Françoise Bettencourt Meyers. That’s her name. She’s the wealthiest woman in the world with a net worth of US$ 69.1 billion.
Francoise was born on the 10th of July 1953, in France. She is the only daughter of the multi-billionaire Liliane Bettencourt and French Politician Andre Bettencourt. Her grandfather was the founder of the world-renowned cosmetic brand L’Oréal, which she created through the formulation of a hair dye solution she came up with in the year 1907. She sold her hair dye to Parisian hairdressers and later registered L’ORÉAL as a proper brand when sales took off.
Francoise, being the only daughter of Liliane Bettencourt , the multi-billionaire majority shareholder of the world’s biggest cosmetic company L’Oréal, inherited her mother’s wealth after her death on the 21st of September 2017. At the time, Francoise’s mother had a net worth of US$44.3 billion and was the 14th richest person in the world. After inheriting her mother’s wealth, she became the wealthiest woman in the world, and secured her position in the top 20 richest people in the world.
Francoise also serves as the president of her family business foundation, Bettencourt Schueller Foundation, which has over USD 700 million in assets. Even though she is better known as the heiress of the world’s largest cosmetic company, Bettencourt Meyers also has an active academic career. A prominent author, she has written books on Jewish- Christian relations as well as on Greek mythology.
Francoise is a strict Catholic having been raised in religious confines. This is why she published books on religious and theological subjects. In addition to being the heiress of L’Oréal and an author, she is also a philanthropist, putting good use of her wealth. She pledged $226 million to the repair and refurbishment of the Notre Dame De Paris cathedral which was severely damaged by fires in recent times.
