Female billionaires list grows

Women are moving up in the ranks of self-made billionaires. On June 8, 2010, Meg Whitman became the first Republican woman to be nominated for Governor of California. At age 54 with a net worth of about $1.3 billion, Whitman transferred her wealth to fund a $70 million campaign that she hopes to double to buy her way to the governorship.

Whitman utilized her business expertise to move up the corporate ladder by helping companies like Procter & Gamble, Disney, and in 1998 the once small web start-up eBay. Now, she's part of the small group of 14 women in the world who are self-made billionaires without inherited fortunes from their families or husbands. When compared to the list of 665 male self made billionaires including Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, the struggles for women remain evident. But note all the Chinese women on the list.


Here's the official Forbes list of self-made female billionaires:

1. Wu Yajun: $3.9 billion, CEO of real estate developer Longfor Properties
2. Rosalia Mera: $3.5 billion, co-founder of apparel manufacturer Inditex
3. Elena Baturina: $2.9 billion, founder of plastic products and construction material firm Inteko
4. Doris Fisher: $2.4 billion, co-founder of Gap Inc.
5. Xiu Li Hawken: $2.4 billion, biggest shareholder in Renhe Commercial Holdings
6. Oprah Winfrey: $2.4 billion, talk show host and media magnet behind her company Harpo Productions
7. Giuliana Benetton: $2.1 billion, owner of the line of Benetton clothing brands
8. Chu Lam Yiu: $2.1 billion, Chairwomen of Chinese tobacco flavoring company Huabao International
9. Zhang Xin: $2 billion, Founder and Manager of Beijing property developer SoHo Chin
10. Yan Cheung: $1.7 billion, Founder of Chinese paper company Nine Dragons
11. Meg Whitman: $1.3 billion, former CEO of eBay
12. Chan Laiwa: $1.1 billion, Chinese real estate investor
13. Lei Jufang: $1.1 billion, Manager of ointment maker Tibet Cheezheng Tibetan Medicine
14. J.K. Rowling: $1 billion, author of the popular Harry Potter series