Francoise Bettencourt Meyers
Francoise Bettencourt Meyers is a French author and the the only child born to L’Oreal cosmetics heiress, Liliane Bettencourt, and French conservative politician, Andre Bettencourt.
She survives her mother who is said to have died age 94 at her home in Neuilly, a suburb west of Paris on Wednesday. Her father, died in 2007. Her parents had been married since 1950.
Her mother, who was a socialite and businesswoman was often dubbed the richest woman in the world –a title that now belong to her.
Born Liliane Henriette Charlotte Bettencourt on October 21, 1922 –she was the only child of L’Oreal SA founder Eugene Schueller. Liliane owned about one-third of the company’s shares. During her lifetime, the Paris-based company grew from a small hair-dye supplier into the largest maker of beauty products with more than 30 brands including Lancome and Garnier sold in about 140 countries.
Bettencourt’s net worth was $42.5 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Sadly she spent her final years feuding in legal battles with her only child, Françoise Bettencourt-Meyers.
Françoise Bettencourt was born July 10, 1953. She is under French law the heiress of Liliane Bettencourt. Francoise, now 64, grew-up to become an author of Bible commentaries. She wrote books on Greek mythology and Jewish-Christian relations.
She married a Jewish, Jean-Pierre Meyers –with whom she has two children, Jean-Victor Meyers and Nicolas Meyers.
She also holds several positions in the family business. Francoise Bettencourt Meyers has been the Chairwoman of the family-owned holding company Téthys since January 31st, 2012 and is the Chairwoman of the Bettencourt Schueller Foundation. Françoise Bettencourt Meyers has been a Director of L’Oréal since 1997 and a member of the Strategy and Sustainable Development Committee since 2012.
She is on the Board of Directors at L’Oréal SA and L’Oréal USA, Inc. Ms. Bettencourt-Meyers was previously employed as Chairman by Clymene SAS. She also served on the board at L’Oreal (UK) Ltd.
It was in 2007, that Mrs. Bettencourt-Meyers, sued photographer, François-Marie Banier, saying he exploited her mother’s frailty. Through the years, it is said Liliane Bettencourt showered Banier in gifts worth over one billion euros. That set off an incendiary five-year battle in which Mrs. Bettencourt unleashed counterattacks to keep her daughter from “obsessively” meddling in her life, and at one point threatened to disinherit her.
At the end, Mr. Banier was indicted on charges he abused Mrs. Bettencourt’s weakness and Francoise Bettencourt Meyers was made her mother’s legal guardian.
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