Francoise Bettencourt Meyers: World’s richest woman is $2.5 billion richer than Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg

The world’s wealthiest woman is now $2.5 billion richer than Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook.

According to the Bloomberg billionaire index, Francoise Bettencourt Meyers has a net worth of $63.4 billion, while Mark Zuckerberg, who has lost roughly $60 billion year-to-date, has a net worth of $60.9 billion.

After falling out of the top 10 in March, Zuckerberg is now placed No. 17 on the list of top billionaires, while Francoise Bettencourt Meyers is ranked 16th.

The drops can be ascribed to quickly growing inflation which has slowed the world’s largest economy as observers wait to learn how much the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates later today.

The staggering losses came despite a massive increase in their wealth during the outbreak last year, as businesses thrived as restrictions were eased.

What you should know about Francoise Bettencourt Meyers

• L’Oreal, the world’s largest cosmetics company, is controlled by the world’s richest woman, who owns 33% of the company. She is the head of the holding company that owns the family’s shareholding, which her mother Liliane held until her death in 2017. Lancome and Garnier are owned by L’Oreal, which had revenue of 32.3 billion euros ($38.2 billion) in 2021.
• With a net worth of $63.4 billion, Francoise Bettencourt Meyers can buy 34.9 million troy ounces of gold and 523 million barrels of crude oil.
• Bettencourt Meyers’ mother Liliane Bettencourt was the world’s richest woman before she made the World’s Top Billionaires list for the first time in 2018.
• The mother of two is the granddaughter of L’Oreal founder Françoise Bettencourt, has topped the list of the world’s wealthiest women since her mother’s death. Bettencourt Meyers, 68, has been a member of the L’Oreal board of directors since 1997, and her family owns 33% of the corporation. She’s also a published author, with writings on Greek gods and the Bible.
• Bettencourt Meyers’ mother had a notoriously tumultuous relationship with her, and eight people were found guilty of manipulating her elderly mother in a 2015 court case, just a few years before the Bettencourt matriarch died.
• In 2019, the family and the company teamed up to donate $226 million to assist rebuild Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, which had been devastated by a horrific fire.