Liliane Bettencourt, owner of L'Oreal - Wealthiest woman in Europe

Liliane Bettencourt is the wealthiest woman in Europe and the second richest lady in the world. She is the main stockholder of L'Oreal and ranks 10th on the Forbes list with a wealth estimated at about USD 40.1 billion.

Apprentice at the age of 15

Liliane Bettencourt was born in Paris in 1922 as the only child of Bertha and Eugene Schuller, the founder of L'Oreal, one of the world's largest cosmetics companies. Since her mother died when Liliane was only five, she grew very close to her father and became his apprentice as early as at the age of 15. Her first job at the company was to mix cosmetics and label shampoo bottles.

Liliane got married in 1950 to Andre Bettencourt, a French politician and minister in the French government. The two of them got a daughter and named her Francoise.

After her father died in 1957, Liliane inherited the company L'Oreal and became its main shareholder. Out of a fear that the company might be nationalized after French elections in 1974, she exchanged nearly a half of her stake in L'Oreal for 3% in Nestle.

On the last day of 2012, Bettencourt held a 30.5 percent stake in L'Oreal, while 29.78% were in the possession of Nestle. Shortly afterwards, Liliane Bettencourt ended her engagement in L'Oreal and appointed her grandson Jean Victor as her heir.

Media publicity caused by political scandal and family clashes

Since 2007, Liliane Bettencourt has constantly been exposed to media publicity due to family clashes with the daughter, close relationship with artist Francois Marie Banier, and alleged funding of conservative French politicians, including the former French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

One month after her father died, Liliane's daughter Francoise pressed criminal charges against Banier, accusing him of taking advantage of her mother as she bought him gifts valued at EUR 1.3 billion. The investigation that followed shed light on many details from other spheres of Liliane's life as well. Namely, her butler was recording her for months, suspecting that Liliane was ill with Alzheimer's, so he presented the court with tapes that allegedly proved Liliane was planning to leave her entire wealth to Banier.

However, in 2010, mother and daughter made peace, even if only for a short time, thus putting an end to a series of accusations.
Due to Liliane's deteriorating mental health, Francoise asked the court to name her the patron of her mother who was no longer able to manage her wealth and possessions. Although Liliane was against it, the court accepted Francoise's request and made her and her sons responsible for Liliane.

Liliane was also in the headlines because of political affair that came to light after some recordings leaked. It was speculated that Liliane had secretly financed Nicolas Sarkozy's election campaign with EUR 150,000, which he denied.

Tapes also caused her a problem with tax authorities because they allegedly revealed that Bettencourt was avoiding taxes by keeping a substantial amount of money unregistered on Swiss bank accounts.

In 2014, Liliane proved she was not only a rich heir but also a successful business woman by increasing her wealth thanks to an agreement with Nestle to acquire 8% of shares and, thus, increase her stake in L'Oreal to 33%.

Liliane sticks out among other billionaires around the world for her discipline and strenuous work. Even in her 90s, she is very active - waking up at 4 AM, taking long walks, exercising or riding a bike, swimming...

L’Oréal International Francuska

Nestlé S.A.

Liliane Bettencourt

Liliane Bettencourt biography

L Oreal

Loreal

Nestle

Eugene Schuller

Andre Bettencourt

Jean Victor Bettencourt

Francois Marie Banier

Nicolas Sarkozy

Francoise Mayers