Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken

{{Infobox person

| name = Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken

| image =

| alt =

| caption =

| birth_name = Charlene Heineken

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1954|6|30|df=y}}

| birth_place = Amsterdam, Netherlands

| death_date =

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| nationality =

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| education = Rijnlands Lyceum Wassenaar

| alma_mater = Leiden University

| spouse = {{marriage|Michel de Carvalho|1983}}{{Cite web |url=https://fortune.com/2014/12/17/heineken/ |title=The mysterious banker behind the world’s best-known beer |date=17 December 2014 |work=Fortune |last=Sellers |first=Patricia}}

| children = 5

| parents = Freddy Heineken
Lucille Cummins

}}

Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken (born 30 June 1954) is a Dutch billionaire businesswoman, and the owner of a 25% controlling interest in the world's second-largest brewer, Heineken N.V. As of July 2024, Forbes estimated her net worth at US$14.1 billion.{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/charlene-de-carvalho-heineken/ |title=Forbes profile: Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken |work=Forbes |accessdate=21 July 2024}}

Early life

Charlene Heineken was born on 30 June 1954, the daughter of Freddy Heineken, a Dutch industrialist, and Lucille Cummins, an American from a Kentucky family of bourbon whiskey distillers. She was educated at Rijnlands Lyceum Wassenaar, followed by a law degree from Leiden University.

Career

She owns a 25% controlling stake in Dutch brewer Heineken, of which she is also an executive director.{{cite web |url=http://www.theheinekencompany.com/about-us/heineken-holding-nv/board-of-directors |title=Age Gate |publisher=Theheinekencompany.com |accessdate=2014-02-26 |archive-date=2014-12-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141226003734/http://www.theheinekencompany.com/about-us/heineken-holding-nv/board-of-directors |url-status=dead}}

The biannual Heineken Prize for cognitive science is named after her.{{Cite web|url=http://www.heinekenprizes.com/?p=1501|title=C.L. de Carvalho-Heineken Foundation for Cognitive Science|access-date=2019-08-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180927165358/http://www.heinekenprizes.com/?p=1501|archive-date=2018-09-27|url-status=dead}}

Personal life

She is married to Michel de Carvalho, a British financier, director of Citigroup and a former Olympic skier, whom she met on a ski holiday in St. Moritz, Switzerland.{{cite news |last1=Sellers|first1=Patricia |title=Heineken's Charlene de Carvalho: A self-made heiress |url=http://fortune.com/2014/12/03/heineken-charlene-de-carvalho-self-made-heiress/ |accessdate=2014-12-30 |work=Fortune Magazine |issue= |publisher= |date=December 3, 2014 |quote=While women in the Netherlands generally attach their maiden name to their married name, Charlene, as a London resident, had dropped "Heineken" from her surname.}} He is known for portraying T.E. Lawrence's ill-fated servant Farraj in the 1962 film classic Lawrence of Arabia as a teen, and he is currently a member of the supervisory board of Heineken NV. They reside in London with their five children.{{Cite web|first=Patricia|last=Sellers|title=Heineken's Charlene de Carvalho: A self-made heiress|url=https://fortune.com/2014/12/03/heineken-charlene-de-carvalho-self-made-heiress/|work=Fortune|date=3 December 2014|accessdate=3 June 2022|quote=All in the family: How to pass on a company to the next generation. The de Carvalho family (...) Alexander (...) Louisa, Charles, Sophie, and Isabel.}}{{Cite web|first=Nashana|last=Lalah|url=https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/social/20170310/red-stripe-fetes-heineken-family|title=Red Stripe fetes Heineken family|work=The Gleaner|date=9 March 2017|accessdate=4 June 2022}}

Upon the death of her father in 2002, Charlene inherited about £3 billion, making her the wealthiest person with Dutch citizenship.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/2781221.stm |title=Heineken heiress remains a mystery |work=BBC News |accessdate=2010-03-18 | date=2003-02-26 | first=Danielle | last=Rossingh}}The Daily Telegraph - [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/7624159/Sunday-Times-Rich-List-2010-Britains-richest-see-wealth-rise-by-one-third.html Sunday Times Rich List 2010: Britain's richest see wealth rise by one third], 2010-04-24 Prior to that, she had no money to her name except for one share of Heineken stock. In 2019, the Sunday Times Rich List ranking of the wealthiest people in the UK named her the wealthiest woman and the 7th overall, with an estimated fortune of £12 billion.{{cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/sunday-times-rich-list-2018-at-last-the-self-made-triumph-over-old-money-0qx8tqvjp|title=The Rich List: At last, the self-made triumph over old money|access-date=13 May 2018|publisher=The Sunday Times}} Charlene's wealth in 2021 was estimated by Forbes at $16.7 billion making her 116th among the world's billionaires.{{Cite web |title=Forbes Billionaires 2023: The Richest People In The World |url=https://www.forbes.com/billionaires/ |access-date=2024-01-04 |website=Forbes |language=English}}