Women On Top: Ten Self-Made Female Billionaires

Yelena Baturina

Age: 49 Country: Russia Worth: $1.1 Background: Russia's richest woman, Yelena Baturina, made her rubles by founding the construction company Intecko in 1991. But the road to Baturina's fortune was rocky, and plagued with scandal.  A year after the company's founding, her husband became the Mayor of Moscow, a position he abused to give his wife all the city's major construction projects. Amid the controversy, he was removed from office. Intecko's suspicious wheelings and dealings led to one of its executives being axed, literally, by disgruntled men with blades. But no matter. When not immersed in lawsuits, Baturina spends her free time as president of the Equestrian Federation of Russia, showing the world that it'll take more than a few death threats for this billionaire to get off her high horse. [Elena Baturina, Photo via]