Why Are Men Richer Than Women? Oprah Winfrey, a famous talk show host, built her way up from her poor childhood life. She is determined to do the best of her ability to change peoples’ lives and make people think “Oh, I never thought of if in that way before” ("YouTube - Oprah @ Barbara Walters Interview 2010 - Part 1"). You wouldn’t expect a woman influential, rich, and amazing to be ranked the 130th richest person in America according to the Forbes List. Even more surprising, she is the richest self-made woman in America. Unanimously, the men dominate the richest people in America, but what makes these men so successful and wealthy? There’s no simple or cold fact why men are significantly wealthier than women. According to Forbes, Bill Gates is the most prosperous man in America with the biggest net worth of 56 billion dollars, while Oprah Winfrey only made 2.7 billion dollars (The Forbes 400: The Richest People in America). According to Robert Frank on the Wall Street Journal, women represent slightly less than 9% of the world’s 1,125 billionaires, and even more disturbing: Only 10 of them were self-made. They include Oprah, J.K. Rowling and Meg Whitman (Frank, Robert). The richest women in America usually inherited the money and the business. Most of them are lucky to be able to continue and run their family business. The biggest and most well known companies and softwares were developed by men, for example Bill Gates created Microsoft, Warren Buffett created Berkshine Hathaway, Larry Page created Google, and Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook. The majority of these men started their business, which was related to technology. However, studies say that men have a four point higher IQ than women according to the University of Western Ontario psychologist (Clerkin, Ben and Fiona Macrae). Therefore, there could be a technical reason why men are richer than women. It is more of the men’s personalities and morals that cause them to strive and take risks to increase their wealth. According to Forbes, women aren’t predominant because society is geared to view each gender a certain way (The Forbes 400: The Richest People in America). Although society is changing, women are the nurturers and always thought to become nurses, teachers, and house wives. While men are the providers and are always seen as engineers and businessmen. Men feel the responsibility to support the family. Almost all the men on the Forbes 400 richest people in America are married or were married with a couple of children. In reality, the occupations men are attracted and pursue have a higher pay. In the business world, it is all about taking risks and men jump on any opportunity they can reach. Men aren’t afraid of failure and women tend to be more timid. Also, women are intimidated by how they are viewed by society. To work their way up to become the boss or the manager they have to be very tough and demanding and in other words they have to be mean. On the other hand, men can be assertive and not been seen as bossy. If someone takes a big risk, you are usually rewarded with a higher return. In addition, I think that some people are intimidated to cross over the boundaries society has already because they might be seen as too feminine or masculine. There’s not one fact that can support that men make more money than women. However, I discovered that men handle situations differently and are interested in a more money making business than women. Naturally, women are the nurturers and men are the providers of society and certain occupations seem more fitted for each gender. Works Cited Clerkin, Ben and Fiona Macrae. Men Are More Intelligent Than Women, Claims New Study. Mail Online, 2006.