Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, Europe's richest woman, will leave the board of L'Oréal after nearly 30 years.

Françoise Bettencourt Meyers , the second richest woman in the world and heiress to the L'Oréal empire, will leave this week the position she has held since 1997 on the board of directors of the multinational founded by her grandfather in 1909, as well as the position of vice president of this governing body, which she has held since 2020.

In 2024, the Frenchwoman held the top spot on the Forbes list of the world's richest women, although in the 2025 edition she was overtaken by American Walmart heiress Alice Walton, whose fortune is estimated at $101 billion (€88.837 billion), compared to Bettencourt Meyers' $81.6 billion (€71.774 billion).

According to information released by the European cosmetics giant, 71-year-old Bettencourt Meyers informed L'Oréal management that, after 28 years on the board of directors, she will not seek renewal of her mandate as a director, which expires after the company's general shareholders meeting this Tuesday, April 29.

However, he expressed his desire to ensure the continued commitment of the Bettencourt Meyers family to L'Oréal by proposing that Téthys, the holding company that manages the family's interests and L'Oréal's largest shareholder, join the board of directors, which already includes his two sons, Jean-Victor and Nicolas Meyers.

At the proposal of Bettencourt Meyers and her family, and on the recommendation of the Nomination and Governance Committee, the L'Oréal Board of Directors will propose to the general meeting the appointment of Téthys as a director for a four-year term, chaired by Françoise Bettencourt Meyers.

If the French company's general meeting approves Téthys' appointment to L'Oréal 's board of directors on Tuesday, the holding company plans to appoint its deputy CEO, Alexandre Benais, as his representative on the board of the cosmetics multinational.

Likewise, to replace Françoise Bettencourt Meyers as Vice Chairwoman of the Board of Directors, the Bettencourt Meyers family has proposed, and the Board has unanimously approved, the appointment of Jean-Victor Meyers, the eldest son of the granddaughter of the company's founder, following the general meeting on April 29.

L'Oréal Chairman of the Board, Jean-Paul Agon, thanked Françoise Bettencourt Meyers for her outstanding contribution to L'Oréal's success for nearly three decades, her unwavering commitment, and her constant support for the Group.

"A guardian of the founding values, she played a key role in the group's strategic transformations through her ever-perceptive guidance," he said.

On the other hand, the Board of Directors has decided to propose to the General Meeting on April 29 the renewal of the mandates of Nicolas Hieronimus, Paul Bulcke, and Alexandre Ricard as directors for a period of four years.

For its part, the mandate of Virginie Morgon, a L'Oréal board member since 2013 and chair of the Audit Committee since 2016, which expires at the end of the meeting, will not be up for renewal. Isabelle Seillier and Aurélie Jean will be proposed for appointment as independent directors for four-year terms.