The 10 richest women in the world of 2023, revealed: from L’Oréal’s Françoise Bettencourt Meyers and BMW billionaire heiress Susanne Klatten, to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ ex MacKenzie Scott

Apr 21 , 2023

The world’s richest women in 2023 include Alice Walton, Julia Koch, Françoise Bettencourt Meyers and Mackenzie Scott. Photos: AP, @julia_margaret_flesher_koch/Instagram, Reuters

Forbes’ ‘Richest People in the World’ list puts L’Oréal’s Françoise Bettencourt Meyers as the wealthiest woman – though her net worth is still a far cry from the fortunes of Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos

Miriam Adelson inherited her late husband’s company, which owns The Venetian Macau and Marina Bay Sands Singapore, while Jacqueline Mars’ grandfather’s business is behind M&Ms, Skittles and Snickers

Forbes recently announced its “Richest People in the World” list, counting 2,640 billionaires in total. Among these high-net-worth individuals, however, just 337 women made the ranking, which counts those who share their wealth with a spouse, sibling or child. Their money doesn’t come close to the richest people at the top, which include LVMH’s Bernard Arnault, Tesla’s Elon Musk and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, who all boast fortunes north of US$100 billion.

Rihanna earned her billions thanks to music and Fenty. Photo: @fentyxriri/Instagram

While many of these ladies have accumulated their fortunes through inheritances, 96 of them this year are self-made billionaires, with big-namers including Rihanna (US$1.4 billion) and Kim Kardashian (US$1.2 billion), much thanks to Fenty and Skims, respectively.

Let’s take a closer look at the richest women in 2023, per Forbes’ calculations.

10. Iris Fontbona – US$23 billion

Iris Fontbona inherited her wealth from her late husband who owned copper mines in Chile. Photo: Handout

Chilean native Iris Fontbona and her family inherited her late husband Andrónico Luksic’s businesses upon his death in 2005. The 81-year-old and her three kids run Antofagasta PLC, a company that trades on the London Stock Exchange and has dealings in copper mines in Chile. They also keep a majority stake in a manufacturing conglomerate, Quiñenco.

9. MacKenzie Scott – US$24 billion

MacKenzie Scott is the ex-wife of Jeff Bezos. Photo: @habit_lax/Instagram

The ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has a teetering net worth of US$24 billion, thanks to her four per cent stake in the business after their 2019 divorce, states Forbes. Known for her philanthropic efforts, the 53-year-old revealed in December 2022 that she’d given out US$14 billion in donations to 1,600 non-profit organisations, per The Guardian. She’s also published two novels.