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Forbes 400: Where Are The Moms?
Forbes 400: Where are the Women?
Forbes Magazine just came out with its Forbes 400 list of wealthiest Americans.
Only 42 female billionaires made the list, meaning women comprise only 11%. I don’t have a statistical breakdown, but I would bet that the majority of those women are not moms.
Why is that?
Former Strollerderby blogger Helaine Olen tackled this issue last spring when she blamed discrimination for fueling the economic inequity, noting that new female MBAs earn $4,600 less than their male counterparts.
And if they have kids, women are “more likely to be responsible for the infamous second shift. Single mothers file for bankruptcy at much higher rates than their married counterparts. In retirement, women are more likely to live in poverty than men,” wrote Olen.
In a blog post on Forbes.com, Jenna Goudreau points out that in many of the cases of Forbes 400, there is a woman behind the man who is not getting the credit she deserves.
“Bill Gates takes the crown but most of us know his wife, Melinda, equally controls the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which reports an asset trust endowment of $33 billion,” writes Goudreau.
In the vast majority of cases, the women who made the list did so because of their spouses. Only two women made the top ten of the list, Alice Walton and Christy Walton, who inherited their wealth from Wal-Mart heir John Walton, who died in 2005.
Why do you think there aren’t many moms or women on the list?
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photo: flickr/CometStarMoon
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Gretchen Powers commented on Sep 23 10 at 3:40 pmBecause women JUST made large strides in equality 30 some years ago and these things take time, for starters. In addition, moms specific, not women generally, really CAN’T be superstars in big time companies and still be hands on in their homes with their kids. This is not to say women shouldn’t work or they belong at home, it is just to say that you can only stuff 10 (maybe 12) lbs of potatoes in a 10 lbs sack…
michelle commented on Sep 23 10 at 6:04 pmTo make this list, you mostly have to be an entrepreneur (i.e. the founder of what becomes a major corporation), or have your own hedge fund/PE firm. This means you have to be willing to take extreme risks (often with your own money and reputation) when starting out in your career, as well as have enormous support at home (assuming you even have a home life — many of the most successful entrepreneurs focus single-mindedly on work, 24/7). Right now there is really no support for mothers to want to go this route, especially when we are the ones who are supposed to be risk-averse and to carry the water at home. I’m guessing that the first women we start seeing on this list are ones who have stay-at-home husbands, and who can afford to take a few risks when starting out.
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