Only 14 of the world’s 1,000 billionaires are self-made women, and only seven of them had no help from relatives, a new list has found.

By contrast, 665 men are self-made billionaires including the three richest people in the world, Carlos Slim Helú , Bill Gates and Warren Buffett.

Among the list are talk-show star Oprah Winfrey, Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling and former eBay head, Meg Whitman.

The richest on the list was Chinese real estate billionaire Wu Yajun, whose fortune is worth $US3.9 billion.

She currently serves as chief executive of Hong-Kong listed Longfor Properties, and was also ranked 23rd in the 2010 Forbes Billionaire’s list.

Perhaps the most well-known name on the list was talk-show host Oprah Winfrey, who’s managed to gain her $US2.4 billion fortune by expanding her brand into publications and various other broadcast endeavours.

Read the full story @ Forbes.com

The World’s Richest Self-made Women (net worth in dollars)

1. Wu Yajun, Chinese, Property development, 3.9 billion
2. Rosalie Mera, Spanish, Clothing, 3.5 billion
3. Elena Baturina, Russian, Construction, 2.9 billion
4. Doris Fisher, American, Clothing, 2.4 billion
5. Xiu Li Hawken, UK citizen, property development, 2.4 billion
6. Oprah Winfrey, American, Media, 2.4 billion
7. Giulana Benetton, Italian, Clothing, 2.1 billion
8. Chu Lam Yiu, Chinese, Flavourings and fragrances, 2.1 billion
9. Zhang Xin, Chinese, property development, 2 billion
10. Yan Cheung, Chinese, Waste paper, 1.7 billion
11. Meg Whitman, American, Internet commerce, 1.3 billion
12. Chan Laiwa, Chinese, property development, 1.1 billion
13. Lei Jufang, Chinese, Medicines, 1.1 billion
14. J.K. Rowling, British, Books, 1 billion