BMW heir is Germany’s richest woman

One of the heirs to the BMW fortune, Susanne Klatten, was ranked by Forbes magazine as Germany’s richest woman and No. 54 in its annual listing of the world’s billionaires. Her net worth is listed at $16.8 billion. She owns a 12.6% stake in the German automaker. Klatten, with her brother Stefan Quandt and her mother Johanna Quandt, together own around 50% of BMW.

Klatten is a skilled busineswoman. After inherting another company, Altana AG, she grew the business into a pharmaceutical and specialty-chemicals powerhouse with $2 billion in annual sales. She reportedly lives in Germany and Austria. She supposedly met her husband, Jan Klatten, who was an engineer at BMW, while she was working there incognito as an intern. She was the victim of an extortion scheme in 2008, after a former lover tried to blackmail her.

Stefan Quandt is not far behind, ranking at No. 59 with $15.6 billion, while their mother Johanna is at No. 77 with $13.9 billion.

Tesla Motors boss elon Musk is listed as having a $12 billion fortune, and is ranked at No. 100. Tesla, which Musk likes to describe as a technology company that happens to make automobiles, has shaken up the premium car market with its innovative all-electric sports cars and sedans. Tesla is working on an autonomously-driving car.

Red Bull chief Dietrich Mateschitz, owner of two Formula One teams, is ranked 116 with a $10.8 billion fortune.

The boss of Lego, sometimes described as the world’s number one automaker (in bricks, of course), Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, is at No. 129 with a awesome $9.7 billion.

Great Wall Motors chief Wei Jianjun is listed at No. 147, with $8.9 billion. The auto company is expanding in China, investing more than $500 million to add capacity.

Philippine retail and banking tycoon Henry Sy is the highest-ranking Filipino on the list, at No. 73 with $14.2 billion.