Sunday, June 19, 2011

Guardian Recommended for L'Oreal Heiress

Doctors have advised appointing a guardian to oversee the affairs of the 88-year-old L'Oreal heiress, a French newspaper said today, in a twist to a legal feud that could affect the running of the cosmetics giant.

Le Monde daily cited medical assessments carried out in November and filed with a French court last month as saying that Liliane Bettencourt, Europe's richest woman, was suffering a "degeneration in her mental and physical faculties".

L'Oreal declined to comment on the report. It was confirmed, however, by lawyers for the billionaire's daughter, Francoise Meyers-Bettencourt, who has tried to have her declared a ward of court.

Bettencourt, ranked by Forbes as the world's 15th-richest person, said in an interview with weekend newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche on Sunday that she was in fine mental health and said she was more concerned about her daughter's condition.

The Bettencourts hold a nearly 31 percent stake in L'Oreal and the dispute has raised questions over the long-term solidity of the family as a core shareholder. The case also sparked a political funding investigation last year.

Legal sources said it was unclear at this stage how the case could proceed and said France's highest court was due to meet on June 20 to decide whether a wardship judge can appoint a custodian.

Full Article and Source:
Guardian Recommended for L'Oreal Heiress

4 comments:

Barbara said...

This is too bad. Well, the daughter will find that when she does inherit, the amount will be much smaller.

StandUp said...

A guardian to "oversee" the affairs and finances??? You'd think Francoise Meyers-Bettencourt would have heard about guardianship abuse by now.

Mary Eitel said...

Court-appointed guardianship is a total disaster for the family.
They do it for the money. They don't care about the elderly person.

Anonymous said...

Funny how these stories are always the same. A rich person needs help with his/her money, and then that "helper" makes the money disappear.