Liliane Henriette Charlotte Bettencourt (21st October 1922 to 21st September 2017) was a French heiress, socialite, and businesswoman. She was one of the principal shareholders of L'Oreal. At the time of her death, she was the richest woman, and the 14th richest person in the world, with a net worth of US $44.3 billion.

Biography
She was born Lilliane Henriette Charlotte Schueller on 21 October 1922 in Paris, the only child of Louise Madeleine Berthe and Eugene Schueller, the founder of L'Oreal, one of the world's largest cosmetics and beauty companies. When Liliane was five years old, her mother died, and she formed a close bond with her father, who later married Liliane's British governess. At the age of 15, she joined her father's company as an apprentice, mixing cosmetics and labeling bottles of shampoo.

In 1950, she married French politician Andre Bettencourt, who served as a cabinet minister in French governments of the 1960s and 1970s and rose to become deputy chairman of L'Oreal. Mr. Bettencourt had been a member of La Cagoule, a violent French fascist pro-Nazi group that Liliane's father, a Nazi sympathizer, had funded and supported in the 1930s and whose members were arrested in 1937. After the war, her husband, like other members of La Cagoule, was given refuge at L'Oreal despite his politically inconvenient past. Eventually, the Bettencourts settled in an Art Moderne mansion built-in 1951 on rue de Delabordere in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France.  They had one daughter, Francoise, who was born in 1953.

In 1957, Bettencourt inherited the L'Oreal fortune when her father died, becoming the principal shareholder. In 1963, the company went public, although Bettencourt continued to own a majority stake. In 1974, in fear that the company would be nationalized after the French elections, she exchanged almost half of her stake for a three percent (3%) stake in Nestle S.A.

As of December 2012, Bettencourt owned 30% of the outstanding shares of L'Oreal, of which 12.56% shares are effectively held in trust (for her daughter). The remainder is owned as follows: 29.78% of shares are owned by Nestle, 37.76% of shares are publicly held, and the remainder are held as treasury stock or in the company savings plan. The Bettencourt family and Nestle act in concert pursuant to the shareholders' agreement. Bettencourt ended her board director tenure on 13th February 2012 and her grandson, Jean-Victor, was appointed as a board director. Bettencourt's daughter and her daughter's husband (Jean-Pierre Meyers) are also members of the board of directors.

Bettencourt generally shunned media attention and granted few interviews. Bettencourt died on 21st September 2017. The funeral service was held at Eglise Saint-Pierre in Neuilly-sur-Seine.

Philanthropy
In 1987, Bettencourt, together with her husband and daughter, founded the Bettencourt Schueller Foundation to support and develop medical, cultural, and humanitarian projects. The foundation is based in Neuilly-sur-Seine. The foundation, which benefits from assets of €150 million and an annual budget of approx € 15 million devotes approximately 55% of its funds to scientific education and research, 33% to humanitarian and social projects, and 12% to culture and arts.

In 2008, the foundation helped fund the new Monet wing at the Musee Marmottan Monet. Conversely, in 2007 Bettencourt was jointly "awarded" a Black Planet Award, an award given for destroying the planet, along with Peter Brabeck-Letmathe for proliferating contaminated baby food, monopolizing water resources, and tolerating child labor.

Madoff victim
Bettencourt was reported to be one of the most high-profile victims of Bernard Madoff's Ponzi Scheme, losing € 22 million. She was the first investor in a fund managed by Access International Advisors, which was co-founded by Rene-Thierry Magon de la Villehuchet. De la Villehuchet killed himself on 22nd December 2008, after it became known that his funds had invested a substantial amount of their capital with Madoff.

References;
1. Liliane Bettencourt