Prominent philanthropist and businesswoman Phoebe Hearst Cooke has an estimated net worth of $1.9 billion as of September 2012 according to Forbes. Most of her fortune was derived from Hearst Corp.

Phoebe Millicent Hearst Cooke was born on July 13, 1927. At age 85, she died on November 18, 2012 . She was married to the now deceased Amory "Jack" Cooke. She has a daughter named Phoebe "Misty" Tovrea Lipari.

From 1962 through 1998, Phoebe Cook sits on the board of directors of the Hearst Corporation while her twin brother, George Randolph Hearst, Jr., served as the Chairman. He died in June 2012.

Today, the Hearst Corp. media empire is comprised of magazines, TV stations, radio stations and newspapers. The empire also holds stakes in A&E, Lifetime and ESPN networks. Today, 20% of the stakes in Hearst Media Corp. is estimated to cost around $18 billion.