02859cam a2200385 i 4500 332853195 TxAuBib 20171103120000.0 170803s2017||||||||||||d|||||||||||eng|u 2017037026 9781432845629 31.99 1432845624 31.99 eng rda TxAuBib rda Sancton, Thomas, 1949-, (Thomas Alexander.) The Bettencourt affair [LARGE PRINT] : the world's richest woman and the scandal that rocked Paris / by Thomas Sancton. Large Print edition. Waterville, Maine : Thorndike Press, [2017] 679 pages : map ; 23 cm. txt rdacontent n rdamedia nc rdacarrier "Was the world's wealthiest woman--Liliane Bettencourt--heir to an estimated thirty-six-billion-dollar L'Oreal fortune, the victim of a con man? Or were her own family the real villains? This riveting narrative tells the real-life, shocking story behind the cause celebre that has captivated both France and the world. Liliane Bettencourt is the world's richest woman and the eleventh wealthiest person on the planet, as of 2016. But at ninety-four, she's embroiled in an incredible controversy that has dominated the headlines and ensnared a former president of France in the controversy. Why? [It is] thanks to an artist and photographer named Francois-Marie Banier, who was given hundreds of millions of dollars by Liliane. Liliane's daughter, Francoise, considers Banier a con man and filed a lawsuit against him, but Banier has a far different story to tell. It's all become Europe's biggest scandal in years, uncovering a shadowy corporate history, buried World War II secrets, illicit political payoffs, and muchmore. Written by Tom Sancton, a Vanity Fair contributor and former Time correspondent currently living in France, The Bettencourt Affair is part courtroom drama; part upstairs-downstairs tale; part business narrative of a glamorous global company with past Nazi connections; and part character-driven story of a complex, fascinating family and the intruder who nearly tore it apart."--Provided by publisher. 20180119. Bettencourt, Liliane 1922-2017. Bettencourt, Liliane 1922-2017. Friends and associates. Banier, François-Marie 1947- Sarkozy, Nicolas 1955- L'Oréal (Firm) History. Billionaires France Biography. Businesswomen France Biography. Swindlers and swindling France Paris History 21st century. Scandals France Paris History 21st century. Large print books. Biographies.