L’Oreal heiress, Françoise Bettencourt-Meyers prefers a routine without glamour, loves reading the Bible and makes millionaire donations
Anyone walking past a three-story building in Neuilly-sur-Seine, a quiet suburb of Paris, would not imagine that the richest woman on the planet lives there. According to the new ranking by ‘Forbes’ magazine, Françoise Bettencourt-Meyers owns 99.5 billion dollars, equal to 502 billion Brazilian reals. She occupies the fifteenth position in the list of the largest billionaires in the world.
He leaves the house very little. She has never been seen shopping in the city’s luxury stores. He doesn’t like parties. Going to the hairdresser? Never. He prefers reading, writing and playing the piano in the privacy of his apartment.
Françoise, 70, is the opposite of her parents, Liliane and André Bettencourt, from whom she inherited 33% of the L’Oreal group, world leader in cosmetics. They loved social events, hanging out with celebrities, and enjoying the luxury that money could provide.
An only child, the billionaire grew up like an “ugly duckling”. He did not have the same vanity as his mother and preferred to talk to the employees of the villa in which they lived rather than socialize with the artists and politicians who attended dinners.
After finishing high school at a private school, he enrolled in Mathematics, but soon dropped out. She married businessman Jean-Pierre Meyers in 1984 and became a housewife. They had two sons, Jean-Victor and Nicolas.
Raised Catholic, Françoise chose to educate her boys in Judaism, her husband’s religion. She became a Bible scholar. You have written books on passages from the holy book. You have also published on aspects of hearing and deafness.
Her father, to whom she was close, died in 2007. Her relationship with her mother has always been cold due to personality conflict. The matriarch was cheerful, festive and elegant. Her daughter, extremely introspective, relaxed and averse to her sophistication.
The two went years without speaking to each other due to a legal war. After learning that profiteers were taking millions from Liliane, her daughter asked for her ban in court. The case became a national scandal as it involved clandestine donations to politicians.
After attending court, Françoise obtained authorization to manage the estate of her mother, who was diagnosed with mental problems due to her age. Famous socialite Madame Bettencourt died at the age of 94, from Alzheimer’s, in 2017.
Available on Netflix, the documentary series “The Billionaire, the Butler and the Fiance” details the final conflicts between mother and daughter.
Economical with personal expenses, Françoise Bettencourt-Meyers is generous with donations. She helps people with hearing problems obtain hearing aids, collaborates with the humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders and financially helps the reconstruction of the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral, destroyed by fire in 2019.
The lack of special care for his long hair has caused the L’Oreal shareholder to become a meme on social media. Most people don’t understand how the richest woman on the planet lives so simply, discreetly and charmlessly.
Source: Terra
Ashley Fitzgerald is a journalist and author at Gossipify, known for her coverage of famous people and their lives. She writes about a wide range of topics, including celebrities, influencers, social media stars, and public figures. Her articles are known for their in-depth analysis and unique perspective. She is respected for her ability to keep readers up to date with the latest news and trends of the famous people.
