Business Standard

Two Indian women on Forbes billionaire list

Image

Press Trust of India New York
Two Indian women - Savitri Jindal and Indu Jain - have made it to the Forbes list of the world's billionaires that saw a record number of women this year.

Savitri Jindal & family had networth of USD 4.9 billion and Indu Jain, USD 2.3 billion.

Once Asia's richest woman Jindal, ranked 295 on the global list, has seen her fortune erode by USD 8.3 billion since 2011, amid continuing problems plaguing the O P Jindal Group, founded by her late husband.

Jain who chairs media conglomerate Bennett Coleman & Co, publisher of 13 newspapers and 18 magazines, was placed at the 764 rank globally.
 

"It was a record-breaking year for women on the Forbes list of the world billionaires," the US magazine said, adding that there were 172 women on the list, more than ever before and up from 138 last year.

Though there is no denying the fact that women are still a "tiny minority" on the list and represent a little over 10 per cent of the total this year, out of the 1,645 billionaires a record 172 were from the fairer sex, Forbes said.

Christy Walton, widow of John Walton topped the women-billionaire list, with a USD 36.7 billion fortune. She has boosted her fortune above the rest of the Walton family members through her ownership of First Solar shares, which rose nearly 50 per cent in the past year.

Walton is followed by L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt, who is worth USD 34.5 billion. Bettencourt is France's richest person and saw her fortune soar this year thanks to the company's rising stock.

The third richest woman is another Walton family member -- Alice Walton (USD 34.3 billion).

Other women in the top 10 include, Jacqueline Mars with a net worth of USD 20 billion, Gina Rinehart (USD 17.7 billion), Susanne Klatten (USD 17.4 billion), Abigail Johnson (USD 17.3 billion), Anne Cox Chambers (USD 15.5 billion), Iris Fontbona & family (USD 15.5 billion) and Laurene Powell Jobs & family (USD 14 billion).

Of the 268 newcomers to the billionaire ranks, 42 are women. However, only five of them built their own fortunes as opposed to inheriting them from their parents or husbands.

These five women who made their own fortune include Sheryl Sandberg (USD 1.05 billion), Nigeria's first female billionaire Folorunsho Alakija (USD 2.5 billion), UK's Denise Coates (USD 1.6 billion), Liu Xiaomeng (USD 1 billion) and Wang Laichun (USD 1 billion) Chairman of Shenzhen Luxshare Precision Industry Co Ltd.

Don't miss the most important news and views of the day. Get them on our Telegram channel

First Published: Mar 04 2014 | 4:48 PM IST

Explore News