The World's Most Powerful Female Entrepreneurs

Written by: Poppy Skinner Created: 06 February 2018

From media moguls to tech entrepreneurs, we uncover down the most influential female moguls of our time.

Leandra Medine

The Man Repeller is one of the most well-known and highly regarded style and lifestyle blogs around, with the term 'Man Repelling' becoming a staple in many fashion girls dictionary. Redefining the way we think and read about style thanks to her witty and self-depreciating style of writing, Leandra Medine has grown the blog from a one woman show to a company of over 20, with deals from everyone from J Crew to Mango. All this and Leandra is still just 29 years old.

Sara Blakely

They say that a good idea can come from anywhere and this is exactly what happened with Spanx founder, Sara Blakely. At just 29, Blakely invested her entire life's savings into the concept, after finding trouble finding the perfect underwear to wear under white trousers. Having worked tirelessly on the business and its offering over the years, it is now worth over US $1 Billion and the biggest name in shapewear. Not content with just cornering the lingerie world, Blakely is also a major contributor to charity, creating the Sara Blakely Foundation in 2009 which aims to help women through education and entrepreneurial training.  

Weili Dai

Chinese born - American Weili Dai is considered one of the most successful female entrepreneurs of her generation. As the co-founder and former President of Marvell Technology Group, she has not only helped bring a number of new technologies to market, but has been responsible for expanding access to technology in the developing world. 

Arianna Huffington

There are many strings to Arianna Huffington's bow. Firstly she co-created the Pulitzer prize winning, Huffington Post. She also ran for Independent Governor of California in 2003, has written a number of best-selling books and is now the creator of a new company called Thrive Global - created to increase productivity and raise awareness of health in the workplace. 

Yang Lan

Yang Lan is often referred to as the Chinese Oprah due to her strong media ties. As the co-founder of Sun Media, she also works as a journalist and talk show presenter for the news channels. Under her operative, Sun TV is the first Chinese historical and cultural channel in Greater China, with her claiming the aim of the channel was to: "educate through entertainment, and to illuminate through information." 

Oprah Winfrey

No female entrepreneur list would be complete without Oprah on it. So famous that she only goes by one name, she's a TV host, network owner, philanthropist and if the American people have their way, the next President of America. Born into poverty in rural Mississippi, her grit, determination, people skills and all-round good business sense have made her one of the richest, and most powerful, women in America. 

Written by: Poppy Skinner

Poppy covers a wide range of topics at Billionaire, having spent the past 13 years at companies including Singapore Tatler, Her World Plus and Harpers Bazaar UK. She has a passion for fashion, jewellery and travel as well as an avaricious fascination with crime novels. Follow her at poppypskinner on Instagram.