10 Richest Women in Retail
As women continue to flex their influence throughout retail many have risen to the level of tycoon and have earned their place among the world's richest.
Forbes 29th annual look at The World's Billionaires is stockpiled with retailers, and many of the industry's most wealthy are woman. As with any list of this kind, many members of the famous Walton family, the founders of Walmart, can be found throughout the ranking. But the list is more than just a collection of Waltons, executives from H&M, Benetton, and others have made the annual ranking.
Here are the top 10 richest women in retail according to the report:
Christy Walton. The richest women in the world married into the Walton family and inherited her fortune from her late husband John Walton. The majority of her wealth comes from her Walmart holdings — she made over $470 million after taxes from dividends on Walmart stock in 2014 alone. Forbes ranking: 8. Net worth: $41.7 billion.
Alice Walton. The daughter of Sam Walton is the heir to the Walmart fortune. She doesn’t have an active hand in the running of the company, instead occupies her time with art curation. Forbes ranking: 11. Net worth: $39.4 billion.
Ann Walton Kroenke. Ann inherited a portion of her father James "Bud" Walton's Walmart fortune. When he died in 1995 he left each of his daughters enough Walmart shares to make them billionaires. Forbes ranking: 265. Net worth: $5.6 billion.
Nancy Walton Laurie. Nancy inherited a portion of her father James "Bud" Walton's Walmart fortune. Her stake is now worth $4 billion. She also owns Missouri's Providence Bank. Forbes ranking: 341. Net worth: $4.7 billion.
Lottie Tham. Tham owns more than 5% of fast fashion retailer H&M, founded by her late father Erling Persson. Lottie and her husband invest in real estate, including hotels, commercial buildings and land. Forbes ranking: 381. Net worth: $4.3 billion.
Miuccia Prada. Prada is the co-CEO and lead designer of the handbag and fashion empire Prada. She inherited the family business, founded by her grandfather, and her trend-setting designs have taken the iconic brand to new heights. Forbes ranking: 405. Net worth. $4.1 billion.
Doris Fisher. Fisher along with her late husband, real estate developer Donald, founded The Gap in 1969. It started as a San Francisco jeans and music store. Today, the retail chain operates about 3,200 stores with brands including Old Navy, Banana Republic and Athleta. Forbes ranking: 557. Net worth. $3.2 billion.
Charlotte Soderstrom. SÖderstrÖm is the daughter of Sweden's richest person, Stefan Persson, chairman at H&M, where she holds a stake. Her grandfather Erling Persson founded the chain in 1947. Forbes ranking: 603. Net worth: $3 billion.
Giuliana Benetton. Giuliana Benetton and her three siblings founded the clothing retailer Benetton Group in 1965. In 2012, Benetton Group was taken private and Luciano's son Alessandro took over as chairman. Forbes ranking: 628. Net worth: $2.9 billion.
Hortensia Herrero. Hortensia Herrero owns 28% of Mercadona, the Spanish supermarket chain that she helped build with her billionaire husband Juan Roig and his siblings. Herrero, who serves as vice president, was part of the original group that bought the company from Roig's father back in 1981, when it was a chain of just eight small stores. Forbes ranking: 663. Net worth: $2.8 billion.