The world has 88 such billionaires - China has 56 of them whereas the US has 15
China is home to the most self-made female billionaires in the world.
As reported by Quartz, Shanghai-based research firm marked yesterday’s International Women’s Day by sharing numbers from its Hurun Report. The report counted 88 self-made female billionaires in the world and states that China is home to 56 of them.
Sitting at the top of the global list is Chen Lihua, AKA the “Beijing real estate queen”. Quartz reports that Chen grew up in poverty before dropping out of high school to repair furniture. In the earl 1980s Chen moved to Hong Kong and ventured into real estate investing. Chen established Fu Wah International Group six years later, which specialised in property development, asset management and finance.
Chen Lihua by David Shankbone
Next on the list is “touchscreen queen” Zhou Qunfei, founder of Lens – a company based in Hunan that makes touchscreens for mobile devices. Third on the list is Zhou Hongwen and her husband Xiao Jianhua who run Tomorrow Group. Xiao made headlines recently after going missing.
Tina Green, 64, is the richest non-Chinese on the list.
6 of the Top 10 are from China.
| Name | Net Worth (US$Bn) | Main Company | Country | Age | |
| 1 | Chen Lihua | 7.2 | FuWah | China | 76 |
| 2 | Zhou Qunfei | 6.0 | Lens | China | 47 |
| 3 | Zhou Hongwen & husband Xiao Jianhua | 5.5 | Tomorrow | China | – |
| 3 | Tina Green & husband Philip Green | 5.5 | Arcadia | UK | 64 |
| 5 | Chen Chunmei & husband Gong Hongjia | 5.3 | Hikvision | China | 52 |
| 6 | Judy Love & husband Tom Love | 4.8 | Love’s Travel Stops | USA | – |
| 7 | Wu Yajun | 4.6 | Longfor | China | 53 |
| 8 | Zhang Yin | 4.5 | Nine Dragons Paper | China | 60 |
| 9 | Peggy Cherng & husband Andrew Cherng | 4.4 | Panda Express | USA | 69, 69 |
| 10 | Lynda Resnick & husband Stewart Resnick | 4.2 | Roll International | USA | – |
Source: Hurun Research Institute 2017.
Of course, it goes without saying that the population of China dwarfs that of the US, so the odds of China having more billionaires is in their favour. Nonetheless, having the 3 richest self-made female billionaires is still a remarkable feat.