Gina Heslop
The media often portrays the wives of billionaires as living in the shadow of their famous husbands.
However, many of these women have their own careers and accomplishments. Let’s take a closer look at the lives and achievements of some current and former wives of the world’s richest men.
Kristy Hinze
James H. Clark, a Silicon Valley mogul, is known for founding major tech companies. He married Australian model and actress Kristy Hinze, who is 36 years younger than him. Despite the challenges Hinze faced adjusting to the billionaire lifestyle, the couple has two children and remains happily married.
Salma Hayek
Salma Hayek, a renowned Mexican-American actress and producer, got engaged to French billionaire Francois-Henri Pinault in 2007. Pinault, CEO of luxury goods company Kering, is worth over $44 billion. They had a daughter in 2007 and married in 2009. Hayek continues to have a successful acting career.
Erica Baxter Packer
Australian pop star Erica Packer married billionaire James Packer in 2007 after a four-year on-and-off relationship. James Packer, who is one of Australia’s richest men, spent $15 million on their lavish wedding. The couple had three children before separating in 2013.
Cathy Schmitz
Austrian model Cathy Schmitz initially trained as a nurse before moving into modeling. She appeared on TV shows like Celebrity Big Brother and Naked Attraction. Schmitz was married to Austrian billionaire Richard Lugner for two years. After their divorce, she continued her modeling career and appeared on the TV show X-Diaries.
Tamiko Bolton
Tamiko Bolton, a pharmacist, married billionaire George Soros in 2013 when Soros was 82 and Bolton was 40 years younger. She is also a stepmother to Soros’ children, who are all older than her. Bolton runs a company selling dietary supplements and vitamins.
Kate Greer
Kate Greer, though never married, had a long-term relationship with Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey. Their relationship, often considered a classic Silicon Valley love story, saw several ups and downs, including a breakup in 2010 and a reconciliation in 2013. Greer now dates venture capitalist Peter Fenton.
Lauren Powell Jobs
Lauren Powell Jobs is the widow of Steve Jobs, the legendary co-founder of Apple. They met in 1989 and married in 1991. After Jobs’ death in 2011 from pancreatic cancer, Powell Jobs devoted herself to philanthropy, focusing on education reform and making college more accessible to underprivileged students.
Lucinda Southworth
Lucinda Southworth, married to Google co-founder Larry Page in 2007, pursued a doctorate at Stanford despite Page’s immense wealth. She is a scientist, researcher, and philanthropist. The couple established the Carl Victor Page Memorial Foundation to combat the Ebola virus in West Africa and have two children together.
These women demonstrate that their identities and contributions extend far beyond their husbands’ shadows, carving out their own significant paths in various fields.
