Françoise Bettencourt Meyer becomes first woman with $100 billion fortune

A list of the world's richest persons shows that Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, the heiress of L'Oréal, is the first woman to amass a $100 billion (£78.5 billion; €90.1 billion) fortune.

Her grandpa built the French cosmetics business, which is poised for its best stock market performance in decades according to BBC.

On Thursday, shares of L'Oréal reached a record high in Paris.

Since the pandemic, when more individuals were under lockdown and used less makeup, the company has witnessed a rise in sales.

Bettencourt Meyers, a 70-year-old woman, is now the 12th richest person in the world with a net worth that has crossed $100 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

With a net worth of $179 billion, she is still far behind her French rival Bernard Arnault, who came in second on the list. The largest luxury conglomerate in the world, LVMH, was founded by Arnault and is home to a number of upscale labels, such as Louis Vuitton and Fendi.

A request for comment from the BBC was not immediately answered by L'Oréal.

The vice-chair of the board of directors of the corporation is Bettencourt Meyers. With a roughly 35% stake, she and her family are L'Oréal's largest shareholders.

When her mother, Liliane Bettencourt, passed away in 2017, she ascended to the position of L'Oréal's ruling heir.