Liliane Bettencourt, the richest woman in the world

- Liliane Bettencourt, the richest woman in the world died, as her family confirmed Thursday.


Bettencourt, who was 94, was the heir of the French L'Oréal cosmetics empire. She was the daughter of the founder of the company, Eugène Schueller.

Forbes, like Bloomberg's Billionaires Index, considered Bettencourt the richest woman in the world. Its net worth was estimated at 44 billion dollars.

Bettencourt began to work in the company of its father when it was 15 years, like apprentice, and inherited its participation in the same one in 1957.

She was actively involved in running the global cosmetics giant and served on her board until 2012. She retired at age 89 and was replaced by her grandson amid a bitter legal dispute with her daughter, who argued that Bettencourt was not mentally competent to handle his own affairs.

The Bettencourt family currently owns 33% of the L'Oréal Group. The company owns such well-known brands as Lancôme, Garnier and La Roche-Posay.

"We all felt a deep admiration for Liliane Bettencourt, who always looked after L'Oréal, the company and its employees, and was dedicated to its development and success," said L'Oréal president Jean-Paul Agon.