The Richest Women in the World: Female Billionaires, 2025

As of September 18, 2025, Alice Walton remains the wealthiest woman in the world with a fortune of approximately $112.5 billion, followed by Francoise Bettencourt Meyers & family ($94.4 billion) and Julia Koch ($81.2 billion). While the presence of female billionaires has expanded, the story is not just about wealth rankings—it is about the systemic shifts, barriers, and opportunities shaping women’s economic power.

The billionaire class, once dominated almost entirely by men, is slowly becoming more inclusive. Yet, when women make up less than 15% of the world’s billionaire population, questions remain: Is this progress, or does it underscore how much work is left to achieve parity?

Where Wealth Meets Gender Equity

CEOWORLD Magazine, in partnership with Chief Economists magazine, UGGP News, and the CEO Policy Institute, analyzed real-time global wealth data to assess both individual fortunes and systemic gender dynamics. The findings reveal that while more women are breaking into the billionaire class, access to wealth-building opportunities remains uneven. Countries with the most female billionaires typically offer strong educational infrastructure, entrepreneurial ecosystems, and access to venture capital. The U.S. continues to dominate, home to household names like Walton and Koch, while France, China, and India show rising numbers of self-made female billionaires.

Richest women in the world, 2025

Billionaires as Policy and Market Shapers

The significance of female billionaires extends beyond personal wealth. They are powerful stakeholders in global capital markets, philanthropy, and public policy. Consider:

• Alice Walton has poured billions into cultural philanthropy and healthcare reform.
• Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, tied to L’Oréal, wields influence in consumer markets and ESG-driven corporate governance.
• MacKenzie Scott continues to reshape philanthropy with her unorthodox approach of rapid, large-scale donations, often surpassing traditional foundations.

For policymakers and business leaders, understanding this influence is crucial: female billionaires are reshaping global norms of giving, investing, and governance.

What It Means for CEOs, Investors, and Policymakers

For CEOs and C-Suite executives, the rise of female billionaires is not just a headline—it is a market signal. The diversification of wealth concentration influences consumer demand, philanthropic trends, investment flows, and corporate governance models.

Private equity investors and hedge fund managers should track this demographic closely. Female-led enterprises and funds are increasingly outperforming benchmarks in specific sectors, particularly healthcare, green technologies, and consumer retail.

For policymakers, the question remains: How can economic systems better enable women to build, sustain, and grow wealth? Removing barriers to capital access, board representation, and entrepreneurship will be critical in shaping the next generation of billionaire leaders.

Looking Ahead: The Future of Female Wealth

The rise of women billionaires represents both progress and unfinished business. The top 10 wealthiest women today control fortunes rivaling the GDPs of small nations, yet women remain dramatically underrepresented in the billionaire ranks.

The next decade will likely see:

• More self-made female billionaires in technology, healthcare, and finance.
• Increased philanthropic influence reshaping public policy.
• A growing spotlight on the gender wealth gap, forcing businesses and governments to act.

For the global elite—CEOs, investors, policymakers—the message is clear: the story of wealth in the 21st century cannot be told without women at the table.

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