The Billionaire, the Butler & the Boyfriend

As Episode 1 of "L'Affaire Bettencourt: Scandale chez la femme la plus riche du monde" (2023 release from France; 3 episodes ranging from 48 to 53 min; horribly titled in English "The Billionaire, the Butler and the Boyfriend") opens, we are reminded that all audio is real, and that the scenes are re-enactments. We then are introduced to Liliane Bettencourt, who as heir to the L'Oreal cosmetics empire is worth an astonishing 30 billion (with a "b") Euros. It seems that Liliane is estranged from her only child, a daughter named Francoise. It also seems that Liliane is living a very boring life. That is, until one day celebrity photographer François-Marie Banier shows up to take her picture for a magazine article that is about to come out. At this point we are 15 minutes into Episode 1,

Couple of comments: apart from the secret audio recordings, there are also a number of talking heads such as the lawyer, the accountant, several friends, etc. It paints a picture of a woman who is so insanely rich ("the richest woman in the world", per the original French title of this mini-series), it is impossible to figure out whether someone is friendly to Liliane for all the right or all the wrong reasons. It leads to impossible situations. In fact I will say this: if someone would've written a fictional story with similar facts, it would've been ridiculed for lacking any and all credibility. That's what making this such an entertaining (if at times also quite sad) series. You can't make this stuff up!

"L'Affaire Bettencourt: Scandale chez la femme la plus riche du monde" started streaming on Netflix a few days ago. Netflix "suggested" it to me based on my viewing habits, and indeed I was not disappointed! I watched all 3 episodes in a single setting. If you are a fan of true crime documentaries or as simply curious who a person worth 30 billion Euros lives day-to-day, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.

I felt a sense of tabloid history here but there was no uniformity when listening to the French with subtitles then the film switching to the English translation was annoying. What's with the overhead shots and the repeated flashes to the gate of the daughter's home. Made it almost through the second episode then quit. In the end it was the cinematography that had me abandoning this offering. It was a great example of largess and how wealth can actually seem absurd from a middle class perspective. I will say this however as a man I knew the product L'Oréal but not the actual owners of this giant organization.

Very intriguing to watch! I love this documentary. The most interesting thing they have a REAL recorded. The storylines about liliane from year to year, the people around her and how we can see the life of the the richest woman in the world is very addictive. This documentary mostly uses the same clips (repeated) but they still can make it fascinating. This docuseries makes us to use high concentration to watch it. BUT BELIEVE ME IT'S VERY EXCITING. Last sad at the same time. In my opinion this story is tragic. It's very important to have family who love and protect you from people who only use you.

Also, her family has been bribing politicians of all political stripes since before the second World War. And something that was not mentioned at all in this documentary at all, she was the person who lost the most money to Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme. That's the fascinating thing about this documentary - this woman has more money than she possibly can ever spend in her life, and yet she and those she is surrounded by, are constantly trying to buy influence, and help her evade taxes. I mean, even if she spent 90% of her yearly income on tax, she would still be one of the richest people alive. And while it is sad that she was taken advantage of when she was older because she had Alzheimer's, the crazy thing is that the people who took advantage of her the most were put on trial. Neither she nor her family wherever charged or convicted of any crimes related to tax evasion in France. The French president she bribed was charged with that crime, got out of it, it was so corrupt that he was convicted of a different crime. But the richest woman in the world was not charged with any crime. That should be unbelievable but unfortunately it is not.

Sometimes, it feels oddly satisfying to watch a documentary about a subject completely disconnected from one's life. Case in point: a three-part documentary about Liliane Bettencourt, the world's richest woman - a topic I clearly know nothing about. Liliane Bettencourt, heiress to L'Oréal thanks to her Nazi-collaborator father, seemed to have led a pretty uneventful life - by billionaire standards - until 1987. That's when she met socialite photographer Banier, a fishy character if ever there was one. Banier, 25 years her junior, became her constant companion and the object of her lavish generosity, receiving over a billion euros worth of "gifts" during their "friendship."

This understandably annoyed Liliane's only daughter, Françoise, with whom she always had a strained relationship. To make matters worse, Bettencourt's large and handsomely rewarded entourage began to nourish an increasing antipathy against Banier, eventually leading to a major corruption scandal involving illegal financing of Sarkozy's campaign and tax fraud.

From an outsider's perspective, it looks like Banier was very successful in taking advantage of an elderly, lonely lady whose mental faculties were on the wane. Despite Françoise's legal actions, her only success was getting Banier out of the will, even though her mother wanted to make him her sole heir. Notably, Banier had pulled the same trick in his youth with another elderly lady, compounding his felonious streak.

During a rather sad interview - sad because of Bettencourt's clearly declining physical and mental conditions - when asked if she regretted being too generous with Banier, she proudly replied something like "There's no such thing as being too generous, therefore no regrets". However, one thing is being generous to everybody around you, and another covering in gold one single person who had a habit of making friends with elderly billionaires developing dementia, certainly not with elderly ladies in retirement homes.

On a side note, judging by the appearances of Liliane and her daughter, it doesn't seem like L'Oréal cosmetics are particularly effective. Françoise, having inherited her mother's fortune in 2017 and now being the richest woman in the world, clearly can't even be bothered to get a decent haircut. But who would care about haircuts and cosmetics when you own an island in Seychelles, apartments in Dubai, and everything else to soothe the pain of a mother who loved a swindler more than you?