L’Oreal heiress and businesswoman Francoise Bettencourt Meyers has become the first woman to be worth $US100 billion ($146 billion).
Bettencourt Meyers, 70, is the richest woman in the world and 12th richest person overall, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
The milestone came as share prices rose for the cosmetics empire she inherited from her mother, Liliane Betthencourt, who died in 2017. At the time of her passing, Liliane was the world’s wealthiest woman
Since news of Bettencourt Meyers’s wealthiest woman status, her net worth has fallen slightly due to the share prices.
Her grandfather, Eugene Schueller, founded L’Oreal in 1909 to manufacture and market a hair dye he’d invented. The family has kept close ties to the company, including a 33 per cent stake in it.
L’Oreal is expected by Consumer Edge to rise another 12 per cent over the next year, with resilience of its products across different global geographies.
Alongside Bettencourt Meyers, the fortunes of many billionaires generally increased significantly during 2023, despite the cost of living crisis affecting countries around the world.
Who is Francoise Bettencourt Meyers?
Bettencourt Meyers is married to Jean-Pierre Meyers, the CEO of Tethys SAS. The pair have two children, Jean-Victor Meyers, 37, and Nicolas Meyers, 35.
Known for being a private person despite her family’s celebrity status, she has written two books– a five volume study of the Bible and a genealogy of the Greek gods. She’s also known for playing piano for hours every day, according to SMH.
When the French cathedral Notre-Dame suffered a fire in 2019, Bettencourt Meyers pledged €200m via L’Oreal and the Bettencourt Schueller foundation.
An only child, it’s been reported Bettencourt Meyers had a tumultuous relationship with her mother before her passing. Liliane was a socialite, married to Andre Bettencourt, a French politician.
In 2007, there was a legal battle that centred on whether the elderly Liliane was fit to manage the family’s wealth.
A large part of the scandal grew from a con man attempting to get a cut of the family’s wealth and a butler who made secret recordings— all of which is explained in the gripping Netflix documentary, The Billionaire, The Butler and the Boyfriend.
A book, The Bettencourt Affair, also details the Bettencourt family’s scandal that dominated French headlines.