L'Oreal heiress Francoise Bettencourt Meyers becomes richest woman in the world

L'Oreal heiress Françoise Bettencourt Meyers became the richest woman and the 12th richest person in the world after her net worth crossed the 100 billion dollars mark on Thursday, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Meyers is the granddaughter of Eugene Schueller who founded L'Oreal in 1909. She inherited the company's shares from her mother Liliane Bettencourt in 2017.

She is the chairwoman of Tethys, the largest shareholder of L'Oreal, and vice chairwoman of L'Oreal Group's Board. Her sons, Nicholas and Jean-Victor Meyers, work as directors. Meyers and her family own more than 34 percent stake in the company.

After a slow business during the pandemic, the company's shares started gaining again recently. This year, it gained an all-time high of 35 percent, which increased the fortune of Meyers by 28 billion dollars.

After a slow business period during the pandemic, the company's shares have recently started gaining momentum. This year, L'Oreal achieved an all-time high of a 35 percent increase, boosting Meyers' fortune by 28 billion dollars.

Elon Musk topped the Bloomberg Billionaires Index with a net worth of 232 billion dollars. Meyers is positioned just ahead of India's Mukesh Ambani and behind Mexico's Carlos Slim, who recently became the first person from Latin America to have a net worth of more than 100 billion dollars.

Meyers husband Bernard Arnault ranked second in the index with a fortune of 179 billion dollars. Arnault is the founder and CEO of LVMH, a French luxury goods company.

L'Oreal which also owns Lancome, Prada and Yves Saint Laurent reported revenue of approximately 42 billion dollars in 2022, according to the company reports.

Earlier this year, L'Oreal made its biggest brand acquisition by buying Aesop, an Australian brand, for 2.5 billion dollars.(DPA)