The perception that the business world was a male-driven environment has been shattered in recent times by the extraordinary feats of many female entrepreneurs who have chased their dreams and worked tirelessly to make them come true. The wealthiest female entrepreneurs in the world not only should be proud of their own successes on a personal level but can also take pride in influencing and inspiring businesswomen everywhere to dream big, as anything is achievable.

This infographic below features nine female entrepreneurs who, each in their own way, had a burning ambition inside them and turned that passion into their life’s work, building multibillion-dollar enterprises along the way.

Some have done this in the traditional sense of entrepreneurship by starting small-scale companies and evolving them into global businesses – Spanx founder Sara Blakely is one such example. In her 20s, she greeted visitors at Disney World and sold fax machines door-to-door just to make a living. At 29, she took a leap of faith and set up her shaping underwear business from life savings of $5,000. She has now accrued wealth of more than $1 billion.

Some influential female entrepreneurs had already gained worldwide recognition by the time they started their own businesses. For instance, Beyoncé Knowles was a world-famous pop star who then doubled up her music career with a fashion label. This, along with her music and regular activism makes her a role model for millions of women worldwide.

Women like these have broken down barriers for female entrepreneurs everywhere and made it clear that you don’t need to be male to be recognized as a successful entrepreneur of great influence. Also, women can succeed in industries which many perceive to be male-driven; Cher Wang’s HTC is one of the leading smartphone manufacturers in the world. To quote Facebook’s chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg, “In the future, there will be no female leaders. There will just be leaders.”

Check out this infographic from All Finance Tax below that outlines 9 of the most influential female entrepreneurs in the world:

Which one of these women do you admire most and why? Comment below!