An author has made billions through her career and has surpassed some of the most famous writers to take the top spot as the world’s richest. Elisabeth Badinter has a net worth of £2.2 billion while Harry Potter creator, J.K. Rowling sits at second place with £1.55 billion. Badinter is a famous French philosopher and writer - her feminist works have left their mark on literature.

She has also authored nearly two dozen books and is a professor at Ecole Polytechnique in Paris, where she teaches philosophy. Her book, The Conflict: How Modern Motherhood Undermines the Status of Women, spurred heated debate in 2010 and became a bestseller across Europe.

As a teen, she was deeply influenced by Simone de Beauvoir’s feminist writings.

A self-identifying feminist, she has chosen to fight for women’s rights, not through political and social activism, but rather through writing.

Over a career spanning nearly half a century, she has published widely on gender relations and motherhood.

According to the Financial Times, Badinter commands respect for her academic work and is regularly asked to opine on the big social or political issues of the day.

Comparatively, J.K. Rowling takes second spot - she has earned her income through book sales, screen adaptations, theme park royalties and licensing deals.

Prior to her works being published, Rowling lived an ordinary life.

It was in 1990, while travelling by train from Manchester to London, she began to form the idea for her Harry Potter books while the train was delayed.

She reportedly jotted down ideas on scraps of paper when they came to her.

Today, the Harry Potter franchise has a value of around £32.32 billion.

In third place is James Patterson, with an impressive net worth of £681 million.

The American author is known for his thrillers, mysteries and young adult novels.

His first successful series featured psychologist Alex Cross. Patterson’s first published book, The Thomas Berryman Number, came out in 1976 and won an Edgar Award, a top prize for mystery writers.