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L'Oréal
Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, the world's richest woman, runs family holding Téthys SAS to redeploy L'Oréal dividends into VC, real estate, and digital...
L'Oréal
The Bettencourt Meyers fortune originates with chemist Eugène Schueller, who founded L'Oréal in 1909. His daughter Liliane Bettencourt passed the controlling interest to her only child, Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, upon her death in 2017 (per Forbes, 2017). Françoise and her husband Jean-Pierre Meyers steer the family's affairs through Téthys SAS, the apex holding entity, and its investment arm Téthys Invest. Their sons Jean-Victor and Nicolas Meyers sit on the boards of both L'Oréal and Téthys, embedding the third generation directly into governance. The family's deployment strategy draws from a steady dividend stream — L'Oréal generated over $11B in US revenue in 2025 alone — and channels it into venture capital, direct real estate, and digital asset allocations. The Meyers structure participates in direct co-investments and consortium deals rather than operating as a fund-of-funds. Confirmed positions include a stake in Galileo Global Education alongside CPP Investments, a co-investment with the Wertheimer family's Mousse Investments in luxury brand The Row, and on-balance-sheet positions in digital assets. The investment posture spans France and North America, with a discernible tilt toward luxury, education, and frontier consumer distribution. Téthys SAS and Téthys Invest host a compact team; named executives include CEO Alexandre Benais, who joined in 2020 to professionalize the direct investment function. The family also operates Fondation Bettencourt Schueller, one of France's largest private grantmakers, with Nicolas Meyers serving as a director. In September 2023, CPP Investments and the family acquired a majority stake in Galileo Global Education (per CPP Investments, September 2023), signaling appetite for scaled platform investments alongside institutional co-investors. The structural differentiator is the tight coupling of a public-company dividend engine to a private investment vehicle. Rather than liquidating the founding family's stake, Téthys SAS captures the cash flow from L'Oréal's biggest single insider block — roughly one-third of the company — and redeploys it without external LP pressures. This creates a permanent capital architecture that can hold positions indefinitely, blending the governance of a pension fund asset owner with the agility of a single-family office.
General information
Firm type
Multi Family Office
Year founded
1909
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
Europe
Country
France
City
Paris
Corporate office
Paris, France
Additional offices
New York, NY, United States
Principals
Françoise Bettencourt Meyers
Chair of Téthys SAS
Jean-Pierre Meyers
CEO of Téthys SAS; Vice-Chairman of L'Oréal
Alexandre Benais
CEO of Téthys Invest; Deputy CEO of Téthys SAS
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
How is L'Oréal related to the Bettencourt Meyers family office?
The family's wealth originates from Eugène Schueller's founding stake in the cosmetics giant. Françoise Bettencourt Meyers and her family own roughly 33% of L'Oréal through Téthys SAS, the group holding company. The office invests dividends from that stake rather than managing L'Oréal's corporate treasury. The family's Téthys vehicles are structurally separate from L'Oréal's operational management, though Jean-Pierre Meyers and Alexandre Benais hold board seats at the parent company.
Who runs investment decisions at Téthys SAS and Téthys Invest?
Françoise Bettencourt Meyers serves as Chair of Téthys SAS, and Jean-Pierre Meyers is CEO. Alexandre Benais runs Téthys Invest as CEO, leading the direct investment team since 2020. The couple's sons, Jean-Victor and Nicolas Meyers, sit on the boards of Téthys and L'Oréal, creating a tight family governance circle that makes portfolio decisions.
Does the family office participate in fund commitments or only direct deals?
The Meyers family operates primarily through direct co-investments and consortium structures rather than broad fund-of-funds commitments. They have partnered with institutional investors like CPP Investments on platform deals (Galileo Global Education) and with peer family offices — Mousse Investments, representing the Wertheimer family, co-invested alongside them in luxury label The Row.
What is the relationship between Téthys Invest and Fondation Bettencourt Schueller?
Fondation Bettencourt Schueller is the family's philanthropic vehicle, operating independently from the investment office. It is one of France's largest private foundations and focuses on scientific research, culture, and social inclusion. Nicolas Meyers serves as a director, connecting the foundation's governance to the family, but its assets and grants are separate from Téthys investment activities.
Does the family office publish its assets under management?
Téthys SAS and Téthys Invest do not publicly disclose aggregate AUM. The family's economic power is visible through its L'Oréal stake — valued at roughly $90 billion — but the investment office's direct portfolio size remains undisclosed. The L'Oréal holding is public; the deployment through Téthys is private.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
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