A record-breaking 56 women made Forbes' Self-Made Women Billionaires list in 2017. The combined wealth of all of these women stands at a grand total of $129.1 billion, which marks the first year the wealth of these women has surpassed $100 billion.
Last year, the list consisted of 42 women. The world’s self made women billionaires has increased from 21 percent of all women billionaires last year to 25 percent this year. Most of the women on the list are from China and the United States.
The richest self-made woman in the world is Zhou Qunfei, who is one of 29 self-made women billionaires from Asia. She founded the publicly traded Lens Technology, which makes glass covers for mobile phones and tablets for customers like Apple and Samsung.
Take a look at some of the women who made the list:
- Zhou Qunfei: $7.4B; Citizenship: Hong Kong; Source of Wealth: smartphone screens
- Marian Ilitch & family: $6B; Citizenship: United States; Source of Wealth pizza, sports team
- Chan Laiwa & family: $5.6B; Citizenship: China; Source of Wealth: real estate
- Pollyanna Chu: $4.9B; Citizenship: Hong Kong; Source of Wealth: financial services
- Wu Yajun & family: $4.5B; Citizenship: China; Source of Wealth: real estate
- Lam Wai Ying: $4.1B; Citizenship: Hong Kong; Source of Wealth: smartphone screens
- Diane Hendricks: $3.9B; Citizenship: United States; Source of Wealth: roofing
- Rafaela Aponte: $3.75B; Citizenship: Switzerland; Source of Wealth: shipping
- Denise Coates: $3.6B; Citizenship: United Kingdom; Source of Wealth: online gambling
- Zhang Xin & family: $3.2B; Citizenship: China; Source of Wealth: real estate
For the complete list and more, visit Forbes.
