Vinod Gupta

Wife of Qimat Rai Gupta, who died in November 2014, debuts on the Forbes Billionaires List after shares of Havells India rose 74% in the past year, spurred by rising profits. Her late husband founded the company in 1971 as an electrical trading business in Delhi and then went on to make switches, fuses and energy meters. She inherited a 40% stake in the company but doesn't have an executive or board position. The $ 1.4 billion (revenues) Havells, which makes everything from cables to fans and wires is run by son Anil - the youngest of her three children - who is chairman and managing director. The company shot into the limelight after its 2007 acquisition of Germany's Sylvania Lighting. Other interests include a hospital in Faridabad.