Taking second place on the Wealth-X list is Liliane Bettencourt, heiress of the French cosmetic giant LOreal, whose personal fortune of US$31.3 billion earns her the title of richest woman in Europe.
Collectively, the women on the Wealth-X list control US$114.6 billion of personal wealth.
The oldest female billionaire on the list is Bettencourt at 92 years of age, while the youngest is 33-year-old Yang Huiyan, whose father, Yang Guoquiang, transferred 70% of his shares in Country Garden Group, a Chinese real estate development firm, to her before its 2007 IPO.
Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim's three daughters who, along with their brothers, have been on the receiving end of the asset transfer that Slim reportedly began in 2003 emerged as the richest women in Latin America. Each of the three sisters is estimated to be worth US$6.3 billion.
Below are the names of the richest women in each region:
- Estimated Net Worth: $37.9
Christy Walton
Region: North America
- Estimated Net Worth: $31.3 billion
Liliane Bettencourt
Europe
- Estimated Net Worth: $14.8 billion
Gina Reinhart
Pacific**
- Estimated Net Worth: $6.3 billion each
Vanessa Paola Slim Hajj
Maria Soumaya Slim de Romero
Johanna Monique Slim Ayub
Latin America
- Estimated Net Worth: $6.3 billion
Yang Huiyan
Asia
- Estimated Net Worth: $4.2 billion
Shari Arison
Middle East
- Estimated Net Worth: $1.2 billion
Folorunsho Alakija
Africa
(**Pacific denotes Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands)