MONEY & ENTERTAINMENT

More skilled business women are needed to manage and lead successful and profitable companies of all sizes. And these ladies have made it through the tough world of business. Here are the five most successful women in the United States and their stories.

Jacqueline Mars is the daughter of Forrest Mars Sr. and granddaughter of Frank C. Mars, founders of the giant American candy company Mars, Incorporated. With her share of the company, she is worth $10.5 billion.

The Mars family is a family who ran the candy company Mars, Inc., bearing their name. The family was called the richest family in America by Fortune magazine in 1988.

Her grandparents Frank and Ethel Mars started selling chocolates from their kitchen in Tacoma, Wash. 1919. Her father, Forrest Sr. (d. 1999), took reins, introduced malt-flavor nougat, which became core of Mars candy bar line: Snickers, Milky Way, and 3 Musketeers. Also created Twix, M&Ms, and Skittles. He added pet food (Whiskas, Pedigree), Uncle Ben's Rice, electronic components for vending machines. Today Mars is world's largest confectioner. Sales: $19 billion. Expanding pet food division: recently bought Doane Pet Care (makes Wal-Mart's Ol' Roy label) and the maker of Greenies, nation's top-selling dog treat.

Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, USA, the company is entirely owned by the Mars family, making it one of the largest privately owned U.S. corporations. Most of its activities in the US are part of a division known as Masterfoods USA, based in Hackettstown, New Jersey.

The company has announced that by the end of 2007 all business units will adopt the name Mars as their names. Masterfoods will cease to be a business name but presumably will continue as the brand name of food products in Australia. Moving into fourth generation family ownership, the company recently passed from family leadership into non-family leadership; however, the business is still owned by the family.

When it comes to reaching new markets, the pace has, if anything accelerated in recent years. Mars now has a direct presence in 65 countries, and its products are sold in well over 100.

Anne Cox Chambers (born December 1, 1919) is a billionaire media proprietor. She is the daughter of James M. Cox, a newspaper publisher and senior Democratic political identity. She owns and controls her father’s business interests, through Cox Enterprises. Her sister, Barbara Cox Anthony, died on May 28, 2007.

Her net worth has been estimated at $12.6 billion, based principally on her equity interest in Cox Enterprises which makes her one of the richest women in the United States.

Anne Cox Chambers holds the Chair of Atlanta Newspapers and serves as a Director of Cox Enterprises, one of the largest diversified media companies in the United States. It owns one of the nation's largest cable television businesses, which provides internet and telephony, publishes newspapers , owns and operates broadcast television and radio stations and owns Manheim, an automobile auction firm.. It also owns stakes in a variety of internet businesses, including AutoTrader.com, the largest retail automotive shopping site in the world.

She is also a generous supporter of a wide range of cultural and educational charities, particularly relating to the arts and international affairs and has received many honorary doctorates and awards recognizing her efforts and philanthropy. She donated the money to build a new wing for the High Museum which opened in November, 2005.

Abigail Johnson (born January 7, 1962) is an American financial businesswoman. She runs Fidelity Investments together with her father Edward Johnson. In 2007, her net worth was estimated at $13 billion. Johnson is an alumna of Buckingham Browne & Nichols. She earned a bachelor's degree at William Smith College. She later received an MBA from Harvard University.

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Her grandfather, Edward C. Johnson II, founded the company in 1946, and her father, Edward C. Johnson III, has been Fidelity's chairman and chief executive since 1977. In her role as associate director and senior vice president of Fidelity's equity division, Johnson was involved in setting policy at the company. She held the largest stake in the privately held company, at 24% in 2001, but in 2005 she sold half of her shares, leaving her father in command again.

But the top successful businesswomen in the U.S.A. are the Waltons, Helen R Walton, Alice L Walton and Christy Walton.

Helen R Walton is widow of Sam Walton (d. 1992), J.C. Penney clerk who opened up chain of general stores in Rogers, Ark. 1962. Today Wal-Mart is the world's largest retailer with 6,500 stores in 15 countries; 1.8 million employees serve more than 176 million customers each week. Sales: $315 billion. Family controls 40% of Wal-Mart. Helen studied at the University of Oklahoma, married Sam 1943and started the Walton Family Foundation.

Alice Louise Walton (born October 7, 1949) is the daughter of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton and Helen Walton, and sister of S. Robson Walton, John T. Walton (d.2005), and Jim Walton. She has an estimated net worth of about $16.6 billion.

She is a graduate of Trinity University San Antonio, and lives in Mineral Wells, Texas on The Rocking W Ranch. Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton's only daughter, Alice chose not to get involved in the operations of the family business. For a time she was a broker for E.F. Hutton. Her hobby is horses.

Walton was the 20th largest individual contributor to 527 committees in the U.S. presidential election, 2004, donating $2.6 million to the conservative Progress for America group.

Christie Walton is the wife of late John T. Walton, and daughter in law of the founder of Wal-Mart. After her husband’s death, she became the 17th wealthiest person in the world with a net worth of USD $15.9 billion. As of 2006, she is the 7th richest American and the richest woman in America with a net worth of $15.6 billion dollars.

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. is an American public corporation, currently one of the world's largest corporations (By Number of Employees) according to the 2007 Fortune 500. It was founded by Sam Walton in 1962, incorporated on October 31, 1969, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1972. It is the largest private employer in the world and world's fourth largest utility or commercial employer, only trailing the People's Liberation Army of China, the National Health Service of England and the Indian Railways. Wal-Mart is the largest grocery retailer in the United States, with an estimated 20% of the retail grocery and consumables business, and the largest toy seller in the U.S., with an estimated 45% of the retail toy business, having surpassed Toys "R" Us in the late 1990s.

Wal-Mart operates in Mexico as Walmex, in the United Kingdom as ASDA, and in Japan as The Seiyu Co., Ltd. Wal-Mart's investments outside North America have produced mixed results. In 2006, Wal-Mart sold its retail operations in South Korea and Germany due to sustained losses and a highly competitive market.

Wal-Mart has been the target of criticism from some community groups, women's rights groups, grassroots organizations, and labor unions. Specific criticisms include the company's extensive foreign product sourcing, low rates of employee health insurance, resistance to union representation, and alleged sexism, among other things. But it doesn’t matter to its owners, who are the top wealthiest persons in America.

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