Liliane Bettencourt, heiress to the L'Oreal fortune, won the L'Oreal-UNESCO prize for women in Paris. Photo: Reuters 

PARIS: L´Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt, the world´s richest woman, has died at the age of 94, her family said.

"Liliane Bettencourt died last night at home," her daughter Francoise Bettencourt Meyers said in a statement. "My mother left peacefully."

Bettencourt ranked as the 14th richest person in the world, according to Forbes magazine, which estimated her net worth in March at $39.5 billion (33 billion euros).

Agon was appointed chairman and chief executive of L?Oreal in 2011.