Liliane Bettencourt (born 21 October 1922(1922-10-21) in Paris, France) is a French heiress, socialite, and businesswoman. She is the principal shareholder of L'Oréal and the wealthiest woman in Europe. She is the second richest person in France, behind Bernard Arnault whose wealth is estimated at US$16.5 billion, and she ranks 21st in wealthiest people in the world. Forbes magazine estimated her wealth in 2009 at US$13.4 billion.^[1]

Bettencourt was the only child of Eugène Schueller, the founder of L'Oréal, one of the world's leading cosmetics and beauty companies. In 1927, her mother died when Liliane was 5 years old.

In 1950, she married French politician André Bettencourt and lived in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France together until Andre's death in November 2007. They had one daughter, Françoise, who married Jean-Pierre Meyers, the grandson of a rabbi who died in an Auschwitz concentration camp. Françoise Bettencourt Meyers is a member of L'Oréal's board of directors.

In 1957, Bettencourt inherited the L'Oréal fortune from her father. She is the principal shareholder of L'Oréal. The company ownership breakdown: 27.5% by Liliane Bettencourt, 26.4% by Nestlé, the remaining 46.1% are publicly traded.

She created the Bettencourt Schueller Foundation, which awards the "Liliane Bettencourt Prize for Life Sciences" to a European researcher under the age of forty-five.

Bettencourt claims to have lost money in Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme. She is known to have invested a part of her fortune with Madoff through hedge fund adviser and investor René-Thierry Magon de la Villehuchet.^[2]

[edit] See also

• French Rich List

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official website of L'Oréal
• Forbes article on L'Oréal
• Forbes article on Liliane Bettencourt