What would the world billionaires list look like without the American and Asian mavericks doing spectacular things in tech and other fields of endeavour? Take away these two groups and you would find an interesting crop of European billionaires who made their fortune from unlikely areas.

Today, we will look at the top five European billionaires and what they do for money.

5. Beate Heister & Karl Albrecht Jr. ($39.7 billion)

Beate Heister and Karl Albrecht Jr. are German nationals and children of the founder of one of the biggest supermarket chains in Germany.

Aldi Supermarket was founded by two brothers after World War 2 and it went on to become very successful. The brothers split at some point and one of them took over the supermarket and made a great success of it. Aldi is touted as the European Walmart.

Together, Beate and Karl Jr. are worth $39.7 billion.

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4. Francois Pinnault ($52.3 billion)

The Frenchman, Francois Pinault is the Chairman of the fashion group, Kerring which owns luxury brands like Yves Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen and Gucci. He started his company as a wood and building materials company before diving into the lucrative world of luxury goods.

In 1999, he bought the controlling stake in Gucci Group and this kickstarted his journey into luxury products. Francois Pinault is currently worth $52.3 billion.

3. Francois Bettencourt Meyers ($83 billion)

She is the richest woman in the world and the third richest in Europe. Francois Bettencourt Meyers is the granddaughter of the founder of the world-famous cosmetic brand, L’Oréal. She inherited the fortune after her mother who was also the richest woman died.

Francois Bettencourt and her family own a 33% stake in L’Oréal. The Frenchwoman is worth $83 billion.

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2. Amancio Ortega ($84.9 billion)

Amancio Ortega is one of the wealthiest clothing retailers in the world. He sits on top of Inditex, a fashion company that owns several brands with over 7,500 stores worldwide.

Inditex is listed and Amancio owns 60% of it. According to Forbes, he earns over $400 million in dividends every year.

Amancio Ortega is Spanish and he is worth $84.9 billion.

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1. Bernard Arnaut ($180.1 billion)

He needs no introduction as we have done many articles on him already. He is the third richest man in the world and the president of Moet Hennessey Louis Vuitton Group (LVMH). His company is the biggest name in the luxury goods world with over 70 brands under it.

According to Forbes, he pulled off the biggest brand acquisition ever when he signed in January 2021, the American jeweller Tiffany & Co for $15.8 billion.

Bernard Arnaut calls himself the custodian of French heritage according to Forbes. His net worth is $180.1 billion.

The divorce of Bill and Melinda Gates is set to mint another woman billionaire. Yesterday, Nairametrics reported on the first set of transactions made by Bill Gates to his ex-wife, Melinda.

She was transferred securities worth over $1 billion, already making her a billionaire. With more transfers set to come, we want to look at 5 other women who became billionaires after divorcing their husbands.

5 .  Sue Ann Arnall ($1 billion  

Sue Ann Arnall was the wife of oil baron and CEO of Continental Resources, Mr Harold Hamm. The 26-year-old marriage ended in 2015 with a handwritten check of a whopping $974 million to Sue Ann, which she initially rejected on the basis that it was too small. After a series of back and forth in court, however, she finally accepted the cheque.

Before the cheque, Harold Hamm had initially paid her over $20 million, driving the total settlement figure over a billion dollars.

Harold Hamm is currently the 247th richest man in the world with a net worth of $8.6 billion.

READ: There are only 15 black billionaires in the world, here are the top 10

4.  Sue Gross ( $1.3 billion )

The ex-wife of Bill Gross, the billionaire founder of the investment management firm, PIMCO, walked away from her 32-year-old marriage to the business mogul with a handsome $1.3 billion dollars. She started her own charity afterwards.

Bill Gross is currently worth $1.5 billion according to Forbes. He founded PIMCO in 1971 and it became one of the most successful investment management firms in America.

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3.  Elaine Wynn ( $2 billion ) 

Elaine Wynn is the ex-wife of Steve Wynn and she is a Co-Founder of the successful casino company, Wynn Resorts. After the couple divorced in 2012, she was transferred 11 million shares from the company which was valued at $795 million at the time.

Her ex-husband sold a substantial amount of shares later that year, which she also got a stake in. Today, her total shares from the Wyatt Resorts are worth over $2.3 billion according to Forbes.

READ: Is Donald Trump still a billionaire?

2.  Melinda Gates ($1.8 billion and counting) 

Melinda Gates is the latest billionaire divorcee on the block and she is already worth $1.8 billion after the first transfer of wealth. Her ex-husband, Bill Gates is the 4th richest man in the world. She will be worth over $60 billion if Bill Gates’ fortune is split evenly with her, although that is very unlikely.

1.  Mackenzie Scott ($57.7 billion) 

The ex-wife of the richest man in the world tops the list with a staggering $57.7 billion net worth. She met her ex-husband, Jeff Bezos when they both worked at a hedge fund in New York and she helped set up Amazon.

After her divorce from Bezos in 2019, she received 4% of Amazon shares which was valued at $35 billion then. Amazon stocks have witnessed a near 75% increase since then. She is currently worth $57.7 billion according to Forbes.

What you should know 

Melinda Gates may top the list after the complete transfer of wealth by her ex-husband, Bill Gates.