Françoise Bettencourt Meyers is a name most people probably never heard before, but she’s sitting on a fortune of around $95 billion.
She’s the second richest woman in the world, ranking 19th on Forbes’ real-time billionaires list. But unlike the other 19 people above her, the 72-year-old didn’t exactly have to hustle to build that pile of cash.
To explain just how much money that is, Françoise could literally buy every single person in America an NBA ticket to see Steph Curry’s Golden State Warriors play LeBron James’ Lakers for $135.70 each.
She could even throw in an official NBA Wilson ball at $44 a piece… and still have $33 billion left over.
So how can someone be that rich and yet most of us never even heard of her name?
Françoise comes from a very wealthy line
Françoise Bettencourt Meyers inherited her fortune from her mom, who had also inherited it from her father.
She was born to André and Liliane Bettencourt, and the family money just kept moving down the line. Her mom was the heiress to her own father’s empire, and when she passed, Françoise took it all over.
Her marriage has a powerful backstory
She married businessman Jean-Pierre Meyers, whose family history is deeply tied to World War II. He’s believed to be the grandson of a rabbi who was murdered at Auschwitz.
Françoise herself grew up Catholic, but she converted to Judaism later on. Together with Jean-Pierre, she raised their two sons, Jean-Victor and Nicolas, in the Jewish faith.
The fortune goes back to L’Oréal’s founder
The real root of all this wealth started with Eugène Schueller, a French chemist who created L’Oréal. He had just one daughter, Liliane, so when he died in 1957, everything went to her.
That legacy eventually became Françoise’s, making her the link to one of the biggest beauty companies on the planet.
Françoise holds a massive piece of L’Oréal
Most of Françoise’s money comes from her inherited stake in L’Oréal. Her mom had been one of the main shareholders right up until she died in 2017.
Now Françoise owns 33 percent of the company, which makes her the biggest shareholder. That’s a lot of power in such a global brand.
She also helps run the company
She’s not just sitting back and collecting checks. Françoise is on the board of directors and also serves as chairwoman of the family’s holding company.
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That gives her real influence over the direction of the business, not just the ownership title.
L’Oréal’s success keeps boosting her fortune
On top of what she inherited, the growth of L’Oréal itself has kept making her richer.
The company keeps expanding in global beauty markets and doing well with online sales, which means her wealth just continues to rise along with it.
Her net worth is always shifting
Right now, Forbes’ real-time billionaires list shows her sitting at about $95.3 billion.
That number moves around a lot depending on the stock price of L’Oréal, exchange rates, and the general economy.
Different lists don’t always agree
Bloomberg’s billionaire ranking has her valued at $95.9 billion and puts her at number 19 worldwide. What’s interesting is they don’t include their own founder, Michael Bloomberg, on that list.
Forbes, on the other hand, does count him and puts him at $109.4 billion, which ranks him at number 17.
