203 LIFESTYLE, POWER AND FORTUNE
THE WORLD'S RICHEST WOMEN: THE BILLIONAIRES
Photos
from L to R: #1. Marilyn Carlson Nelson. #2.
Maria Aramburuzabala. #3. Miuccia
Prada.
#1.
Marilyn Carlson. She runs one of the biggest privately held companies in
America, Carlson Companies, which she took over as chairman and chief
executive when her father, founder Curt Carlson died in 1999. Marilyn,
61, and her sister Barbara Carlson Gage each own half of the $31
billion (2000 sales) company. As a marketing, travel and hospitality company,
Carlson has been hit by the economic downturn and Sept. 11 terror attacks.
Marilyn, along with other travel executives, lobbied congress for a 100% tax
deduction for business travel expenses. She's also been working to expand and
modernize Carlson, spending $1 billion over four years on technology and
integration. She also made the decision to sell the company's 25% stake in
U.K.-based Thomas Cook for $1 billion. Carlson used the cash to buy a
California-based Asian food restaurant chain called PickUp Stix.
It's probably not a coincidence that Carlson
Companies got national recognition for being a family-friendly place to work.
It was named one of 100 best American companies for working mothers and one of
the best companies to work for, period. That's not to say Marilyn is a
creampuff, as she tells it exactly as she sees it. She told a Forbes reporter
in 1999, "I believe more women have a choice not to work than are willing to
admit it." #2. In a way, Maria Aramburuzabala's professional
life resembles that of the late Katharine Graham, publisher of The
Washington Post. Like Graham, when Aramburuzabala's father died, nobody
thought she could run the family beer and brewing company, Grupo Modelo. After all she is a woman in Mexico, where, as in this
case, companies get passed on to sons-in-law if there is no male heir. But
Aramburuzabala is anything but a wallflower. She told the Wall Street
Journal in October, "It's important to me not to feel like a useless woman
who inherited money." She's been anything but useless. After being on the job
only a short time, she turned around Modelo's failing yeast company and made
it profitable. In 2000 she made a move into television, outmaneuvering a rival
for control of Grupo Televisa. She inherited a successful company--Corona beer
has 60% share in Mexico and is the best-selling Mexican beer stateside--from
her father but she's expanding into new areas. Now she's using her sizable
fortune to bring Latin America up to speed technologically, investing in data
centers and building high-speed networks in Mexico City. She meets with
American tech executives and pours money into companies doing business
benefiting Latin America. #3. Miuccia Prada inherited her
grandfather Mario's luxury goods business in 1978, but remember that, at the
time, the business consisted of just one store in Milan. And the store didn't
sell ultra-trendy clothing or shoes--as it does today--but luggage. Within
five years of taking over, Prada designed and started selling a line of shoes,
and five years after that she launched a line of clothing. With the help of
her famously hard-charging husband, Chief Executive Patrizio Bertelli,
sales at Prada exploded from $50 million in 1990 to $1.5 billion in 2000.
Prada isn't finished expanding. In December 2001, after three years and many
millions of dollars, the company opened an enormous state-of-the-art retail
store on a coveted corner in Manhattan's Soho neighborhood. But that's part of
the problem. Retail expansion and acquisitions have resulted in an
uncomfortable debt load of more than $500 million. The company had planned to
sell its shares to the public last year, which would have eliminated debt and
funded further expansion. But the economy and aftereffects of Sept. 11 have
shelved the IPO plan indefinitely. Bertelli has reportedly acknowledged the
need to restructure Prada's debt but insists they can do it without taking on
an outside partner. That's Prada. Keeping it in the family.