L'Oreal cosmetics heiress and the world's richest woman

Born: October 21, 1922;

Died: September 21, 2017

LILIANE Bettencourt, who has died aged 94, was the heiress to the L'Oreal cosmetics empire who became the richest woman in the world. In the last years of her life, she was also at the centre of what became known in France as the Bettencourt Affair, which revolved around accusations of financial scandal and abuse.

Said to have a fortune estimated at 35billion euros, Liliane Bettencourt was the daughter of Eugene Schueller, who founded L'Oreal in the early 20th century after developing hair dyes. Schueller's company was a rapid and great success, although he was also known for his support of fascists organisations during the Second World War.

Liliane began working in her father's company from an early age and assisted him until his death in 1957, when she inherited the family fortune. When the company went public six years later, she continued to own a majority stake.

When she was 27, she married the French politician Andre Bettencourt, who had been a hero of the wartime Resistance. Her husband notably served as a minister at the end of the 1960s and beginning of the 1970s. He died in 2007.

Bettencourt continued to retain a majority shareholding in L'Oreal, which went on to become the world's leading beauty company, generating sales amounting to 25.8 billion euros in 2016; it currently employs 89,300 people worldwide.

However, in recent years, the name of Liliane Bettencourt has become just as famous for financial scandal as entrepreneurial success.

The Bettencourt Affair, which has wound its way through the courts and newspapers for years, stemmed from a 2007 complaint filed by Bettencourt's daughter accusing one of her mother's closest friends, the photographer Francois-Marie Banier, of manipulating the elderly widow into giving him artwork and cash.

In 2015, a French court gave Banier a three-year prison sentence on charges of swindling millions of euros from Bettencourt by taking advantage of her weak mental state.

The court acquitted a former ally of former president Nicolas Sarkozy in the case.

Sarkozy's former campaign treasurer, Eric Woerth, was acquitted on charges of "abuse of weakness" and taking donations from Mrs Bettencourt during the 2007 presidential election campaign.

Sarkozy himself was cleared in 2013 of preliminary charges.

On news of Liliane Bettencourt's death, L'Oreal chairman and chief executive Jean-Paul Agon expressed his admiration for her. Mr Agon said she always looke" after the company and its employees and she had personally contributed greatly to its success for many years.

Mrs Bettencourt is survived by her daughter, Francoise, who was born in 1953.