Bettencourt Meyers vs Zhang Yiming

L'Oréal and ByteDance.

The differences

Forbes puts Zhang Yiming about $10.1B ahead of Françoise Bettencourt Meyers.Forbes figures from 4 Sep 2026 and 7 Oct 2026.
Françoise Bettencourt Meyers: inherited it. Zhang Yiming: co-founded it.
Françoise Bettencourt Meyers is about 30 years older than Zhang Yiming.
Françoise Bettencourt Meyers is from France; Zhang Yiming is from China.

Put someone else on either side

Bettencourt Meyers

Zhang Yiming

Net worth, Forbes: $90.7BForbes, 7 Oct 2026; $101BForbes, 4 Sep 2026
Net worth, Bloomberg: $99.2BBloomberg, 16 Oct 2026; $105BBloomberg, 10 Oct 2026
Forbes rank: No. 21Real-Time list, 7 Oct 2026; No. 28Real-Time list, 16 Jun 2026
Billionaire since: 2018First on a Forbes World's Billionaires list in 2018, its 'richest newcomer' at $42.2 billion, after her mother died in 2017; 2018First year on Forbes' World's Billionaires list: Forbes says he 'debuted' on it in March 2018 with $4 billion

How it started: Inherited itInherited the family's L'Oréal stake when her mother Liliane Bettencourt died in 2017; L'Oréal was founded by her grandfather Eugène Schueller; Co-founded itByteDance was founded in 2012 by a team led by Zhang Yiming and Liang Rubo; Forbes labels him self-made
Main source: The family's L'Oréal stakeBloomberg: 'The majority of Francoise Bettencourt Meyers' fortune stems from her stake in L'Oreal'; ByteDance stock (TikTok, Douyin, Toutiao)Bloomberg: 'Zhang Yiming's wealth is derived from his stake in ByteDance'
Companies: L'OréalL'Oréal: Largest shareholder through the family holding Téthys, which she chairs; L'Oréal director 1997-2025 and vice-chair from 2020; ByteDanceByteDance: Co-founder; no executive role
Biggest stake: L'Oréal34.79% owned; ByteDance21% owned

Born: 1953; 1983Yongding District, Longyan, Fujian, China
Country: FranceLives in Paris, France; ChinaLives in Singapore
Education: Not stated; Bachelor's degreeBachelor of Engineering, Nankai University (graduated 2005)
Parents: Daughter of André and Liliane Bettencourt; her mother was the L'Oréal heiress and her grandfather Eugène Schueller founded L'OréalHer father's occupation is not stated; The only son of civil servants, raised in Longyan, Fujian province

Giving Pledge: Not a signer; Not a signer
Foundation: Fondation Bettencourt SchuellerShe is its founder and president; Not stated
Lifetime giving: Not stated; Not stated

Role now: Chair of the boardChair of Téthys, the family holding company that is L'Oréal's largest shareholder; president of Fondation Bettencourt Schueller; Founder, no executive roleCo-founder of ByteDance; left the CEO post in May 2021 and the chairmanship later that year
Successor: Her sons sit on L'Oréal's board: Jean-Victor Meyers (director since 2012, vice-chairman since 2025) and Nicolas Meyers (director since 2020); Liang Rubo, ByteDance co-founder, became CEO in 2021 and is chairman
Public office: None found; None found
Legal record: None found; None found