Huguette Clark (1906-2011)

Daughter of billionaire arms dealer Samuel Cummings. Most known for killing her boyfriend in 1997. She started dating Argentine polo player Roberto Villegas in 1995. He forwent returning to polo and lived on her farm, financially dependent on her and under her control. When he was to leave for a ...

Only daughter of Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis, heiress to the Onassis fortune.

Lost her entire immediate family within a 29-month period: her brother in 1973 in a plane crash, her mother in 1974 from an overdose, her father in 1975.

After the brother's death her father beg...

She was the only child of Lang Hancock, founder of the mineral exploration and extraction company Hancock Prospecting. When he died in 1992, she succeeded him as executive chairman. She turned the company with severe financial difficulties into the largest private company in Australia.

As a...

Was an English heiress, socialite, relief worker and the last vicereine of India. Her father, Wilfried Ashley, was the first Baron Mount Temple. Her mother, Amalia Mary Maud Cassel, was the only child of the international magnate Sir Ernest Cassel, one of the richest and most powerful men in Euro...

She married Bernie Madoff, her high school sweetheart, in 1959. They had 2 sons.

Her husband was sentenced to 150 years in prison for running the largest known Ponzi scheme in history, worth an estimated $65 billion. He died in prison in 2021.

Her older son committed suicide in 2010,...

Married the last Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, in 1959. Was Queen and Empress of Iran from 1959 to 1979. The Shah's first two marriages had produced no male heir. Their was much rejoice when she gave birth to a son.

She founded Iran's first American-style university, enabling more wo...

Her wealth funded the search for Tutankhamun's tomb in Egypt.

She was the illegitamate child of the banker Alfred de Rothschild.

Her husband, George Edward Stanhope Molyneux Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon, died from pneumonia in 1923 after the opening of the tomb.

Was involved i...

Billionaire heiress. Daughter of Herbert and Johanna Quandt.

Inherited 50.1% stake in pharmaceutical and chemicals manufacturer Altana and 12.5% stake in BMW after her father's death.

She holds multiple business degrees and sits on the supervisory board of both companies. She helped ...

Her father was Benjamin Guggenheim, who went down with the Titanic in 1912. Her mother was heiress Florette Seligman, from whom she inherited US$2.5 million when she turned 21. She was an American art collector, bohemian, and socialite.

She promoted and sponsored many writers and artists t...

Her father was John Henry Russell Jr, 16th Commandant of the Marine Corps. Due to her father's career she spent much of her childhood abroad. She was a philanthropist and socialite.

She married her first husband, John Dryden Kuser, at age 17. She later described her first marriage as "the w...

She and her twin brother Walker Patterson III were born to Walker Patterson Inman Jr, the heir to the Doris Duke fortune. He was awarded custody in 2000. The court deemed him the more stable parent despite kidnapping his children, multiple marriages, and drug and alcohol addiction. The twins were...

Jazz patron and writer. Her father was Charles Rothschild, her mother was baroness Rozsika Edle von Wertheimstein. She married in 1935 and had 5 children. After her separation in 1951, her family disinherited her.

She joined the Free French Army to fight against Nazi Germany and was decorat...

Her father, Frank Daly, committed suicide when she was 11.

Grew up in New York City and became a prominent socialite due to her beauty. This resulted in frequent invitations to high society parties, allowing her to date various wealthy admirers.

Known for unstable personality, rude ou...

She married Alec Wildenstein, a billionaire art dealer, in 1978. They had two children. Their interest in wild cats led her to extensive cosmetic surgery, thinking it would make her more attractive to her husband. She caught him in flagrante delicto with a 19-year-old Russian model in her bedroom...

Her grandfather was William Randolph Hearst, who created the largest newspaper, magazine, newsreel and film business in the world. Her family wielded immense political influence and opposed organized labor, worker's rights and communism.

Her parents did not find it necessary to assure her p...

Heiress to the Johnson & Johnson empire.

Her father was businessman Woody Johnson.

She was diagnosed with diabetes and borderline personality disorder.

A staple for the gossip columns, she wanted to establish her own identity.

The biggest mistake in her life was turning do...

Her father was railroad heir Reginald Claypoole Vanderbilt. Upon his death she inherited a $5 million trust fund, the control belonging to her mother since she was a minor. Her mother's spending habits led to a custody battle with her aunt, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, and she became the ward of ...

Her father was Sir Bache Cunard, heir to the Cunard Line shipping business. Her mother was Maud Alice Burke, an American heiress. When her parents separated in 1911, she moved to London with her mother. Her education was at various boarding schools, including time in France and Germany.

She...

Was an American debutante, socialite, philanthropist and heiress to one-third of the estate of retail tycoon Frank Winfield Woolworth. Was dubbed "Poor Little Rich Girl" due to her notoriously troubled private life.

Her childhood was marked by the neglect of her father and early loss of her...

Monegasque heiress and businesswoman.

She was the richest woman in Monaco, most of her wealth coming from collecting rent.

She was married twice and had a daughter from her first and a son from her second husband.

Her son-in-law Wojciech Janowski, whom she never was fond of nor ...

Was a member of the Rausing family, which owns the food packaging business Tetra Pak. Her father was a millionare executive for the Pepsi Cola Corporation.

She married Hans Kristian Rausing, whom she met in a rehab clinic. They had 4 children. The couple was well-respected as philanthropist...

Her father was Islam Karimov, president of Uzbekistan from 1991 to his death in 2016. She had considerable influence through her business dealings and family connections, but started losing it in 2013 due to conflicts with her father.

In 2014 she was placed under house arrest. In 2016 she w...

Billionaire tobacco heiress, philanthropist and socialite.

Her great wealth, luxurious lifestyle and love life attracted lots of press coverage, during her life and after her death.

To this day, belief persists that she deliberately ran over Eduardo Tirella, curator of her art holding...

Queen of Mean due to her flamboyant personality and tyrannical behavior.

Joined a New York real estate firm, where she eventually became vice-president.

Earned millions working as a condominium broker. Was sued by several tenants for forcing them to buy condominiums, and lost...

Only child of utilities magnate George Crawford, former chairman of Columbia Gas & Electric Company.

Nicknamed "Sunny" because of her nature.

Her father died when she was 3, she inherited US$100 million.

Married Prince Alfred Eduard Friedrich Vincenz Martin Maria von Auersperg i...

Her father was Eugène Schueller, founder of L'Oréal. Her mother died when Liliane was 5. At age 15 she joined her father's company. Married André Bettencourt in 1950. Her father and her husband were Nazi sympathizers. Had one daughter. She became the principal shareholder of L'Oréal after her fat...