Do You Know? Who is the Richest Female Entrepreneur in the World?

Do You Know? Who is the Richest Female Entrepreneur in the World?

Francois Bettencourt Meyers is a French heiress, born on 10 July 1953 at Neuilly-Sur Seine, west of Paris, with the estimate of 91.9 Billion US$ (According to the Forbes data) occupies the first rank in the list of richest female entrepreneurs and 12^th richest person in the world and move ahead of Alice Walton, an American heiress of Walmart.

Alice Walton, The Richest Female Entrepreneur of 2020

Who is the Richest Female Entrepreneur in the World?

Francois Bettencourt Meyers is the richest female entrepreneur in the world who has served 6 different companies, holding a position of chairwoman for Societe Immobiliere Sebor SAS, Chairman at Financiere L’Arcouest SASU, Chairman-Supervisory Board of Tethys SCA, Chairman-Supervisory Board for Tethys invest SASU, and also holds the title of President of the family’s philanthropic foundations, also holds the vice chairwomanship of board of L’Oreal SA, L’Oreal USA.

She is Member of the Strategy and Sustainable Development Committee, Member of the Appointment and Governance Committee, Member of the Human Resources and Remuneration Committee in L’Oreal.

L’Oreal was founded by her grandfather Eugene Schueller, who came up with this hair dye solution in 1907 and called Oreale and later registered as a company L’Oreal.

Francois Bettencourt Meyers Career

She started her career as an author and wrote several works like “The Greek Gods. Geneaology” and her “A look at the Bible” won the Prix des Lauriers Verts and also published Jewish-Christian relations, also written Judaism and Catholicism and also known as the author of The Tribes of Israel and the family tree of Adam and Eve. Her spiritual side is pretty much reflected in her works.

Bettencourt and her family own a 33% share of the company. She has been the chairperson of L’Oreal since 1997. L’Oreal also owns the Lancome and Garnier products and had revenue of 28 Billion Euros in 2020, Bloomberg reported, Today L’Oreal makes more than 500 brands and thousands of products wide range of products including hair colour, skincare, makeup, cleansers, and perfumes. L’Oreal Research and Development Centres are operating in six different countries two in France and each one in the US, China, Japan, and India.

How did Meyers became the richest female entrepreneur in the world?

She became the heiress of the world’s biggest cosmetic company in 2017 after the death of her mother Liliane Bettencourt at the age of 94, who held the position of the richest woman and 14^th richest person in the world as well.

She inherited several assets included a mansion located in Neuilly-sur Seine in Paris it is a mansion where Liliane passed away and inherited another mansion where her childhood was spent.

She inherited $39.5 Billion from her mother in 2017 and boost up the wealth of current net worth of $86.2 billion in July 2020. Her father Andre Bettencourt was a French politician who served as a minister of Foreign Affairs for 20 years and also held the position of vice-chairman of L’Oreal until 1994 and died in 2007.

Her parents were the spotlight persons but on the contrary, to her parents, she was more into books and playing piano in her adolescent years.

Personal Life

Francois Bettencourt Meyers married Jean-Pierre Meyers who is the grandson of a Rabbi murdered at Auschwitz, and has two sons Jean-Victor (1986) and Nicholas (1988) and decided to raise their children as Jewish, however, her marriage was a subject of controversy as a result of her grandfather Eugene Schueller who supported La Cagoule, an antisemitic group operated in France and also was accused of collaboration with the Nazi government during the French occupation by Nazis.

In 2008 she sued Francois Marie Banier, a French photographer for taking money from her mother however it is marked as a symbol of the bitter relationship between mother and daughter she herself began the process after her mother was declared mentally weak, she used the secret recordings as evidence led to the Woerth-Bettencourt Scandal, which revealed the allegations that Liliane to give money illegally to Nicolas Sarkozy’s government.

In December 2010 Bettencourt Meyers announced to settle out with her mother and Bernier out of the court.

What funding challenges do women entrepreneurs overcome?

Jean-Victor Meyers son of Francois Bettencourt Meyers introduced to L’Oreal’s boards in 2012 as the youngest administrator in any company in France and replaced his grandmother Liliane Bettencourt and also became a member of the Audit Committee and the term was renewed in 2016.

And also holds the chairmanship of Exemplaire and Constantine Capital Companies. He is also a Member of the Supervisory Board of Tethys.

Her other son Nicolas Meyers is also introduced as a Board member in L’Oreal in June 2020 and also held the position of Member of Supervisory Committee of the Tethys since 2011, He is also a Member of the Supervisory Committee of Tethys invest since 2016 and has also a Director of Bettencourt Schueller Foundation since 2012.

The Bettencourt Schueller Foundation which contains around $700 million in assets, this same foundation put initiative efforts in the sector of science and arts advancement. Bettencourt and L’Oreal donated $226 billion to repair the damaged cathedral at Notre-Dame de Paris.

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