(Bloomberg) - Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, the world’s richest woman, is bolstering her family’s investment company with a hire from McKinsey amid a surge in the value of L’Oreal, the cosmetics company founded by her grandfather.
Ms Bettencourt Meyers' Tethys Invest company named Cyrielle Villepelet as managing director to work alongside chief executive Alexandre Benais.
Ms Villepelet was most recently a partner in the Paris office of consultancy McKinsey, working in the luxury, fashion and consumer goods industries.
Tethys invests in areas that do not compete with L’Oreal. Last year, it bought into decade-old retailer Sezane alongside private equity company General Atlantic and, in 2017, it invested in French private hospital operator Elsan.
The company is partly funded by L’Oreal dividends.
Ms Bettencourt Meyers, 69, is the biggest single shareholder in L’Oreal with a stake of about 35 per cent.
She is one of a clutch of French luxury titans whose companies have benefitted from growing demand for high-end make-up, clothes and jewellery.
The ultra-wealthy group also includes Bernard Arnault, the world’s richest person and founder of fashion empire LVMH, and rival Francois Pinault, who started Kering, owner of brands such as Gucci and Balenciaga.
The Wertheimer brothers, who own Chanel, and the family behind leather goods maker Hermes International are also in the clique.
Mr Arnault is worth $188.3 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, while Ms Bettencourt Meyers is number 12 in the ranking with an estimated fortune of $79.3 billion.
Alain Wertheimer is the world's 25th-richest person and his brother, Gerard, is 26th. Both have a fortune of $48.4 billion, while Mr Pinault is ranked 30th with $40.9 billion.
As a leader in the global skincare market, L’Oreal could benefit from a higher-than-expected demand for beauty products should China rebound this year, UBS analysts wrote in a recent note.
The company's shares have more than doubled in the past five years, valuing it at $217 billion.
With a reclusive reputation, Ms Bettencourt Meyers is on the board of L’Oreal along with her two sons, Jean-Victor Meyers and Nicolas Meyers.
She has written two books — a five-volume study of the Bible and a genealogy of the Greek deities — and is known for playing piano for hours every day.
She came into her fortune following the death of her mother, Liliane Bettencourt, in 2017 at the age of 94.
By Bloomberg
March 13, 2023
