Francoise Bettencourt Meyers to Step Down from L’Oréal Board, Son to Take Over as Vice Chairman

Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, heir to the L’Oréal cosmetics empire and Europe’s wealthiest woman, is set to retire from her position on the company’s board, passing her vice chairmanship to her son, Jean-Victor Meyers.

Her seat on the board will be taken by Alexandre Benais, the deputy CEO of Téthys Invest, the family’s investment firm and L’Oréal’s largest shareholder. Bettencourt Meyers continues to serve as the chair of Téthys.

L’Oréal announced the leadership changes on Thursday while reporting its fourth-quarter earnings, which fell slightly below expectations. The company stated that these transitions would take effect following a shareholder vote in April. The Bettencourt Meyers family currently holds approximately 35% of L’Oréal’s shares.

Bettencourt Meyers, 71, has been a member of L’Oréal’s board since 1997 and has served as vice chairwoman since 2020. Both of her sons, Jean-Victor and Nicolas Meyers, also hold board positions. In addition to her business leadership, she has authored two books: A Look at the Bible, a five-volume study on the subject, and a genealogy of the Greek gods. As president of her family’s philanthropic foundation, she oversees efforts to promote scientific and artistic progress in France.

As the granddaughter of L’Oréal’s founder, Bettencourt Meyers became the company’s primary heiress in 2017 after the passing of her mother, Liliane Bettencourt, who was the world’s richest woman at the time of her death at age 94. Her inheritance was at the center of a high-profile legal battle in France, where eight individuals were convicted of exploiting Liliane Bettencourt. Among them was photographer François-Marie Banier, who received gifts worth hundreds of millions of dollars, including artworks by Picasso and Matisse. At one point, Liliane Bettencourt had named Banier as her heir, but the decision was later overturned when it was revealed that she had been manipulated while suffering from dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

In a joint effort, L’Oréal and the Bettencourt Meyers family pledged $226 million toward the restoration of Notre Dame Cathedral following the fire in April 2019. The historic landmark reopened in December.

As of Thursday, Bettencourt Meyers ranked as the world’s 20th-richest person, with an estimated net worth of $76.1 billion. She remains the second-wealthiest woman globally, following Alice Walton, the Walmart heiress, who was ranked 15th with a fortune of $110.9 billion.

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