Liliane Bettencourt
Faces In The News
By Javier Espinoza
Daughter of Liliane Bettencourt is challenging her decision to give large sums of money to a photographer friend.
She might be the controlling shareholder of one of the world's most powerful cosmetics company and one of the richest women on earth, but French billionaire Liliane Bettencourt, 86, has sparked an unprecedented family row in the 100-year old Paris-based company after reportedly funding life insurance policies worth around 1.0 billion euros ($1.4 billion)to benefit a photographer, painter and writer whom she has befriended.
Bettencourt was quoted by the Indepedent newspaper as saying that she had given part of her $22.9 billion fortune to François-Marie Banier because "he was worth it."
Now her daughter, who also sits on the managing board of the company along with her husband, has brought legal action against her mother, claiming Bettencourt's age makes her "vulnerable to abuse." It was not clear, however, whether the photographer would receive all the money, and sources close to L'Oreal said the figure of 1.0 billion euros ($1.4 billion) was exaggerated.
A family friend told the Journal du Dimanche on Sunday that Francoise, the only child of L'Oreal's principal shareholder, had brought the legal action because of fears that the heiress no longer had control of her actions. "She is not looking for any money, but is afraid, quite simply, that her mother at her advanced age, is about to fritter away her fortune," the unnamed source said.
Although the complaint was made almost a year ago, details only emerged in the French press over the weekend. Bakchich.info, an investigative website, said police has interviewed both Bettencourt and the photographer, who is said to be the beneficiary of "gifts" over many years. But her lawyer said: "She is travelling in the United States at present and is very well. She does not wish to make any comment on what is a private affair."
Last month, Mrs Bettencourt told Le Figaro: "Fortune is an opportunity. When one has received a lot, one must love giving--simply, without ulterior motives, without calculation, without waiting for a 'return on investment.' And thus to give back, freely to society a part of what one has received."
2008 Forbes.com LLC™
December 18, 2008
FRANCE: L'Oreal Heiress Is Generous To A Fault
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NEW YORK, NY / Forbes / Faces in the News / December 18, 2008
Liliane Bettencourt
Faces In The News
By Javier Espinoza
Daughter of Liliane Bettencourt is challenging her decision to give large sums of money to a photographer friend.
She might be the controlling shareholder of one of the world's most powerful cosmetics company and one of the richest women on earth, but French billionaire Liliane Bettencourt, 86, has sparked an unprecedented family row in the 100-year old Paris-based company after reportedly funding life insurance policies worth around 1.0 billion euros ($1.4 billion)to benefit a photographer, painter and writer whom she has befriended.
Bettencourt was quoted by the Indepedent newspaper as saying that she had given part of her $22.9 billion fortune to François-Marie Banier because "he was worth it."
Now her daughter, who also sits on the managing board of the company along with her husband, has brought legal action against her mother, claiming Bettencourt's age makes her "vulnerable to abuse." It was not clear, however, whether the photographer would receive all the money, and sources close to L'Oreal said the figure of 1.0 billion euros ($1.4 billion) was exaggerated.
A family friend told the Journal du Dimanche on Sunday that Francoise, the only child of L'Oreal's principal shareholder, had brought the legal action because of fears that the heiress no longer had control of her actions. "She is not looking for any money, but is afraid, quite simply, that her mother at her advanced age, is about to fritter away her fortune," the unnamed source said.
Although the complaint was made almost a year ago, details only emerged in the French press over the weekend. Bakchich.info, an investigative website, said police has interviewed both Bettencourt and the photographer, who is said to be the beneficiary of "gifts" over many years. But her lawyer said: "She is travelling in the United States at present and is very well. She does not wish to make any comment on what is a private affair."
Last month, Mrs Bettencourt told Le Figaro: "Fortune is an opportunity. When one has received a lot, one must love giving--simply, without ulterior motives, without calculation, without waiting for a 'return on investment.' And thus to give back, freely to society a part of what one has received."
2008 Forbes.com LLC™
Liliane Bettencourt
Faces In The News
By Javier Espinoza
Daughter of Liliane Bettencourt is challenging her decision to give large sums of money to a photographer friend.
She might be the controlling shareholder of one of the world's most powerful cosmetics company and one of the richest women on earth, but French billionaire Liliane Bettencourt, 86, has sparked an unprecedented family row in the 100-year old Paris-based company after reportedly funding life insurance policies worth around 1.0 billion euros ($1.4 billion)to benefit a photographer, painter and writer whom she has befriended.
Bettencourt was quoted by the Indepedent newspaper as saying that she had given part of her $22.9 billion fortune to François-Marie Banier because "he was worth it."
Now her daughter, who also sits on the managing board of the company along with her husband, has brought legal action against her mother, claiming Bettencourt's age makes her "vulnerable to abuse." It was not clear, however, whether the photographer would receive all the money, and sources close to L'Oreal said the figure of 1.0 billion euros ($1.4 billion) was exaggerated.
A family friend told the Journal du Dimanche on Sunday that Francoise, the only child of L'Oreal's principal shareholder, had brought the legal action because of fears that the heiress no longer had control of her actions. "She is not looking for any money, but is afraid, quite simply, that her mother at her advanced age, is about to fritter away her fortune," the unnamed source said.
Although the complaint was made almost a year ago, details only emerged in the French press over the weekend. Bakchich.info, an investigative website, said police has interviewed both Bettencourt and the photographer, who is said to be the beneficiary of "gifts" over many years. But her lawyer said: "She is travelling in the United States at present and is very well. She does not wish to make any comment on what is a private affair."
Last month, Mrs Bettencourt told Le Figaro: "Fortune is an opportunity. When one has received a lot, one must love giving--simply, without ulterior motives, without calculation, without waiting for a 'return on investment.' And thus to give back, freely to society a part of what one has received."
2008 Forbes.com LLC™
