The FT published an interesting piece on the world’s richest women, which came as a surprise:

The world’s three richest women are Chinese – as are 11 of the top 20 – according to the Hurun List of Self-Made Women Billionaires, published on Tuesday.

Zhang Yin, 53, the Chinese head of a recycled paper company, Nine Dragons Paper, ranks as the wealthiest self-made woman on earth with an estimated personal fortune of $5.6bn. Wu Yajun, 46, of Longfor Property, comes in second with $4.1bn and Chen Lihua, 69, of Fuhua International, a Hong Kong conglomerate, ranks third with $4bn.

The richest non-Chinese is Spaniard Rosalia Mera of Zara, the fashion house, with $3.5bn, and two others who made their fortunes in fashion: Doris Fisher for Gap is eighth and Giuliana Benetton of Benetton is 11th.

Oprah Winfrey, the US television show host, ranks ninth with $2.3bn.

Interestingly, the World Economic Forum also released it Global Gender Gap Report 2010 today, ranking China 61^st out 131 countries in terms of how well they divide resources amongst male and female populations.  Guessing the “law of large numbers” explains their dominance in the rich rankings, no?

Here is Hurun’s 2010 List of the Top 10 Richest in China