French billionaire heiress and owner of the L’Oréal beauty empire, Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, has fallen to the third position on the world’s richest women list after her net worth plummeted by $28.2 billion between mid-2024 and January 9, 2025.
According to data estimates, Françoise’s net worth stood at $100 billion as of June 2024, making her the first female billionaire to ever hit that mark.
However, her wealth has since dropped significantly, allowing Alice Walton to claim the title of the world’s richest woman.
This sudden decline saw her fortune fall to $89.9 billion at its lowest point. Recent checks show her current net worth is $71.8 billion, reflecting an $18.1 billion reduction.
The primary reason for this steep decline is linked to the performance of L’Oréal. Over the past year, the company’s shares have plunged, with L’Oréal trading at 332.95 EUR, down by 107.55 EUR (-24.42%).
L’Oréal is not the only luxury stock to have suffered the heat in 2024. Many of the world’s largest luxury companies saw their share prices decline this year as the market for high-end goods experienced a brutal slowdown.
Only two companies — Hermès and Richemont, the parent company of Cartier and Van Cleef — managed to beat the STOXX Europe 600, an index that represents a mix of European stocks, this year.
Meanwhile, share prices for LVMH — the largest of the luxury conglomerates and owner of brands like Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior — and Burberry have fallen this year. (Prada and Moncler also slipped, though aren’t pictured here.)
Kering, the company behind Balenciaga and Saint Laurent, fared the worst. Its stock price dropped more than 40% this year as its headline brand, Gucci, floundered.
What to know
Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, the world’s wealthiest woman for much of the past decade, inherited the L’Oréal empire after her mother, Liliane Bettencourt, passed away in 2017. Liliane, a fixture in France’s elite circles and once the nation’s richest person, was known for her close relationships with French political leaders and her frequent appearances in the media spotlight.
- In her later years, however, Liliane’s life became entangled in scandal. A bitter legal battle erupted between mother and daughter after Françoise accused a prominent photographer of taking advantage of Liliane’s declining mental health.
- In 2011, a French court found that Liliane suffered from dementia, a ruling that transferred control of her vast fortune and financial affairs to Françoise. Meanwhile, another family member was assigned to oversee Liliane’s personal care.
Unlike her mother’s high-profile lifestyle, the 71 year old Françoise Bettencourt Meyers has chosen to remain largely out of the public eye.
