The heiress to the L'Oréal empire is the richest woman in the world
Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, heiress to the L'Oréal beauty empire, is 70 years old with a fortune of more than $100 billion.
Bettencourt Meyers's assets have surpassed the $100 billion mark thanks to a surge in L'Oréal SA shares , reaching a record high on Thursday, December 28, 2023, officially making her net worth reach 1 billion USD. L'Oréal shares closed 0.6% higher at 451.30 euros and have risen 35% year to date.
The 70-year-old woman and her family hold about 35% of L'Oréal shares, making them the largest shareholders in the company founded by her grandfather in 1909.
Bettencourt Meyers, the richest woman in the world, inherited tens of billions of dollars as well as assets such as mansions when her mother, Liliane Bettencourt, passed away in 2017. Both of them were embroiled in family conflicts when a dispute over her inheritance broke out.
Known to be a recluse, Bettencourt Meyers spends her days at home reading or playing the piano, Vanity Fair reported in 2017. She is also an avid writer and the author of two books: one is A five-volume study on the Bible and one volume on the genealogy of the Greek gods.
Following her, it is known that the second richest woman in the world today is Alice Walton , the American heiress of another retail empire: Walmart. Walton's assets are currently worth $70 billion.
Although Bettencourt Meyers' fortune has reached the $100 billion milestone, making her the 12th richest person in the world, her fortune is still far behind that of French retail tycoon Bernard Arnault.
Arnault, founder of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, is currently the second richest person in the world, closely following Elon Musk with a net worth of $179 billion.
