Françoise Bettencourt Meyers has been married to her husband, Jean-Pierre Meyers since 1984 and the couple have two sons who are set to inherit the multibillion-dollar beauty and cosmetic empire, L’Oréal.
In 2017, the world learned about the passing of Liliane Bettencourt, who was a socialite, heiress, businessman, and at the time of her death, the richest woman in the world.
Before her passing, she was a mother and welcomed a daughter Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, who inherited her fortune and is also the wealthiest woman in the world currently.
The mother and daughter gained immense media attention after they became embroiled in a high-profile scandal in 2007. Her only daughter and only child, Françoise, sued celebrity photographer François-Marie Banier, accusing him of exploiting her mother’s frailty after it was revealed that he had received an estimated €1 billion in cash and gifts from Bettencourt.
The dispute escalated until mother and daughter reconciled in 2010; Bettencourt was ultimately placed under the legal guardianship of her family.
The scandal, regarded as one of the biggest in France’s history, was revisited in a new Netflix docuseries, The Billionaire, the Butler, and the Boyfriend.
Now, many want to know more about the life and family of Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, the L’Oréal cosmetics and beauty empire heiress. She is currently still married to her longtime spouse, Jean-Pierre Meyers who is a businessman. Details about her husband and their children explored.
Who is Françoise Bettencourt Meyers?
Françoise Bettencourt Meyers is a French businesswoman, writer, heiress, and philanthropist.
She is currently the richest woman in the world, with an estimated net worth of nearly $89.6 billion as of November 2023.
She is the wealthiest woman in the world, the richest person in France, and the 13th overall richest person on earth, per Forbes real-time billionaire list.
Bettencourt Meyers was born in 1953 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France to André and Liliane Bettencourt, the daughter of L’Oréal founder Eugène Schueller.
In 2007, Bettencourt Meyers filed a criminal complaint against her mother’s friend, François-Marie Banier, alleging that he was preying on her mother’s Alzheimer’s disease to steal her fortune.
Liliane had gifted Banier over $1 billion in cash, gifts, and life insurance policies since the two first met in 1987.
By 2008, Bettencourt Meyers officially sued Banier for taking advantage of – and money from – her mother.
The subsequent scandal was covered in the 2023 Netflix documentary series The Billionaire, The Butler, and the Boyfriend.
While Bettencourt Meyers and Liliane briefly reconciled in December 2010 after Liliane removed Banier from her will, the duo ended up estranged again just months later.
After she died in 2017, Liliane’s fortune was split between her only child, Bettencourt Meyers, and her two grandsons.
Bettencourt Meyers saw her net worth triple almost overnight thanks to the high valuation of L’Oréal shares and her investments, made through her family holding company, Téthys Invest.
The family still owns a 33 percent stake in L’Oréal.
Her husband, Jean-Pierre Meyers, is the holding company’s CEO.
Who is Jean-Pierre Meyers, Françoise Bettencourt Meyers’ husband?
Starting from Françoise Bettencourt’s grandfather, Eugène Schueller, who founded L’Oréal, one of the world’s largest cosmetics, beauty, and personal care companies, members of the family have made generational wealth.
Françoise who is a billionaire heiress is married to Jean-Pierre Meyers, a fellow business executive.
On April 6, 1984, when Bettencourt was 31 years old, she tied the knot with her husband, Jean-Pierre Meyers, who was 36 years old at the time.
She converted from Catholicism to Judaism ahead of their wedding.
Per The Guardian, her marriage caused controversy because of her grandfather Eugène Schueller’s trial for collaboration with the Nazi government; he was L’Oreal’s founder.
Jean-Pierre Meyers was born in France in 1948.
He is the grandson of Rabbi Robert Meyers, who was murdered at Auschwitz in 1942 during the Second World War.
Meyers has been a member of the board of directors for L’Oréal since 1987, and the company’s vice president since 1994.
From 1991 to 2014, he was also the director of Nestlé.
Mr. Meyers also served as an Assistant Professor at the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce in Rouen.
In 2016, Meyers and his wife co-founded Téthys Invest, an investment firm where he serves as the Chief Executive Officer and Member of the Supervisory Board.
He is currently the vice president of the Bettencourt Schueller Foundation.
How many children do Jean-Pierre Meyers and Françoise Bettencourt Meyers have?
In their almost 4 decades of marriage, Jean-Pierre Meyers and his wife Françoise Bettencourt Meyers have been blessed with two children.
The business and wealthy couple have two grownup sons whose names are Jean-Victor Meyers and Nicolas Meyers.
After the pair religiously became Judish, they raised their children as Jewish.
Jean-Pierre and Françoise Bettencourt first became parents when they welcomed their first son, Jean-Victor, in 1986 at ages 38 and 33 after two years of their marriage.
Two years later, they gave birth to their second son, Nicolas. He was born in 1988
In 1988, the duo welcomed their second son, Nicolas.
What do Jean-Pierre Meyers and Françoise Bettencourt Meyers’ sons do for a living?
Jean-Victor Meyers and Nicolas Meyers are all following the career paths of their parents as businessmen.
They have been involved in the family’s business. Bettencourt Meyers and her family still own a 33% stake in the L’Oréal company.
Business executive, Jean-Victor Meyers, 37, has been a member of the board of directors of L’Oréal since 2012.
He holds the position of Chairman at Constantine Capital SAS. He is also on the board of 5 other companies.
He is also the co-founder of Exemplaire, a company producing fashion and luxury goods.
He previously interned at Goldman Sachs in London and at Louis Vuitton in Paris.
Jean-Victor reportedly often served as an intermediary between his mother, Françoise, and his grandmother, Liliane, as the duo were typically estranged.
Jean-Victor’s younger brother, Nicolas Meyers, 35, was also appointed as a L’Oréal board member on June 30, 2020.
He is also a member of the Supervisory Committee of the family holding Téthys since 2011, a member of the Supervisory Committee of Téthys Invest since 2016, and a director of the Bettencourt Schueller Foundation since 2012, per The Org.
The duo are both set to inherit the multibillion-dollar beauty and cosmetics empire.