At least seven of the business founders on 2021’s Financial Review Rich Women List have rarely or never appeared in the media, leaving it to their male partners to maintain a public profile.

In a symptom of what RMIT economics professor Leonora Risse called “a society still coming to grips with embracing successful females”, there is even one self-made billionaire – 64-year-old TPG Telecom co-founder Vicky Teoh – who has never seen fit to share her story.