Forbes Billionaire List Includes More Women Than Ever

Forbes’ 2014 billionaires list has more girl power than ever before!

According the reports, the 28th annual ranking includes 1,645 billionaires, 172 of whom are women. This is a 25 percent increase from 2013, which named 138 of the world’s richest women.

Wal-Mart heiress Christy Walton topped the list with a $36.7 billion fortune, followed by L’Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt with a net worth of $34.5 billion. The third richest woman went to fellow Walton family member Alice Walton, Jacqueline Mars of Mars candy company grabbed fourth and mining heiress Gina Rinehart rounded out the top five with a $17.7 fortune.

According to the The Guardian, only 32 of the women on Forbes’ round-up are self-made, meaning they earned their wealth without an inheritance from family or husbands. These remarkable ladies include Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, Nigeria’s first female billionaire Folorunsho Alakija, media mogul Oprah Winfrey and UK’s online gambling queen Denise Coates, to name a few