Françoise Bettencourt Meyers

Françoise Bettencourt Meyers
Born	Françoise Bettencourt 10 7, 1953
Birthplace	Neuilly-sur-Seine, France
Nationality	French
Occupation	Businesswoman, author, philanthropist
Title	Vice Chairman of L'Oréal (until 2025)
Known for	Heiress to the L'Oréal fortune; author of works on Jewish-Christian relations and biblical commentary
Spouse(s)	Jean-Pierre Meyers
Children	2

Françoise Bettencourt Meyers (Template:IPA-fr; born 10 July 1953) is a French businesswoman, author, and philanthropist who holds one of the largest personal fortunes in the world as the sole heiress to the L'Oréal cosmetics empire. The only child of Liliane Bettencourt and André Bettencourt, and the granddaughter of L'Oréal founder Eugène Schueller, she has played a central role in the governance of the family's holdings for nearly three decades. Beyond the corporate sphere, Bettencourt Meyers is a published author whose writings have explored the relationship between Judaism and Christianity, as well as extensive commentary on the Hebrew Bible. Her wealth, derived principally from the family's controlling stake in L'Oréal managed through the holding company Téthys Invest, has placed her among the wealthiest individuals on the planet. As of September 2025, her fortune was estimated at approximately US$98 billion, making her one of the richest women in the world. In April 2025, she retired from L'Oréal's board of directors after 28 years of service, passing her seat and the vice chairmanship to her son Jean-Victor Meyers.

Early Life

Françoise Bettencourt was born on 10 July 1953 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, an affluent commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. She was the only child of Liliane Bettencourt, who would become one of the richest women in the world, and André Bettencourt, a French politician who served in several ministerial positions in the French government. Her maternal grandfather was Eugène Schueller, a chemist who founded L'Oréal in 1909, building it into one of the world's largest cosmetics and beauty companies.

Growing up as the sole heir to one of France's most prominent industrial dynasties, Françoise's childhood was shaped by the extraordinary wealth and public visibility of her family. Her father André Bettencourt had a career in French politics, serving as a senator and government minister, which placed the family at the intersection of French business and political life. Her mother Liliane inherited the L'Oréal fortune upon Eugène Schueller's death in 1957, when Françoise was just four years old, making Liliane the principal shareholder of the cosmetics giant.

The family's prominence in French society meant that Françoise was raised in an environment of considerable privilege but also of public scrutiny. The Bettencourt family's connection to L'Oréal — and, by extension, the complex history of the company's founder during the Second World War era — formed part of the broader backdrop to her upbringing. Eugène Schueller's wartime activities and political associations were subjects of historical debate in France for decades.

Despite the enormous wealth surrounding her, Françoise developed intellectual and literary interests that would later manifest in her career as an author and scholar. She pursued studies that reflected a deep engagement with theology and interfaith dialogue, subjects that became central to her published works in adulthood.

Career

Literary and Scholarly Work

Bettencourt Meyers distinguished herself from the typical profile of an industrial heiress through her commitment to scholarly writing. She is the author of several books, with a particular focus on the relationship between Judaism and Christianity and on biblical studies. Her published works include extensive multi-volume commentaries on books of the Hebrew Bible, reflecting years of research and engagement with religious texts. Her bibliographic records are held by major national libraries, including the Bibliothèque nationale de France and the Library of Congress.

Her interest in Jewish-Christian relations was not merely academic but also deeply personal, stemming from her marriage to Jean-Pierre Meyers, who is of Jewish heritage. The interfaith dimension of her family life appears to have been a motivating factor in her scholarly exploration of the theological and historical connections between the two Abrahamic faiths. Her writings have been catalogued in multiple international bibliographic databases, attesting to their place in the broader literature on interfaith studies.

Role at L'Oréal

Françoise Bettencourt Meyers served on the board of directors of L'Oréal for 28 years, holding the position of vice chairman of the board. In this capacity, she represented the interests of the Bettencourt family, which maintains a controlling stake in the company through its holding entity, Téthys Invest. The family's shareholding has been a defining feature of L'Oréal's corporate governance, ensuring that the founding family retains significant influence over the direction of the company.

Her tenure on the board coincided with a period of significant growth for L'Oréal, which expanded its global footprint and consolidated its position as the world's largest cosmetics company. While the day-to-day management of the company has been led by professional executives, the Bettencourt family's presence on the board through Françoise ensured continuity of the founding family's involvement in strategic decisions.

On 29 April 2025, Bettencourt Meyers retired from L'Oréal's board of directors, ending her 28-year tenure. The move was described as a generational transition, with her seat transferred to Téthys, the family's holding company. Her son Jean-Victor Meyers assumed the role of vice chairman, ensuring that the Bettencourt-Meyers family's representation on the board continued into the next generation.

Téthys Invest and Family Holdings

The Bettencourt Meyers family's wealth is managed and administered through Téthys Invest, the family's holding company, which controls the family's stake in L'Oréal. Téthys Invest serves as the vehicle through which the family exercises its shareholder rights and manages its diversified investment portfolio. The holding company structure has allowed the family to maintain its controlling position in L'Oréal while also making investments in other sectors.

Following the death of Liliane Bettencourt in September 2017, Françoise became the sole inheritor of the Bettencourt fortune, including the family's substantial stake in L'Oréal. This inheritance consolidated the family's L'Oréal holdings under her control and, through the subsequent appreciation of L'Oréal's share price on the stock exchange, led to a dramatic increase in her estimated net worth. According to multiple wealth tracking sources, her fortune roughly tripled in the years following her mother's death, driven largely by the strong performance of L'Oréal stock.

The Bettencourt Affair

The Bettencourt family was at the center of one of France's most prominent legal and political scandals, known as the Bettencourt affair, which unfolded beginning in the late 2000s. The dispute centered on the relationship between Liliane Bettencourt and the photographer and socialite François-Marie Banier, to whom Liliane had reportedly given gifts and assets worth hundreds of millions of euros. Françoise initiated legal action against Banier, alleging that he had taken advantage of her mother's vulnerability to extract lavish gifts, including cash, artwork, insurance policies, and other valuables.

The legal battle between Françoise and Banier became a cause célèbre in France, drawing in political figures and exposing the inner workings of one of the country's wealthiest families to intense media scrutiny. The case raised questions about the mental competency of Liliane Bettencourt and the propriety of Banier's relationship with the elderly heiress. Reports indicated that Banier eventually agreed to return a portion of the gifts he had received from Liliane.

The affair had broader political ramifications in France, as allegations emerged concerning political donations and financial improprieties linked to figures in the French government. The scandal persisted for several years and became one of the most closely followed legal sagas in modern French history. It also strained the relationship between Françoise and her mother for a period, though the two were eventually reconciled. In 2011, Liliane Bettencourt was placed under the legal guardianship of her family, with Françoise and her grandsons assuming responsibility for managing Liliane's affairs.

The resolution of the Bettencourt affair ultimately reinforced Françoise's position as the custodian of the family's fortune and the principal representative of the Bettencourt interests in L'Oréal. The legal proceedings, while painful for the family, served to protect the Bettencourt patrimony and ensure its orderly transfer to the next generation.

Personal Life

Françoise Bettencourt married Jean-Pierre Meyers, a businessman and the grandson of a rabbi. The couple's interfaith marriage — Françoise was raised Catholic and Jean-Pierre is of Jewish heritage — had a significant influence on Françoise's intellectual life and contributed to her interest in studying the relationship between Judaism and Christianity. Together, they have two sons, Jean-Victor Meyers and Nicolas Meyers.

Jean-Pierre Meyers has been involved in the family's business interests and has served on the board of L'Oréal alongside his wife. Their son Jean-Victor Meyers succeeded Françoise as vice chairman of L'Oréal's board in April 2025, representing the fourth generation of the founding family's involvement in the governance of the company.

The Bettencourt Meyers family is based in France and maintains a notably private lifestyle despite their extraordinary wealth. Unlike many other individuals of comparable fortune, Françoise Bettencourt Meyers has maintained a relatively low public profile, rarely giving interviews or making public appearances. Multiple media reports have noted that despite ranking among the wealthiest people in the world, she is not widely recognized by the general public.

Françoise's mother, Liliane Bettencourt, died on 21 September 2017, at the age of 94. As Liliane's sole heir, Françoise inherited the entirety of the Bettencourt fortune, including the family's controlling stake in L'Oréal.

Wealth

Françoise Bettencourt Meyers is consistently ranked among the wealthiest individuals in the world by major wealth tracking publications. Her fortune is derived almost entirely from the Bettencourt family's stake in L'Oréal, the world's largest cosmetics company, which she manages through the family holding company Téthys Invest.

Following the death of her mother in 2017, the appreciation of L'Oréal's share price led to a substantial increase in Bettencourt Meyers' estimated net worth. By March 2025, her fortune was estimated at approximately US$80 billion. By August 2025, that figure had risen to an estimated US$95 billion, placing her among the top ten wealthiest people in the world. As of September 2025, Business Insider reported that her fortune had reached approximately US$98 billion, making her the sixth-biggest wealth gainer globally that year, driven by the continued surge in L'Oréal's stock price.

Forbes has consistently listed Bettencourt Meyers on its billionaires list, noting her status as one of the richest women in the world. Money magazine has also profiled her as the world's richest woman, highlighting the L'Oréal shareholding as the foundation of her wealth.

The fluctuations in Bettencourt Meyers' estimated net worth closely track the performance of L'Oréal on the Euronext Paris stock exchange. The concentration of her wealth in a single company's shares means that her ranking on global wealth lists can shift significantly with movements in the stock price. This dynamic has been a subject of financial commentary, with analysts noting the unusual degree to which one of the world's largest personal fortunes is tied to a single corporate entity.

Legacy

Françoise Bettencourt Meyers represents the third generation of the Schueller-Bettencourt family's stewardship of L'Oréal, a company that her grandfather founded in 1909 and that has grown into the world's largest beauty and cosmetics conglomerate. Her decision to transfer her board seat to her son Jean-Victor in 2025 marked the beginning of the fourth generation's formal involvement in the company's governance, ensuring continuity of the founding family's influence.

Her scholarly contributions, particularly her writings on Jewish-Christian dialogue and biblical exegesis, represent an unusual dimension for a figure primarily known for inherited industrial wealth. These works have been catalogued by major bibliographic institutions worldwide and constitute a distinct aspect of her public identity apart from her role as a business figure and heiress.

The Bettencourt affair, while a turbulent chapter in the family's history, ultimately underscored Françoise's determination to protect the family patrimony and ensure its responsible management. Her legal battle against François-Marie Banier and her subsequent assumption of guardianship over her mother's affairs demonstrated a willingness to take public and confrontational action in defense of the family's interests, even at the cost of considerable personal and public discomfort.

As the steward of one of the largest concentrated shareholdings in a publicly traded company, Bettencourt Meyers' decisions regarding the family's L'Oréal stake have implications not only for the company's governance but also for the broader French and European corporate landscape. The transition of leadership to the next generation through Jean-Victor Meyers signals a commitment to maintaining the family's long-term involvement in the company founded by Eugène Schueller over a century ago.