Françoise Bettencourt Meyers
French heiress, philanthropist and author; former L’Oréal board member
| Françoise Bettencourt Meyers
| |
|---|---|
| Born | 10 7 1953 (age 73 years old (as of 2026)
) |
| Occupation | philanthropist and author |
| Known for | L’Oréal shareholder |
Françoise Bettencourt Meyers (born 10 July 1953) is a French heiress, philanthropist and author, former L’Oréal board member.[1] On 20 October 2026 the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires list ranked Bettencourt Meyers (listed together with family) 19th in the world, with an estimated net worth of US$96.8 billion; Forbes gives the source of wealth as L'Oréal.[2]
Background
Born 10 July 1953; French citizen; granddaughter of L’Oréal’s founder.[1]
Education
No education record was found in the sources checked.
Career and companies
L’Oréal board member 1997–2025; president of the family’s philanthropic foundation; author of books on Greek mythology and the Bible.[1]
In its 2024 World's Billionaires profile text, Forbes stated: "She has served on L'Oreal's board since 1997 and is chairwoman of the family holding company."[1]
L’Oréal’s 2025 Universal Registration Document describes Téthys as the holding company of the Bettencourt Meyers family and L’Oréal’s main shareholder, chaired by Françoise Bettencourt Meyers. Téthys has been a director of L’Oréal since 2025; its appointment as a director for four years was approved at L’Oréal’s annual general meeting on 29 April 2025.[3][4]
How the wealth was made
Inherited; she and her immediate family own more than a third of L’Oréal.[1]
Wealth history
Forbes has included this person in its annual World's Billionaires list in 9 of the editions from 2001 to 2026 checked for this profile, starting with 2018. The table gives the rank and estimated net worth in each annual list, and, where applicable, the rank and estimate in the Forbes 400 list of the richest Americans.[5][1]
| Year | World's Billionaires rank | Net worth (US$ bn) | Forbes 400 rank | Forbes 400 net worth (US$ bn) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 18 | 42.2 | – | – |
| 2019 | 15 | 49.3 | – | – |
| 2020 | 15 | 48.9 | – | – |
| 2021 | 12 | 73.6 | – | – |
| 2022 | 14 | 74.8 | – | – |
| 2023 | 11 | 80.5 | – | – |
| 2024 | 15 | 99.5 | – | – |
| 2025 | 20 | 81.6 | – | – |
| 2026 | 20 | 100.0 | – | – |
Philanthropy
L’Oréal and the family agreed to donate $226 million towards repairing Notre-Dame after the 2019 fire.[1]
Foundation-level: Françoise Bettencourt Meyers is president (présidente) of the Fondation Bettencourt Schueller. Its 2024 activity report gives €85.1 million for its patronage activity in 2024, including €67.1 million in grants (dons) and €11.8 million in prizes. Major operations totalled €50.1 million, including €16.3 million for Notre-Dame de Paris.[6]
Political donations and public roles
Not a US citizen, so US federal donation records were not searched; no political donations were found in the sources checked.
Controversies and legal cases
In the “Bettencourt affair”, photographer François-Marie Banier was convicted on appeal (24 August 2016) of abusing the weakness of her mother, Liliane Bettencourt, and sentenced to four years suspended and a €375,000 fine. At first instance he had received three years (six months suspended) and more than €158 million in damages.[7]
International and political links
This section uses the same ten headings for every profile in this series. Only specific, sourced actions are included; company-level and foundation-level actions are labelled as such. Where nothing was found, the entry reads "No documented involvement found in sources checked."
Israel (investments, operations, donations, contracts, statements)
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Zionist or pro-Israel organisations and lobbying groups
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Jewish communal charities
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Gulf states
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
China
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Russia
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
India
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Palestinian or Arab causes
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Home government
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Other international links
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
See also
External links
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Forbes, Forbes profile record for Françoise Bettencourt Meyers (Forbes data feed behind forbes.com/profile/francoise-bettencourt-meyers/) Forbes, live record, real-time timestamp 20 October 2026, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ Forbes, Forbes Real-Time Billionaires data feed Forbes, live; downloaded 20 October 2026 11:51 UTC, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ L’Oréal, 2025 Universal Registration Document – Introduction, page 79 (Téthys) L’Oréal, 2026, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ L’Oréal Finance, Annual General Meeting of 29 April 2025 L’Oréal Finance, 29 April 2025, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Forbes, Forbes World's Billionaires list data feed, annual editions 2001–2026 (one file per year at this path with the year substituted; all 26 files downloaded and read) Forbes, annual lists; downloaded 20 October 2026, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ Fondation Bettencourt Schueller, Rapport d'activité 2024 Fondation Bettencourt Schueller, 2025, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ franceinfo, Affaire Bettencourt : François-Marie Banier condamné en appel à 4 ans de prison avec sursis et 375 000 euros d'amende franceinfo, 24 August 2016, accessed 20 October 2026.