A new study by City index reveals that the United States is home to more than twice the number of female billionaires than anywhere else in the world. Based on real-time Forbes billionaire tracker, the study found that America currently boasts 97 female billionaires to be exact. China comes second with 42 female billionaires, followed by Germany with 22, Italy with 19 and India with 15.
Impressively, the City Index study also finds that the United States dominates the ranking of highest net worth individuals, with 80% of the highest net worth female billionaires coming from America. Although four of the five richest women are from the United States, the richest woman in the world is Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, of Paris, France, with an estimated fortune of $100 billion. Meyers is the only child and heir of Liliane Bettencourt and granddaughter of Eugène Schueller, the founder of L'Oréal, the world's largest cosmetics company. She ranks as the 13th richest person in the world among both men and women.
Walmart heiress Alice Walton comes in second place, worth $71.8 billion, while American Julia Koch is in third place with a fortune of $61.2 billion. Candy heiress Jacqueline Mars and Miriam Adelson (an Israeli-American doctor and widow of Sheldon Adelson, former CEO and chairman of the Las Vegas Sands casino company) and family round out the top five.
Other notable women from the United States include philanthropist and ex-wife of Jeff Bezos, MacKenzie Scott, who ranks 45th richest woman with a net worth of $35.2 billion; Abigail Johnson, American billionaire businesswoman and granddaughter of the late Edward C. Johnson II, founder of Fidelity Investments at No. 58 with a net worth of $29.4 billion; and Diane Hendricks, founder of a shingle supply company she grew with late husband Ken Hendricks, who comes in at No. 84 with an estimated net worth of $23 billion.
Somewhat surprisingly, the Forbes tracker shows that despite the UK falling into the world's top 10 economies, no man or woman from the country cracks the top 100 on the billionaires list. According to the study, Denise Coates is only one of two female billionaires in the UK, worth an estimated $7.8 billion. Coates is the founder, majority shareholder and joint chief executive of online gambling company Bet365. Real estate tycoon Maritsa Lazari and family come in at number two of the UK's two female billionaires, worth an estimated $2.8 billion.
