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Six Interesting Facts to Know about the L’Oreal Heiress, Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, The Richest Woman in the World!

First, it was Whitney Wolfe Herd who became the world’s youngest self-made female billionaire (founder of the dating app Bumble). Now, Forbes has made the L’Oreal heiress, Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, the richest woman in the world whose net worth stands at a staggering value of $92.9 billion.

She Has Inherited Her Fortune

In 1957, Schueller’s daughter and Françoise’s mother, Liliane Bettencourt went on to inherit the enormous Schueller fortune. Together with her husband, French politician André Bettencourt, the power couple has been able to gain a socialite status in France. After Liliane’s death in September 2017, Françoise took the position of the world’s richest woman. She has been able to hold on to the position since then. Currently, she holds an estimated amount of $5.7 billion in cash. She has recorded a wealth gain of $12 billion since the beginning of 2021. She also controls about 33% of L’Oréal, widely regarded as the world’s biggest cosmetics maker. The French woman also happens to be the chairwoman of the holding firm that holds the family’s stake which came to her after her mother’s death.

She Also Owns Several Other Companies

The French-based cosmetic giant also owns other big names such as Lancome and Garnier brands and enjoyed the revenue of about $32 billion last year. L’Oréal also offers cosmetic products that include lip gloss, mascara, nail polish, foundation, eyeshadow, lipstick, face powder, primer, blusher, and concealer, and other hair, skin, and body care products.

Her Relationship With Her Mother Was Decidedly Rocky

Liliane had said some time back that she does not see her daughter anymore. The mother-daughter relationship started going downhill in 2007 when Françoise slapped a lawsuit against her mother’s friend and celebrity photographer, François-Marie Banier, whom she said was trying to take over a share of the family’s fortune.

The court shenanigans continued and Liliane Bettencourt even declared that Françoise Bettencourt was ‘deranged’ as predators had manipulated her vulnerable mother and stripped her from her fortune.
This went on to be called a Bettencourt Affair and the cases would last till 2015. Barnier was eventually convicted for capitalizing on Liliane’s struggle with dementia and went on to win over the family assets.

Her Work as a Published Author

Francoise owns a 33 percent stake in L’Oreal, yet she prefers to take time into doing something different from the cosmetics industry, that is writing books. She is an academic and the heiress has penned several books including Greek mythology to the Bible.

In 1987, she teamed with her mother to open the Bettencourt Schueller Foundation to support research in the sciences, arts, and humanitarian causes.

She Shies Away from the Spotlight

Her parents were known as great party hosts who were fond of glitzy functions, but Françoise wasn’t too much into it. In fact, she is quite the opposite. Right from her adolescent years, she was more of someone who loved to spent time tinkering on her piano or reading her books.

The author of The Bettencourt Affair, Tom Sancton, stated that she enjoys living inside her cocoon, even appearing uncomfortable in a society full of successful and rich people. She preferred to live in the proximity of her own family. It must have been hard to maintain that kind of seclusion, especially as she is the head of Europe’s fourth-largest fortune. Not only that she also helms the family holding company Tethys, but she also takes care of the family’s 33 percent stake in the cosmetics maker, which amps her net worth, which as per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index stands at $43.3 billion.

She Has Stepped Forward To Restore Notre-Dame Cathedral to Its Formal Glory

We remember well how the Notre Dame de Paris cathedral was badly damaged by a huge fire in 2019. The family has since been funding part of its restoration process. People in Paris and the world all over watched in horror as the famed medieval cathedral fell to the scorched shell and it was disheartening. To aid in its restoration, L’Oreal and the Bettencourt Meyers family went on to lend US$226 million which is heartening to note.

After taking the spot from Alice Walton, L’Oréal heiress – Bettencourt Meyers – has become the richest woman in the world. Although she is a very private person and is quite an enigma, these were some of the unknown facts about the richest woman in the world.

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