Worlds Richest Women: $22 Billion

(update: as of March 7, 2008 Liliane Bettancourt is the world's richest woman. She ranked 17th with $22.9 Billion.)

Liliane Bettencourt (born 21 October 1922) is the second richest person in France, ranking 17th in wealthiest people in the world and the wealthiest woman living. Forbes magazine estimated her wealth in 2008 at $22.9 billion.

Bettencourt was the only child of Mr. Eugène Schueller, the founder of
L'Oréal, one of the world's leading cosmetics and beauty companies. In 1927, her mother died when Liliane was 5 years old.

In 1950, she married French politician André Bettencourt and lived in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France together until Andre's death in November 2007. They had one daughter, Françoise, who married Jean-Pierre Meyers, the grandson of a rabbi who died in Auschwitz concentration camp. Françoise Bettencourt Meyers is a member of L'Oréal's board of directors

In 1957, Bettencourt inherited the L'Oréal fortune from her father. She is the principal shareholder of L'Oréal. The company ownership breakdown: 27.5% by Liliane Bettencourt, 26.4% by Nestlé, the remaining 46.1% are publicly traded.

She created the Bettencourt Schueller Foundation, which awards the "Liliane Bettencourt Prize for Life Sciences" to a European researcher under the age of forty-five.

A report by Forbes has her listed as the second richest person in France behind
Bernard Arnault who has an estimated $26.0 billion.