L'Oréal Heiress Francoise Bettencourt Meyers Achieves Historic $100 Billion Fortune, Cements Her Status as the First Woman on Bloomberg's Wealth Index

Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, the wealthiest woman in the world and heiress to the LOreal fortune, has achieved the milestone of holding a fortune valued at $100 billion, making her the first woman to do so. According to Bloomberg, she is currently ranked as the 12th richest person on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, surpassing Mukesh Ambani and trailing behind Carlos Slim, who recently became the first person from Latin America to reach the $100 billion mark.

L'Oreal's stock has reached an all-time high, with a 35% increase this year due to continued consumer spending on luxury products during the pandemic. In 2022, Bettencourt Meyers and her family owned over 34% of the company's stock, according to L'Oréal.

Bettencourt Meyers became the sole heir to her mother, Liliane Bettencourt, after her passing in 2017. As the chairwoman of the family's holding company, Tethys, and the vice chairwoman of L'Oreal Group's board of directors, she oversees her mother's significant investments. L'Oreal Group, the global leader in cosmetics and owner of renowned brands such as Lancome and Maybelline, reported sales of over €38 billion ($42 billion) in 2022.

Earlier in the year, L'Oreal made its largest brand acquisition ever by purchasing Australian brand Aesop in a $2.5 billion deal. This surpassed its previous record of a $1.7 billion purchase of YSL Beauté in 2008, according to data from Dealogic.

Despite this significant acquisition, Bettencourt Meyers' fortune still pales in comparison to LVMH chair Bernard Arnault, the world's largest maker of luxury goods. According to the index, he is the second-richest person in the world with a net worth of $179 billion.

- CNNs Michelle Toh contributed to this report.