Eight Indian women in Forbes ‘World’s Billionaires’ list

New Delhi: 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 USD 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 USD 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 USD 3.6 billion. Other Indian women on the list include Smita Crishna-Godrej at 822nd place with a net worth of USD 2.9 billion and Leena Tewari, who chairs the privately held USV India, at 1,020th rank with a fortune of USD 2.4 billion.

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Meanwhile, Vinod and Anil Rai Gupta were placed at the 1,103rd place with a fortune of USD 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 USD 1.4 billion. Sheela Gautam, who set up Sheela Foam in 1971, best known for its Sleepwell brand of mattresses, was ranked at 1,999th place with a fortune of USD 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 USD 1.1 billion.

Globally, Alice Walton, the only daughter of Walmart founder Sam Walton, was the richest women billionaire with a net worth of USD 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 USD 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 USD 25 billion, she was ranked 32nd in the list with a fortune of USD 25 billion.

Nirav Modi drops out of Forbes billionaires list: Diamond trader Nirav Modi, accused of pulling off the country’s biggest bank fraud, is no longer a part of India’s billionaires club. Modi, who had featured in Forbes’ 2017 rich list with a fortune of USD 1.8 billion, could not make the cut in this year’s rankings.

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