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Eight Indian women have featured in this year’s Forbes list of the world’s richest people. Forbes’ 2018 ‘World’s Billionaires’ list includes a total of 256 women -- an all-time high -- and their collective net worth topped $1 trillion, up 20 per cent since last year.
Though most of the women at the top of the list inherited their fortunes, the number of self-made women reached 72 for the first time, up from 56 a year ago, Forbes said. Among the Indian women on the list, Savitri Jindal and family is the richest with a fortune of $8.8 billion. She is ranked 176th globally.
Biocon chief Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw is the second richest Indian woman. She is India’s richest self-made woman and was ranked 629th on the list with a fortune of $3.6 billion. “Biocon makes a range of generics to treat, among much else, autoimmune diseases, diabetes and cancer. The company is Asia’s largest insulin producer with a factory in Malaysia’s Johor region,” Forbes said.
Other Indian women on the list include Smita Crishna-Godrej at 822nd place with a net worth of $2.9 billion and Leena Tewari, who chairs the privately held USV India, at 1,020th rank with a fortune of $2.4 billion. USV specialises in diabetic and cardiovascular drugs, with a portfolio that spans biosimilar drugs, injectables and active pharmaceutical ingredients.
Meanwhile, Vinod and Anil Rai Gupta were placed at the 1,103rd place with a fortune of $2.2 billion. “Mother and son Vinod and Anil Rai Gupta draw their fortune from a 43 per cent holding in flagship Havells India,” it said.
Anu Aga is the sixth richest Indian woman on the list, ranked 1,650th with a net worth of $1.4 billion. Forbes said “after a two-year hiatus, Anu Aga regained her billionaire status on a jump in shares of engineering firm Thermax, in which she owns 62 per cent”.
Sheela Gautam, who set up Sheela Foam in 1971, best known for its Sleepwell brand of mattresses, was ranked at the 1,999th place with a fortune of $1.1 billion, while newcomer Madhu Kapur, who got her fortune from a 9.3 per cent stake in Bombay Stock Exchange-listed YES Bank too was ranked 1,999th with a net worth of $1.1 billion.
Globally, Alice Walton, the only daughter of Walmart founder Sam Walton, was the richest women billionaire with a net worth of $46 billion, while Francoise Bettencourt Meyers and family, who own 33 per cent of L’Oreal stock, was the second richest woman in the world with a fortune of $42.2 billion. She was ranked 18th on the global list.
Susanne Klatten, the richest woman in Germany, who owns 19.2 per cent of automaker BMW, is the third richest woman. With a fortune of $25 billion, she was ranked 32nd in the list with a fortune of $25 billion.
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