The 10 Richest Women In The World From 2010-2020 | Forbes

With turbulent markets and even more tumultuous times, just over half of the 234 women on the 2020 Forbes list of the World’s Billionaires are worth less than in 2019. Alice Walton, however, bucked that trend. An heir to part of the Walmart fortune, she ranks as the richest woman in the world this year, up from second richest last year. She’s worth an estimated $54.4 billion — $10 billion more than a year ago. She swaps with L'Oréal heiress Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, who’s the second richest woman on the 2020 list. Forbes used stock prices and exchange rates from March 18, 2020 to calculate the net worths.

Among the women at the top of the list, BMW heiress Susanne Klatten took one of the biggest net worth hits amid the coronavirus-induced stock market slide. Shares of BMW fell by more than a third since January, helping to push Klatten’s net worth down to $16.8 billion, $4 billion less than a year ago. In the U.S., Las Vegas billionaire Elaine Wynn’s fortune decreased 33% from last year, as shares of Wynn Resorts fell dramatically in the past few months. But others, like Zhong Huijuan, chairwoman of Chinese drugmaker Hansoh Pharmaceutical, are worth significantly more than a year ago. In June 2019, Hansoh raised $1 billion in its Hong Kong initial public offering and shares rose more than 25% since then. Zhong is worth $14.6 billion.

This year, 234 women made the list, down from 244 in 2019. As a group, the women on the list are worth $927.4 billion. Despite the recent economic instability, they are collectively $29.4 billion richer than last year. An additional seven women share their fortunes this year with either their husband, child or sibling, down from nine women who shared their fortunes last year.

Nineteen women are new to the list. Of these, the richest newcomer is Julia Koch, who inherited her husband David Koch’s fortune after he died in August 2019. Another notable newcomer: MacKenzie Bezos, who gained her fortune after finalizing her divorce with the world’s richest man, Jeff Bezos, last summer.

Also new to the list is Neerja Sethi, who cofounded IT consulting and outsourcing firm Syntel with her husband Bharat Desai. Sethi is one of the 67 self-made women who appeared on this year’s list, down slightly from 68 self-made women last year. Joining her is self-made newcomer Qian Ying, who cofounded Shenzhen-listed Muyuan Foods with her husband Qin Yinglin. Shares of Muyuan Foods, a pig breeder and processor, nearly tripled in the past year, bringing her net worth to $1.4 billion.

Here are the top 10 richest women in the world from 2010 to 2020; Net worths are determined at the close of each annual list.

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