Walmart heir Alice Walton becomes the world's richest woman: Net worth exceeds $95 billion
Walmart heir Alice Walton has surpassed L'Oréal heiress Françoise Bettencourt Meyers to become the world's richest woman.
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Alice Walton, an heir to Walmart, one of the largest retail giants in the U.S., has overtaken L'Oréal heiress Françoise Bettencourt Meyers to become the world's richest woman. Walton's net worth may soon exceed $100 billion.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Alice Walton, the daughter of Sam Walton, has reached a net worth of over $95 billion for the first time. The record-breaking 44 percent increase in Walmart's stock price this year has been a key factor in the growth of Walton's wealth. As a result, Walton's fortune has increased by approximately $25 billion.
In contrast, the fortune of Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, granddaughter of Eugène Schueller, who founded the French cosmetics giant L'Oréal, has fallen by $9 billion this year to $91 billion. This decline was driven by a 12 percent drop in L'Oréal shares since January.
SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN WEALTH COMPARED TO LAST YEAR
At the end of last year, Bettencourt-Meyers' net worth was $100 billion, while Walton's fortune stood at the $70 billion level.
While Bettencourt Meyers ranks 20th on the Bloomberg wealth list, Walton is in 18th place, just behind her brothers Jim ($98 billion) and Rob ($95.8 billion). Assuming their father divided his shares in the company equally among his four children, each sibling owns more than 11 percent of Walmart. Estimates suggest the siblings have generated more than $15 billion in income from stock sales and dividends over the years.
Meanwhile, Bettencourt Meyers owns approximately 35 percent of the world's largest cosmetics company, which also owns brands such as Garnier and Maybelline.