The heiress to French cosmetics empire L’Oreal has become the first woman in history to reach a net worth of $100 billion…

French billionaire Francoise Bettencourt Meyers – Photo: Bloomberg.

Ms. Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, heiress to the French cosmetics empire L’Oreal and the world’s richest female billionaire, has become the first woman in history to reach the $100 billion net worth mark – according to the company. Bloomberg news.

In the ranking of the 500 richest billionaires on the planet Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Ms. Bettencourt Meyers is ranked 12th, ahead of Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani and behind Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim. Mr. Slim recently became the first person in Latin America to reach the milestone of 100 billion USD in assets.

Bringing Ms. Bettencourt Meyers to this property milestone was L’Oreal’s stock price reaching an all-time high. The stock has gained 35% this year as consumers continue their trend of spending heavily on luxury products in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to L’Oreal data, by 2022, Ms. Bettencourt Meyers and her family own more than 34% of shares in this giant cosmetics company.

Ms. Bettencourt Meyers is the only child of Ms. Liliane Bettencourt – daughter of Mr. Eugene Schueller, founder of L’Oreal Group. Ms. Bettencourt Meyers inherited shares from her mother when her mother passed away in 2017, holding the role of President of Tethys – L’Oreal’s parent company, and Vice President of L’Oreal Group.

As the world’s largest cosmetics company, L’Oreal owns a long list of long-standing famous brands from Lancome to Maybelline. In 2022, the company will achieve revenue of more than 38 billion euros, equivalent to 42 billion USD.

This year, L’Oreal acquired Australian cosmetics brand Aesop for $2.5 billion – marking the company’s largest acquisition ever. The previous record was the acquisition of YSL Beaute for $1.7 billion in 2008 – according to data from Dealogic.

Compared to the net worth of compatriot Bernard Arnault – Chairman of the world’s largest luxury brand LVMH – Ms. Bettencourt Meyers’s net worth is still quite “modest”. Mr. Arnault is the second richest person in the world, with an estimated net worth of $179 billion – according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

The first position in this ranking belongs to American billionaire Elon Musk, CEO of electric car company Tesla. Mr. Musk’s net worth is 232 billion USD, an increase of more than 95 billion USD since the beginning of the year.

Billionaire “club” owns 100 billion USD in assets in the world as of December 28 – Source: Bloomberg.