Liliane Bettencourt, Heiress to L'Oréal Fortune, Dies -- 2nd Update
September 21 2017 - 4:37PM
Dow Jones News
By Matthew Dalton
PARIS -- Liliane Bettencourt -- who presided over the L'Oréal
cosmetics fortune, becoming the world's richest woman -- died on
Thursday after spending decades under the spotlight for her ties to
powerful politicians and her role in a bitter family feud. She was
94 years old.
"My mother has left peacefully," said Françoise
Bettencourt-Meyers, her daughter.
In announcing the death, Ms. Bettencourt-Meyers offered
assurances that L'Oréal SA, the world's biggest cosmetics company,
remained in steady hands with Chief Executive Jean-Paul Agon. Ms.
Bettencourt-Meyers controls 33% of L'Oréal along with her sons as
guardian of her mother's assets.
"In this painful moment for us, I would like to reiterate, on
behalf of our family, our entire commitment and loyalty to L'Oréal
and to renew my confidence in its President Jean-Paul Agon and his
teams world-wide."
Ms. Bettencourt amassed one of France's biggest fortunes while
overseeing L'Oreal's rise from a family makeup company to a globe
spanning colossus. Forbes estimates her net worth at $45
billion.
Born Liliane Schueller in 1922 in Paris, she was the daughter of
Eugène Schueller, a chemist who founded L'Oréal. In 1950, she
married Andre Bettencourt, a journalist who had been a member of a
fascist youth group at the start of World War II but who then
joined the French resistance. Mr. Bettencourt went on to become a
politician, holding ministerial positions in multiple
governments.
Mr. Schueller didn't want his daughter to run L'Oréal. After his
death in 1957, Ms. Bettencourt largely followed his wishes, keeping
out of the day-to-day operations of the company.
However, she guided one of its more important transactions: the
1974 sale of a large stake in L'Oréal to the Swiss consumer-goods
giant Nestlé SA. Ms. Bettencourt orchestrated the move to fend off
a feared nationalization of L'Oréal by the French state. Nestlé now
owns 23% of L'Oréal.
Toward the end of her life, Ms. Bettencourt was best known
internationally for the Bettencourt affair: A family dispute over
her relationship with a male friend that broadened into a financial
scandal touching the inner circle of former French President
Nicolas Sarkozy.
Late in life, Ms. Bettencourt began lavishing money and gifts on
François-Marie Banier, 63, a socialite photographer and friend,
totaling more than EUR1 billion ($1.19 billion), according to a
lawsuit filed by Ms. Bettencourt-Meyers against Mr. Banier. Her
daughter accused Mr. Banier of exploiting her mother's mental
weakness and asked the court to name her as Ms. Bettencourt's
guardian. Mr. Banier denied any wrongdoing.
Ms. Bettencourt opposed her daughter's effort to place her under
guardianship, sparking a vicious legal battle between the two. Her
legal team argued that she was happy to be generous with Mr.
Banier.
"If I am exploited, it's because I let myself be exploited," Ms.
Bettencourt said in 2010. "Good for me! Let me live."
During the trial, 21 hours of secret tape recordings made by Ms.
Bettencourt's butler came to light in which she and her financial
adviser, Patrice de Maistre, alluded to offshore accounts. The two
also discuss possible donations to Eric Woerth, who was Mr.
Sarkozy's labor minister.
In the recordings, Ms. Bettencourt seems confused and frail. At
various points in the recordings, Ms. Bettencourt doesn't recall
having made Mr. Banier the sole beneficiary of her estate,
excluding her stake in L'Oréal, which she already had given to her
daughter. Neither does she recall giving him a private tropical
island in the Seychelles.
On Thursday, French finance minister Bruno Le Maire praised Ms.
Bettencourt's time as the biggest shareholder of L'Oréal.
"She assured throughout her life stability in the shareholding
of one of France's main businesses," he said. "This stability
allowed L'Oréal to develop and become the world leader in the
cosmetics industry.
Write to Matthew Dalton at Matthew.Dalton@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 21, 2017 17:22 ET (21:22 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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