No wonder the commercial and corporate world loves women – and mum’s in particular. A quick squiz at the 2013 Forbes List of the world’s newest billionaires shows why.
Many of the world’s 210 new billionaires have made their fortune in areas of direct interest to women, especially amongst the 20 that Forbes dubs ‘the most notable’. They include household fashion names such as Diesel and Dolce & Gabbana from Italy; a cosmetics company from Peru; Franke kitchen appliance company from Switzerland; retailers from the US and India with a global presence; a Turkish yogurt-maker – yes, evidently you can become a billionaire making yogurt – and an education entrepreneur from India.
There are four women on the ‘notable’ list. They are:
- Margarita Louis-Dreyfus, a Russian from Switzerland, who took over in commodities trading where her husband left-off when he died four years ago.
- Pollyanna Chu from Hong Kong, who has made her fortune on the stock exchange.
- The glamorous Isobel dos Santos, 40, who is the daughter of the President of Angola. Educated in the UK, she opened her first business – a fast food restaurant – in Angola 16 years ago and hasn’t looked back. She is the richest woman in Africa.
- US fashion designer, Tory Burch, 46 – known as the ‘Queen of the ballet flat’ (pictured). Launching her eponymous brand from the kitchen table less than 10 years ago, her unique style of modern 'preppy' mixed with bohemian became instantly popular in Manhattan. Last year, Oprah Winfrey included Burch's ballet flats on the list of ’10 must haves’. Tory Burch realised $800 million in sales in 2012 and the entire company is worth $3 billion. Tory is a 'mumpreneur' with three children and three stepchildren.
There are 22 billionaires in Australia. The only woman, Gina Rinehart, is Australia’s richest person with a net worth conservatively valued at $17 billion placing her as the 5th richest woman, and the 36th richest person, in the world.
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