:Liliane Bettencourt

She was born Liliane Henriette Charlotte Schueller on 21 October 1922 in Paris, the only child of Louise Madeleine Berthe (née Doncieux) and Eugène Schueller, the founder of L'Oréal, one of the world's largest cosmetics and beauty companies.{{cite news |last1=Betts |first1=Paul |title=Liliane Bettencourt, L'Oréal heiress, 1922-2017 |url=https://www.ft.com/content/174f7c20-2cf6-11e2-beb2-00144feabdc0 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221211/https://www.ft.com/content/174f7c20-2cf6-11e2-beb2-00144feabdc0 |archive-date=11 December 2022 |url-access=subscription |access-date=27 August 2018 |work=Financial Times |date=21 September 2017}} When Liliane was five years old, her mother died, and she formed a close bond with her father, who later married Liliane's British governess.[http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23721648-the-bitter-family-battle-for-the-loral-billion.do The bitter family battle for the L'Oréal billion] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110208190857/http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23721648-the-bitter-family-battle-for-the-loral-billion.do |date=8 February 2011 }}, Evening Standard (London), 20 July 2009. Retrieved 27 June 2010. At the age of 15, she joined her father's company as an apprentice, mixing cosmetics and labelling bottles of shampoo.[https://web.archive.org/web/20160304053536/http://in.reuters.com/article/idINIndia-49948920100707 Factbox – L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt], Reuters, 7 July 2010. Retrieved 7 July 2010.[https://montrealgazette.com/business/Oreal+marks+100th+birthday/1666772/story.html L'Oreal marks 100th birthday]{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, Montreal Gazette. Retrieved 8 July 2010.

In 1950, she married French politician André Bettencourt, who served as a cabinet minister in French governments of the 1960s and 1970s and rose to become deputy chairman of L'Oréal. Mr. Bettencourt had been a member of La Cagoule, a violent French fascist pro-Nazi group that Liliane's father, a Nazi sympathizer, had funded and supported in the 1930s and whose members were arrested in 1937. After the war, her husband, like other members of La Cagoule, was given refuge at L'Oréal despite his politically inconvenient past.[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1570119/Andre-Bettencourt.html Obituary: André Bettencourt], The Daily Telegraph, 22 November 2007; retrieved 7 July 2010. Eventually, the Bettencourts settled in a mansion built in 1951 and furnished in the Art Deco style on rue de Delabordère in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France.[http://emilyevanseerdmans.blogspot.com/2009/09/villa-bettencourt-less-is-more-when-its.html Villa Bettencourt: Less is More when it's only the Best], Emily Evans Eerdmans blog. Retrieved 8 July 2010. They had one daughter, Françoise, who was born in 1953.{{cite web|first=Robert D.|last=McFadden |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/21/world/europe/liliane-bettencourt-dead-loreal.html?mcubz=3 |title=Liliane Bettencourt, L'Oréal Heiress Vexed by Swindling Case, Is Dead at 94 |work=The New York Times |date=21 September 2017 |access-date=21 September 2017}}

In 1957, Bettencourt inherited the L'Oréal fortune when her father died, becoming the principal shareholder. In 1963, the company went public, although Bettencourt continued to own a majority stake. In 1974, in fear that the company would be nationalised after the French elections, she exchanged almost half of her stake for a three percent (3%) stake in Nestlé

S.A.[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/2932582/History-of-LOreal.html History of L'Oréal], The Daily Telegraph, 20 February 2006; retrieved 29 June 2010.

As of December 2012, Bettencourt owned 185,661,879 (30.5%) of the outstanding shares of L'Oréal, of which 76,441,389 (12.56%) shares were effectively held in trust (for her daughter). The remainder were owned as follows: 178,381,021 (29.78%) shares owned by Nestlé, 229,933,941 (37.76%) shares were publicly held, and the remainder were held as treasury stock or in the company savings plan. The Bettencourt family and Nestlé acted in concert pursuant to a shareholders' agreement.[http://www.loreal-finance.com/_docs/pdf/rapport-annuel/2012/LOREAL_Document-de-Reference-2012_GB.pdf 2012 L'Oréal Registration Document, p. 225, 34 & 41]. Retrieved 19 August 2013. Bettencourt ended her board director tenure on 13 February 2012 and her grandson, Jean-Victor, was appointed as board director.{{cite web|url=http://www.loreal-finance.com/eng/news-release/board-of-directors-798.htm|title=L'Oréal Finance : Board of Directors|website=www.loreal-finance.com|access-date=21 September 2017}} Bettencourt's daughter and her daughter's husband (Jean-Pierre Meyers) are also members of the board of directors.[http://www.loreal-finance.com/_docs/pdf/rapport-annuel/2012/LOREAL_Document-de-Reference-2012_GB.pdf 2012 L'Oréal Registration Document, p. 34 & 41]. Retrieved 19 August 2013.

Bettencourt generally shunned media attention and granted few interviews. From 2007, she faced intense media scrutiny and publicity over her relationship with François-Marie Banier, the estrangement with her daughter Françoise and her alleged funding of conservative French politicians, including former French president Nicolas Sarkozy.[http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e2de1416-809e-11df-be5a-00144feabdc0.html France: Because she's worth it], Financial Times, 25 June 2010; retrieved 25 June 2010. In August 2012, she sold her private island, D'Arros Island, to a Seychelles-registered conservation business linked to the Swiss Save our Seas Foundation, for £60 million.{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/seychelles/9443326/LOreal-heiress-Liliane-Bettencourt-sells-island-paradise-for-60m.html |title=L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt sells island paradise for £-60m|work=The Daily Telegraph|location=London, UK|issn=0307-1235|oclc=49632006|access-date=13 September 2012}}

Bettencourt died on 21 September 2017.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-41355179|title=L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt dies at 94|work=BBC.com|date=21 September 2017|access-date=21 September 2017}} The funeral service was held at Église Saint-Pierre in Neuilly-sur-Seine.{{Cite web |last=Wynne |first=Jennifer Weil, Alex |last2=Weil |first2=Jennifer |last3=Wynne |first3=Alex |date=2017-09-26 |title=Liliane Bettencourt Is Laid to Rest |url=https://wwd.com/beauty-industry-news/beauty-features/liliane-bettencourt-is-laid-to-rest-11006349/ |access-date=2024-04-01 |website=WWD |language=en-US}}

In 1987, Bettencourt, together with her husband and daughter, founded the Bettencourt Schueller Foundation (la Fondation Bettencourt Schueller) to support and develop medical, cultural and humanitarian projects. The foundation is based in Neuilly-sur-Seine. The foundation, which benefits from assets of €150 million and an annual budget of approx €15 million[http://www.fondationbs.org/D_actualite/pdf/Plaquette-FBS-anglais-190509.pdf Foundation Bettencourt Schueller] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140801144342/http://fondationbs.org/D_actualite/pdf/Plaquette-FBS-anglais-190509.pdf |date= 1 August 2014 }} devotes approximately 55% of its funds to scientific education and research, 33% to humanitarian and social projects and 12% to culture and arts.[http://www.fondationbs.org/ Official website of the Bettencourt Schueller Foundation]. Retrieved 27 June 2010.

In 2008, the foundation helped fund the new Monet wing at the Musée Marmottan Monet.[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/features/3778390/Because-hes-worth-it.html Because he's worth it?], The Daily Telegraph, 15 December 2008. Retrieved 30 June 2010. Conversely, in 2007 Bettencourt was jointly "awarded" a Black Planet Award, an award given for destroying the planet, along with Peter Brabeck-Letmathe for proliferating contaminated baby food, monopolising water resources, and tolerating child labour.{{cite web|url=http://www.ibfan.org/newsletters-world-europe-nestle_award.html |title=Nestle wins the Black Planet Award 2007 |date=16 October 2007 |website=International Baby Food Action Network |access-date=31 May 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110523185428/http://www.ibfan.org/newsletters-world-europe-nestle_award.html |archive-date=23 May 2011 }}

Bettencourt had an art collection that was said to include Matisse, Picasso, Fernand Léger, Derain, Soutine, Mondrian and Ruhlmann furniture.{{Cite web|date=2017-09-21|title=Liliane Bettencourt's Art Collection May Rival YSL's|url=https://www.artmarketmonitor.com/2017/09/21/liliane-bettencourts-art-collection-may-rival-ysls/|access-date=2022-01-20|website=Art Market Monitor|language=en-US|quote=Previous reports have described her owning masterworks by Matisse, Picasso, Fernand Léger and Ruhlmann furniture.}}{{Cite news|last=McFadden|first=Robert D.|date=2017-09-21|title=Liliane Bettencourt, L'Oréal Heiress Vexed by Swindling Case, Is Dead at 94|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/21/world/europe/liliane-bettencourt-dead-loreal.html|access-date=2022-01-20|issn=0362-4331|quote=Her principal home, an Art Moderne mansion behind cream walls and towering pines in Neuilly-sur-Seine, was filled with antique treasures and paintings by Monet, Matisse, Picasso and Mondrian.}}

By most accounts Bettencourt met François-Marie Banier, a French writer, artist and celebrity photographer, in 1987 when he was commissioned to photograph her for the French magazine Egoïste.[https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna34382605 Did man con French heiress out of $1.5 billion?], NBC News, 11 December 2009; retrieved 27 June 2010. Banier claims he first met Bettencourt in 1969 at the home of French journalist Pierre Lazareff, when he began discussing poetry with her husband.[https://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/12/world/europe/12iht-heiress.html?ref=liliane_bettencourt Heiress Case Delayed, With Medical Tests Ordered], The New York Times, 11 December 2009; retrieved 8 July 2010. Over the ensuing years, Banier and Bettencourt became friends and she became his benefactor, bestowing gifts upon him estimated to be worth as much as €1.3 billion. These gifts include, amongst other things, a life insurance policy worth €253 million in 2003, another life insurance policy worth €262 million in 2006,[https://abcnews.go.com/International/french-dandy-court-allegedly-abusing-frances-richest-woman/story?id=11064550 Photographer on Trial for Receiving Gigantic Gifts from French Heiress], ABC News, 1 July 2010. Retrieved 8 July 2010. 11 works of art in 2001 valued at €20 million, including paintings by Picasso, Matisse, Mondrian, Delaunay and Léger, a photograph by surrealist Man Ray,[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article5375516.ece Because she's worth charming]{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}, The Times, 21 December 2008. Retrieved 8 July 2010. and cash. The life insurance policies were allegedly signed over to Banier after Bettencourt was recovering from two hospital stays in 2003 and 2006. In April 2013, Forbes magazine listed Liliane Bettencourt as the world's richest woman in 1999 at a value of $30 billion.{{Cite book|title=Guinness World Records|last=Craig|first=Glenday|year=2013|isbn=978-1-908843-15-9|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/guinnessworldrec0000unse_r3e7}}

In December 2007, just a month after the death of her father, Françoise Bettencourt Meyers lodged a criminal complaint against Banier, accusing him of abus de faiblesse (or the exploitation of a physical or psychological weakness for personal gain) over Bettencourt.Joshua Levine, [https://www.forbes.com/forbes/2009/0330/122-une-affaire-de-famille.html Une affaire de famille], Forbes, 11 March 2009. Retrieved 7 July 2010. As a result of her complaint, the Brigade Financière, the financial investigative arm of the French national police, opened an investigation and, after interviewing members of Bettencourt's staff, determined to present the case to a court in Nanterre for trial in September 2009.[https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/23/fashion/23loreal.html?pagewanted=2 Generous to a Fault?], The New York Times, 21 August 2009. Retrieved 7 July 2010. In December 2009, the court delayed ruling on the case until April 2010 (later extended until July 2010) pending the results of a medical examination of Bettencourt's mental state. However, Bettencourt refused to submit to these examinations.[https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703571704575340882023612748 Secret Tapes Delay L'Oréal Heiress Case], The Wall Street Journal, 2 July 2010. Retrieved 8 July 2010.

In July 2010, the trial was adjourned again until autumn 2010, at the earliest, after details of tape recordings made by Bettencourt's butler, Pascal Bonnefoy, became public. The tapes, which were turned over to police, consisted of over 21 hours of conversation and were made because the butler had feared that Bettencourt was suffering from Alzheimer's disease and was being duped.{{cite news|last1=Alderman|first1=Liz|title=Le Petit Prince of L'Oréal|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/06/business/jean-victor-meyers-the-new-prince-of-loreal.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0|access-date=30 December 2014|work=The New York Times|date=5 May 2012}} The tapes allegedly reveal that Bettencourt had made Banier her "sole heir", excluding the L'Oréal shares which make up the bulk of Bettencourt's estate and which had already been signed over to her daughter and two grandsons.[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/embarrassment-for-sarkozy-as-1631bn-loral-feud-comes-to-court-2016298.html Embarrassment for Sarkozy as £1bn L'Oréal feud comes to court], The Independent, 2 July 2010. Retrieved 8 July 2010.

On 6 December 2010, Bettencourt reconciled with her daughter, ending a series of lawsuits. It is reported that Bettencourt and Banier had separated, and he was eventually written out of Bettencourt's will.[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11927288 L'Oreal heiress Bettencourt and daughter 'end feud'], BBC, 6 December 2010. Retrieved 4 February 2011. The spat reignited over the following summer, however, when Bettencourt said her daughter needed to seek psychological help,[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15334991 BBC News – L'Oreal heiress Bettencourt under family guardianship]. Retrieved 17 October 2011 which renewed their estrangement.

On 8 June 2011, it was reported daughter Meyers had filed an application with the court to make Bettencourt a ward of the state for her health and being incapable of the management of her fortune.[http://www.france24.com/en/20110608-loreal-heiress-scandal-france-paris-bettencourt-inheritance-court# "L'Oreal heiress scandal is back in the headlines"], France 24. 8 June 2011. Retrieved 8 June 2011 On 17 October 2011, a French judge ruled that she was to be placed under the guardianship of members of her family on concerns about Bettencourt's declining mental health. Francoise Bettencourt-Meyers, along with Bettencourt's two grandsons, gained control of her wealth and property. One of the grandsons was additionally named as her personal guardian. Liliane Bettencourt's lawyer said he would appeal, and told Le Monde newspaper that "Mrs. Bettencourt was ready for 'nuclear war' with her daughter." As of 2014, Francoise Bettencourt-Meyers is guardian of the fortune,{{cite web|title=2013's Top 20 Billionaires|url=https://www.forbes.com/pictures/mel45ghdi/liliane-bettencourt-family/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130307021156/http://www.forbes.com/pictures/mel45ghdi/liliane-bettencourt-family/|url-status=dead|archive-date=7 March 2013|work=Forbes|access-date=30 December 2014}} while Francoise's son, L’Oréal Board member and member of the supervisory board of the Bettencourt family holding company, Tethys, Jean-Victor Meyers oversees her health and personal life after a judge determined he was the only person able to "ward off all conflict between Liliane Bettencourt and Françoise Bettencourt-Meyers."

Bettencourt was reported to be one of the most high-profile victims of Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme, losing €22 million. She was the first investor in a fund managed by Access International Advisors, which was co-founded by René-Thierry Magon de la Villehuchet. De la Villehuchet died by suicide on 22 December 2008, after it became known that his funds had invested a substantial amount of their capital with Madoff.[https://web.archive.org/web/20090708210730/http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/banking_and_finance/article5393769.ece L'Oréal heiress joins list of Madoff victims], The Times, 24 December 2008. Retrieved 24 December 2008.

In June 2010, during the Bettencourt affair, Bettencourt became embroiled in a high-level French political scandal after other details of the tape recordings made by her butler became public. The tapes allegedly picked up conversations between Bettencourt and her financial adviser, Patrice de Maistre, which indicate that Bettencourt may have avoided paying taxes by keeping a substantial amount of cash in undeclared Swiss bank accounts. The tapes also allegedly captured a conversation between Bettencourt and French budget minister Éric Woerth, who was soliciting a job for his wife managing Bettencourt's wealth, while running a high-profile campaign to catch wealthy tax evaders as the budget minister.[https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/europe/butlers-tapes-threaten-sarkozy/article1630988/ Butler's tapes threaten Sarkozy], The Globe and Mail, 7 July 2010. Retrieved 7 July 2010. Moreover, Bettencourt received a €30 million tax rebate while Woerth was budget minister.[http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2010/07/can-sarkozy-survive-frances-latest-scandal.html Can Sarkozy Survive the Bettencourt Scandal?], Vanity Fair, 6 July 2010. Retrieved 7 July 2010.

In July 2010, the scandal widened after Bettencourt's former accountant, Claire Thibout, alleged in an interview with the French investigative website Mediapart, that conservative French politicians were frequently given envelopes stuffed with cash at Bettencourt's mansion in Neuilly-sur-Seine. She alleged that Woerth, while acting as treasurer for the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP), was given an envelope containing €150,000 in cash in March 2007 towards the presidential campaign of Nicolas Sarkozy. She also made, then retracted, a claim that Sarkozy was a frequent visitor to the Bettencourt's home while he was mayor of Neuilly-sur-Seine from 1983 to 2002 and received envelopes containing cash. A few days later, she declared she had been pressured by French police to retract her testimony about Sarkozy's illegal cash.[http://www.mediapart.fr/journal/france/190610/bettencourt-dossier-complet-pour-comprendre Mediapart' folder about the affair], Mediapart, 19 June 2010. Sarkozy and Woerth both denied wrongdoing.[http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/07/06/france.sarkozy.payments/?fbid=0UXcgswo9Bs Heiress' accountant claims cash destined for Sarkozy], CNN, 6 July 2010. Retrieved 7 July 2010.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/10563973.stm Sarkozy 'never received regular cash from Bettencourt'], BBC, 9 July 2010. Retrieved 9 July 2010. Following these allegations, French police raided the home and office of de Maistre, who heads Clymène, the company owned by Bettencourt to manage her wealth.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/10575785.stm French police search home of Bettencourt's adviser], BBC, 9 July 2010. Retrieved 9 July 2010. French law limits political donations to €7,500 for political parties and €4,600 for individuals. Contributions above €150 must be paid by cheque with the donor clearly identified.[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/7876609/Nicolas-Sarkozy-at-centre-of-criminal-investigation-over-illegal-donations.html Nicolas Sarkozy at centre of criminal investigation over 'illegal donations'], The Daily Telegraph, 7 July 2010. Retrieved 7 July 2010.

Forbes ranked Bettencourt in its list of the world's wealthiest persons with an estimated fortune of US$38.8 billion (as of 28 June 2016). As of 2016, she was the top female billionaire in the world, and was also the richest person in France.[https://www.bloomberg.com/billionaires/2013-08-16/cya #12 Liliane Bettencourt], Forbes. Retrieved 19 August 2013.

In 2005, Forbes judged her to be the 39th most powerful woman in the world.[https://web.archive.org/web/20050730233133/http://www.forbes.com/lists/2005/11/F6EZ.html #39 Liliane Bettencourt], Forbes, 10 March 2010. Retrieved 26 June 2010.

{{reflist}}

{{Commons category}}

• [http://www.loreal.com Official website of L'Oréal]
• [http://www.fondationbs.org Official website of the Bettencourt Schueller Foundation]
• [https://www.forbes.com/global/2000/1127/0324130a.html Forbes article on L'Oréal]
• {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110603231831/http://www.forbes.com/2005/03/18/cz_sh_0318oreal_bill05.html |date=3 June 2011 |title=Forbes article on Liliane Bettencourt}}
• [http://www.english.rfi.fr/france/20100707-bettencourt-scandal-cranks The Bettencourt scandal and the Sarkozy government] Radio France Internationale {{in lang|en}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bettencourt, Liliane}}

Category:1922 births

Category:2017 deaths

Category:20th-century French businesswomen

Category:20th-century French businesspeople

Category:21st-century French businesswomen

Category:21st-century French businesspeople

Category:Businesspeople from Paris

Category:Female billionaires

Category:French billionaires

Category:French cosmetics businesspeople

Category:Philanthropists from Paris

Category:French Roman Catholics

Category:Socialites from Paris

Category:L'Oréal people

Category:Knights of the Legion of Honour

Category:20th-century French philanthropists

Category:French women philanthropists

Category:Bettencourt family