The Bettencourt Affair: The World's Richest Woman And The Scandal That Rocked Paris
by Tom Sancton
Buy on AmazonLiliane Bettencourt is the world's richest woman, and the tenth wealthiest in the entire world. But at 93, she's embroiled in incredible controversy - controversy so great it almost took down the French government. It's all become Europe's biggest scandal in years, uncovering a shadowy corporate history, a buried WWII secret, and much more - so much that the former President of France has become embroiled in the controversy.
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"When Liliane Bettencourt, the aging heiress to the L’Oreal fortune, fell under the spell of a handsome, talented artist and began to shower him with gifts amounting to an incredible 1 billion euros, her daughter filed a criminal suit against the artist claiming that this “Rasputin” had exploited her mother’s oncoming dementia. The ensuing 10-year scandal outed all kinds of ugly secrets, including the company’s Nazi-collaborationist past. “There was no dye,” writes Tom Sancton in this riveting page-turner, “that could hide the family’s dark roots.”"
NPR Books We Love — 2017 · apps.npr.org