18. Maria Elisabeth Schaeffler, 63, from Germany (6.7 Billion)
Maria and her son Georg are the owners of Schaeffler Group, one of the world’s largest producers of rolling bearings. Since taking over, after her husband’s death, Maria has tripled the value of the company.
17. Margarita Louis-Dreyfus, 52, from Switzerland ($8.4 Billion)
Margarita met her husband on a flight from Zurich to London. She inherited the Louis-Dreyfus company after his death. This company is involved in telecommunications, agriculture, oil, energy, real estate, as well as international shipping.
16. Blair Parry-Okenden, 64, from USA ($8.5 Billion)
Blair is an American billionaire heiress living in Scone, Australia. She has very little to do with the company founded by her grandfather, James M. Cox — a media company, Cox Enterprises. Her Aunt, Anne Cox Chambers sits at number 7 on this list.
15. Carrie Perrodo, 64, from France ($8.8 Billion)
Carrie Wong is a former model from Singapore. She is the owner of the oil group Perenco. This is a company which she co-founded with her husband, Hubert who died in 2006.
14. Massimiliana Landini Aleotti, 72, from Italy ($10.4 Billion)
New to the list is Massimiliana Landini Aleotti, inheriting $10.4 billion as of July 2015, when her husband’s estate was finalised. Her husband owned the Menarini pharmaceutical company, a global company founded in Italy.
13. Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken, 61, from Netherlands ($11.6 Billion)
She is the owner of the world’s third-largest brewer, Heineken International. The company was started by her father Freddy Heineken, and Lucille Cummins. She is the richest person in the Netherlands.