L’Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt has died at 94.

According to an announcement made by her family she passed away “peacefully” overnight at home.

With an estimated 2017 net worth of 33bn euros (£30bn; $40bn), she was the world’s richest woman.

In a statement, the company’s chairman and CEO Jean-Paul Agon said: “We all had a deep admiration for Liliane Bettencourt who has always watched over L’Oreal, the company and its employees, and who was very attached to its success and development.

“She personally contributed a lot to its success for very many years. A great woman of beauty has left us and we will never forget her.”

The heiress became embroiled in a public feud with her estranged daughter, Francoise Bettencourt-Meyers, in 2007.

Ms Bettencourt’s assets, including her holding stake in the cosmetics company, were placed in a trust controlled by her daughter.

One of her two grandchildren, Jean-Victor Meyers, succeeded her on L’Oreal’s board as vice chairman, and was named to guard her personal affairs.

Her father, Eugène Schueller, founded a hair dye company in 1909, which then turned into the L’Oreal group.
It is now the world’s largest cosmetics company.