L’Oreal is without a doubt one of the most popular cosmetics brands in the world today. Its products can be found in drug stores and department stores in countries across the world and are used by people from all walks of life.
The France-based company’s success has also turned its heirs into some of the richest women on the planet. Here’s your look back at L’oreal’s origins and interesting past before becoming the giant it is today.
Oréale to L’oreal
L’oreal was founded by the French chemist Eugene Schueller, who came up with a hair dye he dubbed as Oréale. He found success in selling his products to Parisian hairdressers and eventually changed his company’s name to L’Oreal.
Unfortunately, the brand’s profits were used for less-than-ideal causes. Schueller, who has German ancestry, reportedly funded the violent fascist and Nazi-supporting group La Cagoule and even ran it from L’Oreal’s own headquarters.
Dark Past
This association with La Cagoule would carry on during the time of Liliane Bettencourt, who is the only child of Schueller. She was actually married to Andre Bettencourt, a French politician known for his pro-Nazi leanings and membership to La Cagoule.
The couple married in 1950 and Andre began serving as L’Oreal’s deputy chairman. He and other members of the fascist group found solace in the cosmetics company when the Nazis lost World War II.
Liliane began working for the family business as a young teen but not much is really known about her involvement in L’Oreal over the years. What is sure though is that she benefited greatly from the company’s success in the global cosmetics market.
The French heiress had a net worth of $46 billion when she passed away in 2017 at the age of 94 years old.
The New Generation
The L’oreal fortune then passed on to Liliane and Andre’s only child, Francoise Bettencourt Meyers. The 67-year-old currently serves as the company’s non-executive chairwoman.
Due to French laws, Francoise reportedly inherited at least half of her mother’s personal wealth. Her current net worth is estimated to be around $67.1 billion making her the wealthiest woman in the world.
Francoise still holds a 33.14% stake in the company her grandfather founded. She is married to Jean-Pierre Meyers, a Jewish businessman.
