8 APRIL2025W MAN LEADERGLOBAL W MAN LEADERGLOBAL NEWS BITESGermany has been ranked as the third country worldwide with the highest number of female billionaires, following the United States and China, according to a study conducted by an international student information portal based in Germany. As of 2024, Germany has 35 female billionaires. Surprisingly, 37.5 percent of them have arts and humanities degrees--degrees not typically linked to wealth generation, particularly when compared to the more prevalent business or economics degrees of male billionaires in the nation. The study also found that 45.7 percent of Germany's female billionaires possess university degrees, a majority of whom 62.5 percent studied in public universities in Germany. The rest either did not study higher or have no academic records that can be accessed. Germany's female billionaire list comprises a number of well-known individuals with varied educational backgrounds, many of whom studied beyond the fields of business. Susanne Klatten, whose net worth is US$26.5 billion, has an MBA from the University of Buckingham and IMD Business School. Anna Katharina Viessmann (US$3.6 billion) studied International Cultural and Business Studies at the University of Passau. Karin Sartorius-Herbst (US$3.4 billion) majored in Economics from the University of Göttingen, while Katharina Otto-Bernstein (US$3.1 billion) graduated with an MFA in Film from Columbia University. Julia Thiele-Schürhoff (US$3 billion) graduated in Law from Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. Yvonne Bauer (US$2.3 billion) graduated in German Philology from the University of Bamberg. Regine Leibinger (US$1.9 billion) graduated in Architecture from the Technical University of Berlin and Harvard University. Lastly, Nicola Leibinger-Kammüller (US$1.9 billion) learned German, English, and Japanese at the University of Freiburg, University of Vermont, and ETH Zurich. These academic trajectories represent a wide variety of interests and fields, highlighting the varied paths of Germany's richest women. Even though Germany has a strong global position in terms of the number of female billionaires, only 3.12 percent of them are self-made, whereas a whopping 38.03 percent inherited their fortunes. GERMANY RANKS THIRD GLOBALLY FOR HIGHEST NUMBER OF FEMALE BILLIONAIRES
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