Liliane Bettencourt (born 21 October 1922) is the richest person in France and one of the wealthiest people in the world. Forbes magazine estimated her wealth in 2005 at $17.2 bn.

Fortune Business Country Status 17.2 Billion L'Oreal France Married, 1 Child

Bettencourt was the only child of Mr. Eugene Schueller, the founder of L'Oreal, the world's leading company in cosmetics and beauty. In 1927, her mother died when she was 5 years old. In 1950, she married French politician Andre Bettencourt. She now lives in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France. Together, they have one daughter, Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, who is a member of L'Oreal's board of directors. Francoise Meyers married Jean-Pierre Meyers, the grandson of a rabbi who died in Auschwitz.

In 1957, Bettencourt inherited the L'Oreal fortune from her father. She is the principal shareholder of L'Oreal. The company ownership breakdown: 27.5% by Liliane Bettencourt, 26.4% by Nestle, the remaining 46.1% are publicly traded.

Bettencourt's family has a reputation for secrecy, partially due to controversy surrounding her father's connection with La Cagoule, a violent French fascist-leaning and anti-communist group.

She created the Bettencourt Schueller Foundation, which awards the "Liliane Bettencourt Prize for Life Sciences" to a European researcher under the age of forty-five. (wiki)