Who is the richest woman in the world in 2022? Net worths, ranked: Jeff Bezos’ billionaire ex wife MacKenzie Scott ranks at No 4, but is eclipsed by Walmart’s Alice Walton and L’Oreal’s Françoise Bettencourt Meyers

Jun 5 , 2022

Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, Alice Walton, Julia Koch, MacKenzie Scott and Jacqueline Mars are the richest women on the planet – so where did their money come from? Photos: Reuters, AP, @julia_margaret_flesher_koch/Instagram, Invision/AP, Getty Images

While the likes of Kim Kardashian and Rihanna are self-made billionaires, all of the women on this list inherited their staggering wealth from their families

Julia Koch inherited her fortune from her husband’s family, who have also used their influence to sponsor the Met Gala and open the school that Barron Trump goes to

The likes of Kim Kardashian and Rihanna may be self-made billionaires, but most of the world’s richest women are actually worth at least 10 times what they are. The difference is that in most cases their wealth was inherited. But whether they were born into a dynasty or married into their windfall, even the richest woman on earth only has a net worth that’s a third of Elon Musk’s US$218 billion fortune. Still, one woman’s fortune is enough to at least beat Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg’s wealth of US$71 billion.

Read on to find out how the richest women in the world came into their money.

5. Jacqueline Mars: US$32.6 billion

Jacqueline Mars worked at Mars for almost 20 years, but ultimately has her grandfather to thank for her billions. Photo: @mariapirand/Instagram

Mars Incorporated was founded by Mars’ grandfather Frank C. Mars in 1911, and the confectionery and pet food company behind the likes of M&Ms and Pedigree dog food has made his granddaughter a multibillionaire.

M&Ms in an airport in the UAE – Mars has gone truly global since its founding in the US in 1911. Photo: Shutterstock

Mars worked at the company for nearly 20 years between 1982 and 2001 and, at the age of 82, is now worth more than US$32 billion as a result, according to Forbes. Aside from her work on the board of the company, she owns a horse farm in Virginia with animals that have been ridden by Olympic medallists.

4. MacKenzie Scott: US$43.6 billion

MacKenzie Scott has already given away more of her money to charity than ex husband Jeff Bezos. Photo: Invision/AP

The ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has donated more than US$12.5 billion to more than 1,253 organisations in the past two years following her split from the former richest man on the planet in 2019, according to Bloomberg. The philanthropist has donated more than Bezos, who is currently the second richest person in the world.

However, she still remains one of the richest women on the planet, with a net worth of US$43.6 billion. Scott received US$38 billion of her and Bezos’ US$137 billion fortune in the divorce settlement. She also got a quarter of Amazon’s shares in the split, but she has pledged to give away much of her soaring wealth. Her most recent donation was a whopping US$122 million gift to American youth mentoring charity Big Brothers Big Sisters.

3. Alice Walton: US$59.2 billion

At 72, Alice Walton is the world’s third richest woman, and has been on the list for a while thanks to her father’s business acumen. Photo: @chorizodfw/Instagram