The World Has 124 Self-Made Female Billionaires
Approximately two-thirds are from China, according to a report.
Approximately two-thirds are from China, according to a report.
The world has 124 self-made female billionaires, approximately two-thirds from China, according to a report released last Tuesday.
The total number of self-made female billionaires was down from 130 recorded a year ago, and their combined wealth decreased 23% year over year to US$370 billion, according to the report.
China has the largest share of self-made female billionaires, accounting for two thirds of the total, with 78. The U.S. and U.K. came second and third, with 25 and 5, respectively.
“Japan, Germany, France, Canada, and S. Korea are the world’s largest economies without a single self-made woman billionaire,” Rupert Hoogewerf, Hurun’s chairman and chief researcher, said in the report. “The 124 known self-made women billionaires come from just 16 countries, meaning that 180-plus countries still do not have a single one.”
The top three self-made female billionaires are all Chinese, including property developer Wu Yajun, with US$17 billion; apparel fibre producer Fan Hongwei, with US$13 billion; and phone accessory assembler Wang Lichun, with US$11 billion.
Hurun’s rankings are based on market data as of Jan. 14.
Only one out of six of the world’s 556 female billionaires made their fortunes on their own and not through inheritance; 80% of self-made women billionaires made their money from listed companies, according to the report.
Healthcare and software services, with 13 each, were the primary industries of the female billionaires. Consumer goods, retail, and energy were the other top sources of their wealth, according to the report.
The youngest self-made female billionaire was Whitney Wolfe Herd, 32. The founder of the dating app Bumble made the list with an estimated net worth of US$1 billion.
Reality TV personality KimKardashian, 41, was estimated to be worth US$2 billion on the back of her beauty brand KKW Beauty. Barbadian singer Rihanna, 34, of Fenty Beauty, joined the list for the first time with US$1 billion.
Reprinted by permission of Penta. Copyright 2021 Dow Jones & Company. Inc. All Rights Reserved Worldwide. Original date of publication: March 30, 2022
As Australia’s family offices expand their presence in private credit, a growing number of commercial real estate debt (CRED) managers are turning to them as flexible, strategic funding partners.
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As Australia’s family offices expand their presence in private credit, a growing number of commercial real estate debt (CRED) managers are turning to them as flexible, strategic funding partners.
Family offices are increasingly asserting their dominance in Australia’s private credit markets, particularly in the commercial real estate debt (CRED) segment.
With more than 2,000 family offices now operating nationally—an increase of over 150% in the past decade, according to KPMG—their influence is not only growing in scale, but also in strategic sophistication.
Traditionally focused on preserving intergenerational wealth, COI Capital has found that family offices have broadened their mandates to include more active and yield-driven deployment of capital, particularly through private credit vehicles.
This shift is underpinned by a defensive allocation rationale: enhanced risk-adjusted returns, predictable income, and collateral-backed structures offer an attractive alternative to the volatility of public markets.
As family offices increase their exposure to private credit, the dynamic between managers and capital providers is evolving. Family offices are highly discerning capital allocators.
They expect enhanced reporting, real-time visibility into asset performance, and access to decision-makers are key differentiators for successful managers. Co-investment rights, performance-based fees, and downside protection mechanisms are increasingly standard features.
While typically fee-sensitive, many family offices are willing to accept standard management and performance fee structures when allocating $5M+ tickets, recognising the sourcing advantage and risk oversight provided by experienced managers. This has created a tiered market where only managers with demonstrated execution capability, origination networks, and robust governance frameworks are considered suitable partners.
Notably, many are competing by offering differentiated access models, such as segregated mandates, debt tranches, or tailored securitisation vehicles.
There are important distinctions between onshore and offshore family offices in the context of CRED participation:
Onshore Family Offices: Typically have deep relationships with local stakeholders (brokers, valuers, developers) and a more intuitive understanding of planning, legal, and enforcement frameworks in Australian real estate markets. They are more likely to engage directly or via specialised mandates with domestic managers.
Offshore Family Offices: While often attracted to the yield premium and legal protections offered in Australia, they face structural barriers in accessing deal flow. Currency risk, tax treatment, and regulatory unfamiliarity are key concerns. However, they bring diversification and scale, often via feeder vehicles, special-purpose structures, or syndicated participation with Tier 1 managers.
COI Capital Management has both an offshore and onshore strategy to assist and suit both distinct Family Office needs.
The influx of family office capital into private credit markets has several systemic implications:
Family offices, deploying capital in significant tranches, have enhanced liquidity across the mid-market CRE sector.
Their ability to move quickly with minimal conditionality has contributed to yield compression, particularly on low-LVR, income-producing assets.
As a few family offices dominate large allocations, concerns emerge around pricing power, governance, and systemic concentration risk.
Unlike ADIs or superannuation funds, family offices operate outside the core prudential framework, raising transparency and risk management questions, particularly in a stress scenario.
Yes—family offices are arguably among the most attractive funding partners for CRED managers today. Their capital is not only flexible and long-term focused, but also often deployed with a strategic mindset.
Many family offices now have a deep understanding of the risk-return profile of CRE debt, making them highly engaged and informed investors.
They’re typically open to co-investment, bespoke structuring, and are less bogged down by institutional red tape, allowing them to move quickly and decisively when the right opportunity presents itself. For managers, this combination of agility, scale, and sophistication makes them a valuable and increasingly sought-after partner in the private credit space.
For high-performing CRED managers with demonstrable origination, governance, and reporting frameworks, family offices offer not only a reliable source of capital but also a collaborative partnership model capable of supporting large-scale deployments across market cycles.
Faris Dedic is the Founder and Managing Director of DIG Capital Advisory and COI Capital Management
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