In a world where wealth lists are dominated by the male sex, it stands out Francoise Bettencourt Meyersheir to L'Oreal Paris and actually the richest woman in the world according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Granddaughter of Eugene Schuellerfounder of the cosmetic products empire, and only daughter of Liliane Bettencourtheir to L'Oreal, and André Bettencourtminister during the presidency of Charles de Gaulle, Françoise was born on July 10, 1953 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France.
Despite having a childhood away from her mother because she had to be away for a while to treat the effects of tuberculosis, which even left a mark on her hearing, Bettencourt Meyers remembers with joy that stage and the experiences linked to it, such as travels around the world with his parents.
Her academic training took place at the nuns' school, Marymount de Neuilly-sur-Seine, which she attended surrounded by bodyguards due to her parents' concerns that she would be kidnapped. This even motivated them to remove her from the institution to implement the home education scheme. This was probably one of the factors that influenced her introspective and shy personality that characterizes her to this day.
As the years went by and motivated by her taste for music and literature, the successful businesswoman later entered the Academy of Fine Arts to deepen her knowledge of literature.
A life away from luxuries
Despite being one of the most powerful women in the world, Francoise Bettencourt Meyers enjoys anonymity and does not boast an ostentatious life. In fact, she currently lives in a two-story building located in the Saint James neighborhood, which is his “intellectual sanctuary.”
In her relatively discreet home, the heiress to the L'Oreal makeup empire, spends hours playing the piano, and according to many, she is an expert. She also dedicates her free time to Bible studies or reading about Greek mythology, two of the topics that she is most passionate about.
This simple lifestyle away from the limelight is far from what characterized her mother: a socialite passionate about fashion, social gatherings, opulence, and who even bought an island in the Seychelles. These differences created certain friction to the extent that, according to Tom Sancton, author of the book The Bettencourt AffairLilian came to define her daughter as “too cold” and “a little heavy.”
Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, a multimillion-dollar fortune
Not only did the differences in temperaments wear down the mother-daughter relationship, the preservation of the family assets unleashed a legal dispute that kept them apart, the culprit: François-Marie Banier. The acclaimed celebrity photographer who was accused, and later convicted, of taking advantage of Lilian, who was then in her 80s; It is estimated that he obtained more than one billion euros from it.
After this event and after in 2011 a court declared that the daughter of the founder of L'Oreal suffered from some type of dementia, Francoise Bettencourt Meyers became in charge of controlling her mother's fortune and income, which became entirely hers after her death at the age of 94 in September 2017.
Francoise, who currently leads the rankings of rich and successful women, inherited at that time a fortune that was estimated to be around $40,000 million dollars and that in December 2023 grew to exceed $100,200 million dollars, making her the first woman to reach that milestone of being a “billionaire.”
What does the richest woman in the world do?
At 70 years old, Bettencourt Meyers is the current vice president of the board of directors of what is considered the sixth most valuable company in Europe by market capitalization, and together with her family, they are the main shareholders of L'Oreal Paris, owning a stake close to 35%.
The businesswoman, who leads the list of the richest women in the world, is also the head of the Bettencourt Schueller Foundationwhich he founded with his parents in 1987, which supports science and art, as well as the Ile-de-France Cochlear Implantation Institute (Ific) and its efforts to develop innovative surgery to treat deafness.
Her philanthropic work benefited the Notre-Dame Cathedral, since after the 2017 fire, she and L'Oreal committed to donating $100 million euros for the restoration of this emblematic piece of architecture.
The Frenchwoman, aware of her position, knows that she is an object of inspiration for millions of female entrepreneurs and businesswomen and, therefore, is a fervent believer and defender of gender equality, especially in the business world.
In addition, famous for her pen, the author also has some publications to her credit, such as a book on the Greek gods, as well as five volumes in which she analyzed the links between Judaism and Christianity, the latter made her the winner of the Les Lauriers Verts in 2009.
The future heirs of Francoise Bettencourt Meyers
Her connection with Judaism came after meeting and later marrying Jean-Pierre Meyers, with whom she had two children: Jean-Victor (1986) and Nicolas (1988).
Jean-Victor, with a master's degree in business, and Nicolas, who studied communication, are part of the board of directors of L'Oreal and aim to follow in their mother's footsteps and maintain the family legacy of more than 115 years since the founding of the company. company in 1909.
This is how Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, the richest woman in the world, has become a reference and source of inspiration for all those who want to make their way in a world traditionally dominated by men such as business, but fortunately, women are Day they are gaining more ground thanks to stories like that of the successful French businesswoman.
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