PARIS — In a changing of the guard, Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, granddaughter of L’Oréal’s founder Eugène Schueller, has retired from the group’s board after 28 years.
The move was confirmed during the beauty giant’s annual general meeting, held Tuesday morning in the sweeping Palais des Congrès Paris auditorium, after it was announced in early February that she had chosen to retire.
Bettencourt Meyers, 71, sat front row between her husband, Jean-Pierre Meyers and sons Jean-Victor and Nicolas Meyers.
Bettencourt Meyers has been succeeded by her older son Jean-Victor Meyers as vice chairman of L’Oréal’s board, where his brother serves as a director. Joining the board as well is Téthys Invest, the Bettencourt Meyers family holding company, which is L’Oréal’s largest shareholder with 34.7 percent of its capital. Téthys is represented by its chief executive officer Alexandre Benais.
Jean-Paul Agon, chairman of L’Oreal, said that like each member of the company’s board, he is deeply convinced that demanding sustainable and diverse governance is a major source of value for the group.
“The fundamental and quite unique asset of our governance, as you know, undoubtedly lies in the strong and lasting tie between the Bettencourt Meyers family, the family of our founder, and L’Oréal,” he said. “As you know, it is the company’s reference shareholder. Yet its involvement goes far beyond this, which is why today marks a significant milestone in the history of L’Oréal.
“Dear Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, dear Françoise if you allow me, after serving on the board of directors for 28 years, you have decided not to seek the renewal of your term of office, which comes to an end at the close of this general meeting,” he said. “On behalf of the board of directors, the L’Oréal general management team, our 90,000 employees and all our shareholders, I am profoundly honored to pay tribute to you, dear Françoise.”
Agon shared what he described as her “decisive contribution to L’Oréal’s economic success” during close to three decades.
“You have supported the group’s development, providing it with both the ambition and the means to grow and thrive on an ongoing basis,” he said. “L’Oréal has this immense good fortune to have been founded by an entrepreneurial genius, Mr. Eugène Schueller, your grandfather. And how can we not pay special tribute to Ms. Liliane Bettencourt — his daughter, your mother — who guided the destiny of L’Oréal with the intelligence and elegance that we knew her for.
“I would also like to emphasize the significant contribution of your father Mr. André Bettencourt, who played a pivotal role at her side at L’Oréal,” Agon said. “As part of this family continuity, you yourself have shown that you are closely connected to the company. And you and your husband Mr. Jean-Pierre Meyers have worked to ensure the promotion of shareholders stability with a view to strategic permanence. These are the key success factors of our company.”
The executive said her and her husband’s long-term strategic vision, which the pair has always had for L’Oréal, was essential in providing visibility to the company’s general management.
Jean-Pierre Meyers and Françoise Bettencourt Meyers
Getty Images for L’Oreal Foundat
“This was particularly so during the major crises we faced together, such as the Lehman Brothers collapse in 2008 and the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020,” Agon said. “You have consistently resisted the lure of short-term solutions that would have compromised investment for the sake of immediate gains. Invariably, you have championed a long-term approach, allowing the group to invest, recover more robustly and, above all, lay the foundations for future achievements.”
He said her steady support for L’Oréal’s leaders — past and present — has been invaluable.
“You have also been the guardian of the L’Oréal spirit, the unwavering faith in people, advocacy of core values, vision of an extended company,” Agon said. “First and foremost, you are committed to all our employees. Your primary concern, and that of Jean-Pierre at your side, has always been their well-being and fulfillment. We have ensured respect for L’Oréal’s people, centered culture instilled by your grandfather and carried forward by François Dalle.”
Agon said L’Oréal has consistently promoted employee share ownership — the idea that the company’s success should be shared with those who make it happen, aligning their interests with those of all shareholders.
“More than a duty, you see it as a natural imperative that the company should take action and champion major causes,” said Agon, citing the Bettencourt Schueller Foundation, which Bettencourt Meyers chairs, as “the most eloquent example of this commitment. And you have always fought to preserve the group’s integrity. This has sometimes been at the expense of your own peace of mind and that of your family, to whom you’re so deeply devoted.
“We’re fully aware of all that we owe you,” Agon said. “You, who have consistently placed the long-term interests of L’Oréal above all else. Finally, you have admirably passed on the flame that drives you to your two sons — who are sitting next to you — the DNA of L’Oréal’s memory, history and fundamentals. Together with your husband, Jean-Pierre Meyers, I know that you take great pride in the fact that the close tie between your family and L’Oréal is continuing.”
Agon said both Bettencourt Meyers and her mother had been only children, and now it’s a major first with her two sons, the fourth generation of the founding family. He also congratulated Jean-Victor Meyers, who has been a L’Oréal board member for 13 years, on his birthday Tuesday. Nicolas Meyers has been a board director for five years.
Addressing Bettencourt Meyers again, Agon said the proposal of having the family holding company join the board “also marks this remarkable continuity. It is an invaluable asset for the group.”
“Dear Françoise, discretion is a silent virtue. Allow me to say at this meeting that you are the very embodiment of it,” Agon said. “You have always assumed your role with humility, generosity and simplicity. At every moment, the greatness of L’Oréal has been your family’s credo for 116 years, and it’s been yours from the very beginning. I know that it will continue to guide you, because, as you said, you’re not leaving L’Oréal — just its board of directors.
“On behalf of the members of the board, all L’Oréal’s shareholders and all L’Oréaliens, I would like to express our deep respect, our sincere admiration and our warmest thanks for your immense contribution to L’Oréal over nearly three decades. Congratulations.”
Nicolas Hieronimus, L’Oréal CEO, said: “On behalf of everyone at L’Oréal, I would like to extend my warmest thanks to Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, who has inspired an entire generation of L’Oréal’s people with a pioneering and family spirit that defines our company. She has always been the guardian of the values that guide us each day — humanist, ethical values that keep people at the heart of everything we do.
“Now, more than ever, these values must remain our compass in a world that sometimes turns away from them,” he continued. “Rest assured, dear shareholders, that I am determined to carry this legacy forward and lead L’Oréal toward new horizons of growth to create the beauty that moves the world.”
Bettencourt Meyers was presented with a bouquet of flowers to a standing ovation.