Liliane Bettencourt
French heiress, socialite and businesswoman (1922–2017)
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Key Takeaways
- Liliane Henriette Charlotte Bettencourt ( French: [liljan ɑ̃ʁjɛt ʃaʁlɔt bɛtɑ̃kuʁ] ; née Schueller ; 21 October 1922 – 21 September 2017) was a French heiress, socialite and businesswoman.
- At the time of her death, she was the richest woman, and the 14th richest person in the world, with a net worth of US$44.
- When Liliane was five years old, her mother died, and she formed a close bond with her father, who later married Liliane's British governess.
- In 1950, she married French politician André Bettencourt, who served as a cabinet minister in French governments of the 1960s and 1970s and rose to become deputy chairman of L'Oréal.
- After the war, her husband, like other members of La Cagoule, was given refuge at L'Oréal despite his politically inconvenient past.
Liliane Henriette Charlotte Bettencourt (French: [liljan ɑ̃ʁjɛt ʃaʁlɔt bɛtɑ̃kuʁ]; née Schueller; 21 October 1922 – 21 September 2017) was a French heiress, socialite and businesswoman. She was a board member and one of the principal shareholders of L'Oréal. At the time of her death, she was the richest woman, and the 14th richest person in the world, with a net worth of US$44.3 billion.
Biography
She was born Liliane Henriette Charlotte Schueller on 21 October 1922 in Paris, the only child of Louise Madeleine Berthe (née Doncieux) and Eugène Schueller, the founder of L'Oréal, one of the world's largest cosmetics and beauty companies. When Liliane was five years old, her mother died, and she formed a close bond with her father, who later married Liliane's British governess. At the age of 15, she joined her father's company as an apprentice, mixing cosmetics and labelling bottles of shampoo.
In 1950, she married French politician André Bettencourt, who served as a cabinet minister in French governments of the 1960s and 1970s and rose to become deputy chairman of L'Oréal. Mr. Bettencourt had been a member of La Cagoule, a violent French fascist pro-Nazi group that Liliane's father, a Nazi sympathizer, had funded and supported in the 1930s and whose members were arrested in 1937. After the war, her husband, like other members of La Cagoule, was given refuge at L'Oréal despite his politically inconvenient past. Eventually, the Bettencourts settled in a mansion built in 1951 and furnished in the Art Deco style on rue de Delabordère in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France. They had one daughter, Françoise, who was born in 1953.
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