In Photos: The World's Most Powerful Female Entrepreneurs

The 16 Most Powerful Female Enrepreneurs
NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 24: Spanx inventor Sara Blakely attends the TIME 100 Gala celebrating TIME'S 100 Most Influential People In The World at Jazz at Lincoln Center on April 24, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Fernando Leon/Getty Images for TIME)
NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 24: Spanx inventor Sara Blakely attends the TIME 100 Gala celebrating TIME'S 100 Most Influential People In The World at Jazz at Lincoln Center on April 24, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Fernando Leon/Getty Images for TIME)

Sara Blakely, Founder SPANX

At 29 Blakely invested her entire life savings, $5,000, trying to come up with something flattering to wear under her white slacks. Six months later the one-time Disney World ride greeter and door-to-door fax machine salesperson found her new line of shaping underwear named one of Oprah Winfrey's Favorite Things. Since then Blakely has taken Spanx from a one-product wonder sold out of her Atlanta apartment to a powerhouse with $250 million in annual revenues and net profit margins estimated at 20%.

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