Liliane Henriette Charlotte Schueller was born on 21 October 1922, in Paris France, and as Liliane Bettencourt was known as the face of world-renowned cosmetics company L’Oreal. As of 2015, Forbes magazine ranks Liliane as the richest person in France, second richest person in Europe (Amancio Ortega is the richest), and the richest woman in the world, #14 overall. Liliane passed away in 2017.
So just how rich was Liliane Bettencourt? Forbes estimates that Liliane’s net worth was $44 billion, virtually all of her wealth having been accumulated during her long association with L’Oreal, a good deal of which was inherited from her father, Eugene Schueller, who founded the company in 1909. Most of us can only dream of that kind of fortune, but this woman worked really hard to maintain and increase what she inherited.
Liliane Bettencourt Net Worth $44 Billion
Liliane was raised by her father after her mother’s death when she was five, and started working in her fathers company at the age of 15 as a plain apprentice mixing cosmetics and labeling bottles of shampoo, and of course finishing as the principal share holder of the company and the director of the board after her father’s death in 1957.
L’Oreal was not the only company she managed, as Liliane was one of the biggest share holders of the Nestle company as well. This energetic woman had a strict routine all of her life, not only starting her day at 4 o’clock in the morning, but she engaged in regular sports activities, and even well into her 90s, went for long walks every day.
Although you could have called Liliane Bettencourt the most successful business woman in the world, this was not her only personality asset, as she was a generous philanthropist as well. In 1987 she, her husband and daughter founded the Bettencourt Schueller Foundation, witch held a fortune of about 150 million Euros and had an annual budget of 15 million. This foundation still funds a lot of medical, cultural, social and humanitarian projects, giving scholarships and awards to young scientists, and supporting cultural reconstructions.
Liliane Bettencourt had quite an eccentric private life. She was accused more than once of tax fraud, and of allegedly funding conservative (some would say fascist) French politicians, including her husband, plus drawing a lot of public attention through ongoing lawsuits between the billionaire and her daughter. Liliane had only one husband, the politician Andre Bettencourt, but he was known not only for his subsequent political life in French governments of the 60s and 70s, but for being a member of a group that supported the Nazis in World War II.
In 2007 she faced increasing media attention because of her friendship with artist and writer Francois-Marie Banier, who received expensive gifts from Liliane such as paintings, photographs, life insurance policies as well as money, apparently worth more than $1 billion. This generosity didn’t make Liliane’s only daughter Françoise Bettencourt-Meyers too happy, so she started a long legal war with Francois for the abuse of her allegedly psychologically unstable mother.
The most recent news scandal was between Liliane and her daughter, who together with her two brothers secured custody of Liliane Bettencourt’s whole fortune in 2011 after a three year legal battle, alleging that Liliane had become incompetent because of the onset of Alzheimer’s disease. The following year the famous billionaire was forced to resign her directors seat on L’Oréal’s board as well: Jean-Victor Meyers – her grandson, took her place.
Liliane Bettencourt passed away at the age of 94 on 21 September 2017, at her home in Paris, France; she is survived by her daughter, Francoise.
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