Liliane Bettencourt, Heiress to L'Oréal Fortune, Dies -- Update

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 $44 billion.

Born Liliane Schueller in Paris, she was the daughter of Eugène Schueller, one of the founders of L'Oréal.

Ms. Bettencourt kept out of the day-to-day operations of L'Oréal. 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.

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.

Ms. Bettencourt opposed her daughter's effort to place her under guardianship with her legal team arguing that she was happy to be generous with Mr. Banier.

But the secret recordings give a different impression. In them, the daughter of the founder L'Oréal 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.

Write to Matthew Dalton at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 21, 2017 15:41 ET (19:41 GMT)

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