The world’s richest women – and how long it’ll take them to catch up with Jeff Bezos

French author and L’Oréal heiress Françoise
Bettencourt Meyers is tipped to be the first female centi-billionaire, according
to a
new wealth analysis by RS Components. This would rank her alongside Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates, who have fortunes exceeding $100bn.

According to the company’s calculations,
she will take approximately nine years to reach a $100bn fortune. Her current
net worth is $53.9bn.

In second place is American
novelist and philanthropist MacKenzie Bezos, who the company believes will hit
the milestone in 16 years’ time, at 65 years old.

Bezos has a $38.3bn stake in Amazon
following her split from the company’s founder, Jeff Bezos. It is a 4% stake,
but it is enough to put her at 22^nd place on the Bloomberg
Billionaires Index, a ranking of the world’s 500 richest people,
it was reported in July.

Wealth analysis is not RS
Components’ core function. The global components and tools supplier publishes a
wide-ranging selection of topics under the banner “Did you know?” and,
among other ethical issues, has expressed concern over the gender income gap.

“Despite progress being made
across industries, the gender gap is still a prominent issue when it comes to
business and […] earning potential,” the company said upon release of the
data, which can be examined
in full here.

Four of the world’s wealthiest
women are not likely to reach $100bn until they are over 100 years old, with
executive and philanthropist Laurene Powell Jobs predicted to reach this
milestone at 110 years of age, RS Components noted. Apart from her social
impact organisation Emerson Collective, Jobs has a $20bn fortune from the
stakes in Apple and Disney that she inherited from her late husband, Steve Jobs.

Chinese property developer Yang
Huiyan is the youngest woman on the list at 38 years old, and, as majority
shareholder of Country Garden Holdings, is likely to join the cent-billion club
when she’s 62 years old.

Australian mining magnate Gina Rinehart
has the lowest net worth on the list, but according to the calculations, is
expected to make the $100bn mark in 20 years.

Also on the list is heiress and
investor Jacqueline Mars, with a current net worth of $38.8bn, expected to
reach $100bn at 108 years old.