By Suoyo Ekubo
Françoise Bettencourt Meyers is a French businesswoman, philanthropist, writer, pianist, billionaire heiress, and the richest woman in the world. Her reign continues for the third year in a row as the richest woman in the world. According to the #ForbesBillionaires list, the French heiress, holds an estimated net worth of $80.5 billion, $5.7 billion more than last year.
Bettencourt Meyers ranks as the planet’s 11th wealthiest person overall, up from No. 14 last year. She’s one of just 337 women on the 2023 #ForbesBillionaires list, who make up only 13% of the planet’s 2,640 billionaires.
The majority of the 69-year-old’s wealth comes from her stake in the beauty and hair mammoth, the L’Oréal Group. Bettencourt Meyers is the only child, heiress of Liliane Bettencourt and granddaughter of L’Oréal founder Eugène Schueller. Her mother died in September 2017, after which her fortune tripled with her investments through her family holding company, Tethys Invest, and the high valuation of L’Oréal shares on the stock exchange.
Raised to be a strict Catholic, she has written several Bible commentaries. She is married Jean-Pierre Meyers with two children.
