L’Oreal heiress Lillian Bettencourt dies at 94
Image copyright AFP Image caption Ms Bettencourt was the world’s 14th wealthiest person, according to Forbes magazine’s 2017 list
Liliane Bettencourt, the heiress to cosmetics firm L’Oreal, has died aged 94, her family has confirmed.
A statement said she died at home “peacefully” overnight.
With an estimated 2017 net worth of 33bn euros (£30bn; $40bn), she was the world’s richest woman.
She left the company’s board in 2012, but remained in the news after eight were found guilty of exploiting her health after a dementia diagnosis.
In a statement, L’Oreal chairman and CEO Jean-Paul Agon said: “We all had a deep admiration for Liliane Bettencourt who has always watched over L’Oreal, the company and its employees, and who was very attached to its success and development.
“She personally contributed a lot to its success for very many years. A great woman of beauty has left us and we will never forget her.”
Her father, Eugène Schueller, founded a company in 1909, which turned into the L’Oreal group.
