Liliane Bettencourt, heir to the founder of cosmetics company L’Oreal, the third richest person in France, will be placed under guardianship, the attorney of her daughter, Francoise Bettencourt-Meyers, announced Monday. Liliane Bettencourt will be placed under the guardianship of her oldest grandchild, Jean-Victor Meyers. Her property and assets were placed under the guardianship of her daughter Francoise Bettencourt-Meyers and her two grandchildren, said lawyer Charlotte Robbe-Phan at the end of a hearing at the court for guardianship of Courbevoie, on the outskirts of Paris.
A medical expert’s report for Liliane Bettencourt was revealed shortly before the meeting on the Le Monde newspaper website. According to the report, Liliane Bettencourt is suffering from a “mixed dementia” and “Alzheimer’s disease in a moderately-severe stage”, with “slow brain degenerative process”. Liliane Bettencourt, who turns 89 years this week, threatened, in an interview with Le Journal du Dimanche that she will go “abroad” if the judge decides to place her under the authority of her daughter Francoise. “If they will do this, I will go abroad. If my daughter will take care of me, she will choke me to death”, said the billionaire lady.
In the summer of 2010, Liliane Bettencourt was at the center of a political scandal with many financial ramifications stemming from a family conflict that has spread to politics and led to the resignation of Minister Eric Woerth, due to suspicion of conflict of interest and illegal financing.
In early September, an “incendiary” book published by two journalists from the newspaper Le Monde has re-launched this case. A magistrate, quoted in this book, accuses the government that it put pressure on witnesses who saw Nicolas Sarkozy receiving money from the Bettencourt family to finance his presidential campaign in 2007. These charges were denounced by the president as “false”.
A placement under guardianship of Liliane Bettencourt will mean loss of administrative position at L’Oreal and president of holding position that controls shares of the family in the group, but the impact of this measure for the global giant in the field of cosmetics is difficult to assess. The other big shareholder of the group is Nestle.