8. Maria Fissolo
Company: Ferrero SpA
Net Worth: $2.1 billion*
Maria Franca Fissolo is the owner of Ferrero SpA, a name that all chocolate-lovers are sure to know. Ferrero is the second-largest confectionery company in Europe, and Fissolo has a $2.1 billion net worth as a result. Fissolo, at age eighty-two, is the oldest billionaire in the world. She took over the business after her husband, Michele, passed away.
Maria Fissolo @adrianobusolin / Twitter.com
Fissolo, a graduate of the University of Urbino, has helped the sweets company grow into a huge multinational conglomerate. Ferrero SpA, a competitor of companies like Tootsie Roll Industries, Hershey, and Godiva, owns subsidiaries like Nutella, Kinder, Tic Tac, Mon Cheri, and, of course, Ferrero Rocher.