September 30th, 2011
07:04 AM GMT
(CNN) – In the world of wealthy women, China is leading the way. Of 28 self-made female billionaires around the world, 18 came from China, according to a recent report compiled by Hurun Report ranking China’s wealthy. Hurun reported that of the top 10 self-made female billionaires in the world, seven are Chinese. U.S. media mogul Oprah Winfrey barely made the top ten, with her $2.7 billion fortune putting her as the 8th richest self-made woman in the world. Rosalia Mera of Spain’s fashion powerhouse Zara came in third, with a net worth of $4.5 billion. Benetton clothing’s Guiliana Benetton’s $2.5 billion fortune put her at number 10, according to Hurun. The richest self-made woman in the world is Wu Yajun, executive director of Longfor Properties Co. based in Chongqing municipality, with a net worth of 42 billion yuan ($6.6 billion). Yang Huiyan, of Country Garden Real Estate ranked as China’s second richest woman and 10th richest overall in China with a personal fortune of 36 billion yuan ($5.6 billion), followed by Chen Lihua of Fu Wah International, an industrial investment company, whose 33 billion yuan ($5.2 billion) fortune made her the third richest woman and the 16th richest person in China. Of the top five richest women in China, four attained their fortunes through the country’s blistering real estate market. The average wealth of the top 50 female billionaires in China was 9.7 billion yuan ($1.5 billion), up 47% from two years ago; the fortunes of 33 women on this year’s top 50 were self made rather than inherited, compared to 30 last year. Hurun’s Top 50 Rich List on wealth in China shows the number of billionaires in China increasing to 271 individuals, compared to 189 last year and more than double 2009’s 130. This puts the number of billionaires in China as second only to the U.S., which has more than 400. Rupert Hoogewerf, Chairman and Chief Research at Hurun, noted that there were probably many more billionaires in China who preferred to remain off the radar. The cut-off for Hurun’s list of the top 1000 richest people in China continues to climb, with this year’s cut-off at $310 million, up from last year’s $220 million and $150 million in 2009. “China’s rich have defied the global financial crisis with another record year of growth,” said Hoogewerf. This explosion of wealth means that some wealthy Chinese are turning to philanthropy to share their fortunes. According to the Huran Philanthropy List 2011, the most generous philanthropist, Cao Dewang of Fuyao Glass, donated $700 million this year. Cao has, to date, donated 40% of his assets to charity. |
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With some workers in China being paid $12.00 per week how can you NOT! make a billion or more yuans in a very short time?
Who is the first then? I can not find it in the article and some of the provided links.
The place where I live is also Caodewang's hometown, but I can never feel his charity. There's no report about his donation to the infrastructure of our hometown.
Considering the minimum wage is about $200/month (varies depending on province), I'm not sure why you think workers in China make $12.00 per week.
Who's Oprah? Never heard of her.
bimalesh, please READ! The first is Wu Yanjun from China, at USD 6.6 billion.
kamana kapu, many of the rich people in the USA and Europe also get rich or stay rich using cheap labour in China, India, Bangladesh, etc etc. Don't be so envious. In any case , having a low paying job is better than having no jibs and starving like what's happening in Africa.
Bryan, I think the Indians are thinking about the wages back in India and confused that with Chinese income.
@kissmybums...Africans r nt starving.
They spend much time on personal development so dt they don't go working for peanuts like U do...and they know d value of their work.
Just shows that China is not a communist country. Look up communism and you'll see it has nothing to do with what's going in China. It's not a people's republic, it's a money's republic under a one-party dictatorship.
kissmybums..you sound so mischieviouse and diserve a push in your ass
Oprah's ratings went down. Americans got tired of Oprah due to her arrogance and lack of compassion towards American poverty and need for education, especially in the black community. She sends her money to Africa, but Americans made her wealthy. Why not start a school in America, Oprah? We made you rich. Why not share the wealth by helping people or students in this horrific economy? You spend only 3% of your net worth helping people. Sad.
In India, our workers get paid less than 50cents per day. All the wealth in India go to two brothers who own half the stocks of companies listed in the Indian stock exchanges.
Oprah reminds me of the Williams sisters. Arrogant and ugly.
CNN, If Oprah is not the number 1, then please do not put her picture there. Put the number 1's picture there. Is CNN writer to lazy to go get the picture of the number 1 ???
I wonder what Oprah would do with her $2.7 billion. She can buy new clothes, cuz she fat. She can't go and party, cuz she ugly. She can't enjoy a hot sports car, cuz she fat, again.
@Hater – but think of all the cakes.
I was shock when i heard it wasnt oprah
IT TOO GUD TO KNOWN
Is oprah married now? I wonder y d Americans want her money, she knew who is suffering and dat Africans.
I can't help feeling some folks here are bitter and jealous.
@ Hater, Ur generation can never be like her, so shut up!
China is fastest growning economy in the world,this is reality the usa is lossing it's grip on the world's global socio-econmy it income,debts goes into military defence this will enable the have a political will through out other nation while china go into prodution both liqiud and solid infarstu ....and to who ever refered africa as starving is blind and does nt know that africa is the center of the worlds wealth and food basket of the world...
How can some people are these rich while millions of people in their country are suffering of poverty, the same thing happens in Nigeria too, greedy people.
@kissmybums. Please be aware that Africans are not starving. Not at all. Africans are strong dedicated folks who have self esteem. Watch out for the richest self made man in the world. will soon come from africa
It was refreshing to see, when I googled images of these Chinese ladies, that they look quite pleasant and down to earth. But meanwhile, consider the numbers in the article. In this past year, China has added 82 billionaires to its ranks? Sheesh!
Hmmmm Ɣε̲̣̣̣̥§ Oprah was once †ђξ wealthiest woman, α̲̅πϑ we all accepted it, what wrong if a chinese become †ђξ wealthiest woman presently. Talking about Nigeria, †ђξ wealthiest people are not known, Dangote Ȋ̝̊̅§n't †ђξ wealthiest...
Wew!! Crazy hw rich individuals cn be who the hell r these Rich people??
@BigApple – I do agree. It really doesn't make sense to put Oprah's picture there.
If Africa is not poor or starving, then where have all the African wealth gone? Have the African dictators stolen all the money? And who are they and how much are they worth? And what about the starving Africans which we keep reading about in CNN? How much is Migabe worth? How much WAS Ghadaffi worth? etc Maybe CNN can do some real work and research on the African wealthy people and check their worth and where they are hiding their loot.
Talking about lifestyle of the self made rich. There was the late Nina Wang from Hong Kong, one of the wealthiest person in Hong Kong / Asia, led a very frugal life, dressed in clothes bought from cheap sale and budget stores, and eat in cheap restaurants and McDonald's, but gave very generously to charities. Too bad she has passed away, God Bless Her Soul!
It is no longer news that China is growing very rapidly in all sectors and so I'm not surprised at all.I only pray Nigeria will learn from it and try to improve.
If oprah winfery decid 2 spend her money by giving aid 2 Africa,i dnt see anytin bad dere...d most important tin is dat she is givin 2 d needy,cmon havnt u heard about the word Foreign aid-dats wot Oprah is doing...God bless Oprah Winfery
are the Chinese coming back to teach the Americans lessons – Super power is not the number of people killed on meaningless war front but your economy power?
It makes sense to have Oprah's picture as she is the most famous at least in the US if not on the planet. Again one does not have to like her but posting negative comments about her compromised by personal hatred, jealousy and bigotry belongs to the sewers and gutters! Beauty is very much subjective, infact beauty is in the heart and generous as Oprah has been I can say she has lot's of beauty and grace. In any case ranking at nr. 8 on this Planet is a real feat in itself!!! Now can we have some civilized postings please!
Oprah might not be as rich as the super rich Chinese, but she's the richest self-made woman in America. Oprah is impressive.
Oprah is so beautiful both inside and out. And for the person who is mad at her for giving millions to poor Africans, she's also given hundreds of millions to poor Americans. She's sent 65,000 people through school, including over 400 African American men through Morehouse college. She built an entire neighborhood in New Orleans after Katrina. I love and respect Oprah so much.
I really like Oprah a lot. She just has a certain quality about her that no other talk show host has ever or will ever have. That's why she's a billionaire.
What to do with all that money?
@Orange – you can use it....to make more of it.....then die.
@George; Dale; Ohyeah; Thingis; l really appreciated your words about Oprah Winfrey, thank you all!
The best thing to do is to ignore those ignorances who 've not earn anything in their lifetime rather than criticising, persecuting and bollying a good and generous black_American Woman. She' hard working!
'Good People deserves worthable recording.' l pray that God bless me richly, healthy, wealthy n longevity so that l can create A positive change or impact in people' lives, Dieu moi a'laide!
the rich will remain rich and the poor will remain poor,dance with your tune.
Oprah is generous, talented, charismatic, hardworking and absolutely BRILLIANT!!! It doesn't surprise at all that she became as rich and influential as she is. She's a very special lady.
useless kunts and all their money ill-gotten ..... to hell with them
indeed oprah is a satanic bitsh...... just like obammys wife.... http://s6.zetaboards.com/Free_Thinkers/search/?c=1&q=oprah&type=topic&sort=desc&forum%5B%5D=-1&s_m=2&s_d=25&s_y=2007&e_m=9&e_d=30&e_y=2011
I would much rather have a picture here of Wu Yanjun, her company, or even a stock photo of some money than this ridiculous picture of Oprah. Despite the fact that someone else is more financially successful, Oprah's still the main visual selling point of the article? *Rolls eyes*
@ Bigapple/hater: Oprah's picture was put there because she's famous... all u Oprah haters should b careful... at least she helps out, there r still some billionaires out there that don't help
Starving Africans ah!well remember we are sitting on 56 percent of the worlds natural resources.It is just a matter of time that the continent of Africa wakes up.Do not underestimate the potential of the young African!
the reason they put oprah on the picture is becoz wu yanjun for nothing.oprah has by far done more for others than most billionaires. she getting all the hate becoz she is black.by the way work hard and make your own billions so you show us what you do with it.
Some of the things that obstruct African countries from realizing their potential: 1) Africans are too busy killing each other, (2) Too many african countries are run by corrupt regimes with dictators stealing national wealth and stashing the loot away in foreign countries
The reason why Oprah's picture is there is because that is the only picture the writer has got when the "news" made it to print. Either the writer has not made the effort to get the pictures of the others, or did not have time to do it due to deadlines, or just wanted to get the news out quickly and getting pictures of the others needed a lot more time, and can be "phase 2" of the news for further print.
CNN is getting more sloppy these days if you compare their work to other major networks. BBC is putting out major news faster than CNN. Sometimes CNN miss major news completely. I wonder how readers would perceive CNN if puts a picture of Bush or McCain up there after Obama had won the Presidential election? Although Oprah may be famous in the USA, the international audience of CNN finds it sloppy for CNN not to put the picture of the No,1 up there. It has nothing to do with race, as many of the readers are neither Black nor Chinese. CNN is supposed to be a global news network and has to behave like one to maintain its global positioning.
Saying that Oprah's picture should be there because she donated generously is not a good point, because it is like saying the other billionaires in that top 10 list did not donate generously. The criticism on CNN should not be equated to criticism of Oprah. She has done well, and should be congratulated. I would be very very happy if I could even make it to number 1000 or number 10,000 of the list. The criticism is on CNN, not Oprah.
May Oprah live long!
Do any of these women want to go out Saturday night? It's okay if they're not in the top ten. I'll even pick up the bar tab...
@morgan, these women probably got no time to go out on any saturday night or any night of the week, as they are too busy making money round the clock everyday of the year.
Oprah is so fat and ugly, and so arrogant. Ooops..now all the blacks will come to her defense...so sensitive.
I can guarantee you most of rich wealthy Chinese result from connection with illegal activities, such as bribing the government....so maybe we should have a different ranking in combination of wealth and moral together....
Jeff, you are such a nincompoop.
if all chinese stay in china maybe they wud av started eating eating,they are slaves here in nigeria.
If Oprah is not the wealthiest then who is? And how do they affect the lives of other people? Wealth is not only about assets and how much we own but how we can affect the lives of other people especially the needy. Dont you see what Mama Oprah has been doing? And what she is still doing? Wake up from slumber people. If Oprah were to keep her wealth to herself do you know what that might have made her to be? A QUEEN.
Sean, USA is not the centre of the universe.
Thank god it's not Oprah. Gas bag like her undermines those Chinese who work real hard to earn every penny.
Oprah is basically an actress, was even. These other women are obviously quite intelligent with a real career.
i like oprah so mutsh and her program
Wow, 700 mio dollars in charity! Now we are talking!
The wealthiest woman's name is translated wrong, it's Wu Yajun, not Wu Yanjun. Google her and you'll get a pic, she's a little fat and not too beautiful, kinda like Oprah. If you want the full lists click report, it's in Chinese.
Nah! The richest woman is Merkel. She has so much money that she is going to donate billions to Greece.
I am sorry, the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) pays me to make anti-Western comments and sentiments online. It is how I feed myself. Do not take offense at my comments attempting to belittle the old money in the West, as the fly by nights in China's boom or bust economy. It is nothing personal, it is only business. You go to your job perhaps inventing something, my job is to insult you. Besides with our economy of overnight successes without a real business plan, our wealthy may be here today and gone tomorrow. We don't know, so we have to insult while the opportunity presents itself.
It's ok kissmy, the West knows that China has an inferiority complex from 60 years of poverty and rule by tyrants who treat people as social experiments. It is like if I were an orphan who was abused by my orphanage, once I enter school age I would lash out at the other students because I felt insecure inside. It is the same principle.
Perhaps China can cry on Oprahs couch, let all the feelings out. It will help you to heal.
Why not the number 1 as the picture, sino bias much CNN? The big O only represent America but the majority are Chinese women...at least put a better picture of her... =.=
&&& Yah buddy him/her/it self have an inferiorty complex, I'm sure he doesn't represent most Americans....but the comments are the holier than thou arrogant ones when the states are falling apart...
Oprah is rich and black. So American blacks are doing OK, so why are blacks given affirmative preference when it come to jobs? And we see a lot of comments here denying that Africans are starving, so why is the US givng so much aid to Africa? Shouldn't that aid money be spent on starving Americans? Yes there are starving Americans, so please use the money here instead of Africa.
Oprah is fat, ugly and a loud mouth wind bag. She is a bad role model for any American.
it's a shame that most chinese on the list are in real estate. look at poor average chinese people, they can't afford to buy a house, with all the money they earn in their lifetime!
Well, if you know anything about the real estate business in China, "self made" is a stretch.
When you consider that private land ownership does not exist in China, then add in the thousands upon thousands of forced relocation of lower class families, it does not take a lot to figure out how "self made" they really are.
Kinda like saying Al Capone was self made.
Everyone should know too that in China there is no need to pay taxes, if you are rich enough and make the proper gifts, you will never have to pay a single tax, and can still show off luxury cars and houses in public. Most deals in the real estate business are paid in cash all over Asia, even for some millions dollars. If we could do the same in the USA or Europe, we would be billionaire immediately.
It is very popular too to use the wife or daughter name to make business in China, it would be very interesting to know who are the relatives of those billionaire women, most likely high rank officials.
i'm a chinese,do u know why chinese female so riche?that's all of the estate,and robbery money form billion poor people.so sad!
What on earth does one do with 9 billion dollars? Why now, oh, I don't know...give some of it (say 4 billion) to STARVING PEOPLE all over the world? Why not give most of it away? Christ, how selfish is it to have that much money? GIVE IT AWAY. YOU COULDN'T POSSIBLY SPEND IT ALL IN A HUNDRED LIFETIMES! I would be embarrassed to have that much money. Give me 5 million and my whole family could live very comfortably and I would still have enough left over to make a small change in the world. Sheesh.
oprah is a tomboy ot Tbird or Tibo.. that wahy she did not got married.. anyhow she happy the way she is
a tomboy..
first of all, CNN is news for americans, therefore they put Oprah's pic, cos americans know her. Don't believe that more than a handful of people outside US know her. this is local egocentricity like in any country of the world. Everybody'S gotta get over it.
secondly, military expenses damage every economy cos it doesn't produce anything that raises your living standards, only costs you money. goodbye american economy if it doesn't change.
third, all wealth is produced by people, machines can only help to be more efficient. there are 4 times as many chinese than americans, so it's normal that theIr economy will be four times as big when they catch up with machines and use same technology as all developed countries. Don't even have to be afraid of it. Even United Europe will be bigger than the US with 50% more population. No worries.
lastly, any rich person in the world is rich because laws make it possible that they may exploit any person and any company they want. as long as poor and middle class people accept to spend their money to buy their stuff from the rich, the rich will only get richer... TV and media are run by the rich, so don't get confused what you see and what they make people think and say and buy. Laws are there to set some limits to absolute exploitation, but people won't overcome poverty as long as they live to the standards of the rich,
GET OVER IT PEOPLE. START VOTING FOR HIGHER TAXES FOR THE RICH... THEY EAT WHAT IS YOURS
I'll be on that list soon, selling stuff at Letli.com :-)
The first comment makes a lot of since. This article doesn't. The writer needs to find another topic.
China owns the US, they just started to cash in...
unowhoitsme, give me a break. Oprah tried doing that here in America with school but American kids were more interesting in toys and shoes than an eduction; beside, Oprah can spend her money however way she want to spend it. Oprah worked hard to get her money and AMERICA did not just hand it over to her so why should she hand it over to Americans. Work for yours like she did.
Oh stop hatin on Oprah. Dang what is it with people who love to sit at a computer and complain about what someone else is doing or not. Believe me, OPRAH and all these women can careless what a bunch of broke folks on a CNN board think. I know I would not care. I wish I was in ther shoes and I am not going to hate on them. If I was rich like them, I guess some folks would be hating on me (like I would give a two cents. NOT).
The 'blistering' real estate market in China is nothing to do with true purchase of homes, for the 'common' people there. China has a false real estate bubble in creation of the China 'ghost towns' where construction of homes are being created. So these billionaires that made their money as a result of real estate will be very poor when it finally bursts. Will the world then stop and gush over their losses? Careful what you read and China ain't all that.
Quit buying from China. It is that simple.
WELL ISN'T IT TIME WE STOPPED SUPPORTING CHINA AND START SUPPORTING THE USA!!! KEEP JOBS AND PRODUCTION HERE..SO EASY..SUCH A SIMPLE SOLUTION!!
if china is communisim then how can 19 self made billionaires(women) have a life when it shows how poverish this country is?
and if they are, what will their life be later down the road........will they be able to enjoy life? This world is so sick........glad I dont live forever....:)
hate her all you want, she is still the best. besides i dont see the pictures of any of the others on the post. the only way they got all of us here to comment and blog was to say the magic word.... yeah.. thats rights!! OPRAH
Hard working. Better educated. And give money to charity. Way ahead of our rich.
Of the 55,000 yuan billionaires in China, 90% have acquired their wealth by some form of corruption, colluding with local government officials. How many of these so called "self made" have acquired theirs honestly? Biggest industry of corruption billionaires is coal, followed closely by real estate. Also, the Forbes list of billionaires is one of the scariest for Chinese wealthy, since once their names appear on the list, they come under investigation. Usually, they do not make the list the following year since their corruption is discovered, assets confiscated, and either jailed or sentenced to death (corruption is still punishable by the death penalty, although there are moves to have it removed from that list). Not a day goes by in China where some corruption is uncovered. How can you be sure that any of these persons have legally obtained their wealth?
Wow Communism seems way more lucrative than when I was a kid in the 60s. So all that hooey about them sharing the wealth with their "comrades" is about as silly as the concept of "the American Dream".
Talk about fatcats and greed! Where is OWS on the Oprah fortune. LOL Ohhhh it is only the wealthy repubs they are concerned about. Love it!
To compare Oprah in dollars and cents to other rich women is to miss the point of who Oprah is and what she has contributed to the world. Oprah opened eyes on many important issues. I really don't care about some woman in China who made twice as much money as Oprah selling real estate. Why is this important?
Question is, are any of them happy? Steve Jobs was worth Billions. He didn't take it with him, near as I can tell. He was afraid of dying, and most people hated him.
Just sayin'. Money is not a bad thing to have, but priorities seem to get lost as fortunes pile up.
So, why, oh why, did CNN HAVE to put Oprah's pic onto the article if she was NOT the wealthiest self-made women? It seems that distinction should be granted to the top..... hmmmmm?
You don't get to be a Billionaire in China by being 'self made'.
'Self-made'? No such thing, anyone that rich made their money with the help of or off the backs of others....
I believe strongly that this woman has made too much and she should be taxed.
Kynt said: Just shows that China is not a communist country. Look up communism and you'll see it has nothing to do with what's going in China. It's not a people's republic, it's a money's republic under a one-party dictatorship.
You are right. It is now about as close as it can be to practicing fascism, which ironically was the arch enemy of communism in the 1930s and 40s.
Sorry Chinese realestate wealth is a lie. They have the same bubble we had 5 years ago, so slash all the and "Realestate" billionaires fortunes by about half to get a better picture.
top 1%. GRRRRRR!
Oprah is a washed up has been. I promise to never watch her programs.
Cheap labor, raw materials and massive poverty. China is the world's largest banana republic.
.
truly amazing!!!!
a commie country has billionaires outnumbering a capitalist US of A.
So what do you have to say ... US of A?
.
טורטיה פריכה, סלט עגבניות, בצל, כוסברה וסומק בליווי טחינה, לצד אלו תמצאו תפריט בוקר מגוון,
congratulations! you are beautiful... and one of the best gifts i think you've been given is fneeilg the truth that magic is truly happening around us all the time. and our gift is that you share it.you are in it now, you and deserve it!! i can't wait to hear more.