. She has also been the face of various advertisements for famous designers including Nina Ricci, Donna Karan, Jean Paul Gaultier, Dolce & Gabbana, and Oscar de la Renta. However, she is most renowned for her modelling career with Victoria’s Secret, where she was the face of the brand’s PINK product line. 

9. Lindsay Ellingson

      For five years, Lindsay has been gracing the runway at any Victoria’s Secret fashion shows, and her charm never gets old. She has also been chosen, along with Emanuela de Paula, to be the spokeswomen of Victoria’s Secret’s “Body by Victoria”. This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity was given to these lovely ladies, together with Marisa Miller and Alessandra Ambrosio. Moreover, this seductive fashion model was featured in the VS SWIM catalog, in 2010. At present, she is among the brand’s 12 supermodels, who are part of the lineup for fashion shows.