You need money to amass a fortune. There is no better example than that of the French billionaire Francoise Bettencourt Meyers.
At the end of December, crossed the threshold of $100 billion dollarsbecoming the first woman to amass that much money, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
In 2023, it added $28.6 billion to the billions it already had.
Although her fortune fell to $96.2 billion on January 4, 2024, Bettencourt Meyers remains the richest woman in the world and the 13th richest person overall, according to Bloomberg calculations. Forbes, which also compiles a list of billionaires, places her in 15th place. Regardless of how you count it, she is one of the few women to appear on both lists.
How did Bettencourt become so rich?
Francoise Bettencourt Meyers is the granddaughter of the founder of the cosmetics company L’OrealEugene Schueller.
His mother, Liliane Bettencourt, was the richest woman in the world until her death, at the age of 94, in 2017. He left his only daughter a fortune of $40,000 million dollarscorresponding mainly to shares in the company, of which it now owns 34.7 percent.
She is vice president of the Board of Directors of L’Oréal, composed of 16 members. His two children are also part of the council. Bettencourt Meyers has received huge cash dividends from the company over the years, but L’Oréal shares themselves are the most valuable thing he owns.
An empire dedicated to beauty
Founded in 1909, the French consortium L’Oreal is currently the largest cosmetics manufacturer in the world and owns brands such as Lancome, Kiehl’s, Maybelline and Garnier. It has more than 85,000 employees worldwide. In 2022, it reported revenues of more than $38 billion euros.
L’Oreal momentarily hit an all-time high of 460 euros per share on December 19, giving the company a market capitalization of more than $240 billion euros. This is what led Bettencourt Meyers to overcome the $100 billion barrier.
However, he is not the richest person in France. That title belongs to Bernard Arnault, owner of the luxury goods group LVMH, who for a time was even the richest person on the planet. Currently, he owns $179 billion, according to Bloomberg.
The Bettencourt scandal
It was not easy for Francoise Bettencourt Meyers to reach the top.Sometimes it’s not enough to be an heiress. Over the years she has avoided high society, she has written books and has tried hard to stay out of the public eye.
His relationship with his mother was strained. Things came to a head in a public dispute that gave rise to one of France’s biggest scandals.
Beginning in 2007, Bettencourt Meyers accused several people of exploiting her mother’s deteriorating mental health, an accusation that at one point included former French president Nicolas Sarkozy. Both resolved their dispute out of court.
Since her mother’s death, Bettencourt Meyers has taken the reins completely. In recent years, she has seen her inherited $40 billion fortune more than double, thanks to an unprecedented stock boom at L’Oreal.
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