L'Oreal Family Ends $1.3 Billion Dispute

L'Oreal cosmetics heiress Liliane Bettencourt and her daughter, Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, say they have made up, ending a legal dispute over the management of a $1.3 billion fortune, the Associated Press reported Monday.

The family feud grabbed headlines earlier this year, when Bettencourt Meyers accused photographer Francois-Marie Banier, a longtime friend of her 88-year-old mother's, of taking advantage of her mother by trying to bilk her out of $1.3 billion worth of cash, artwork and other gifts, the AP reported. Banier denied the allegations and, as part of the reconciliation, Bettencourt Meyers has dropped legal procedures against him.

The dispute got uglier last month, when Bettencourt Meyers alleged that her mother was mentally incompetent and a court ordered Bettencourt to undergo mental and physical health examinations, according to the AP. Liliane Bettencourt, whose father founded L'Oreal, is France's wealthiest woman with about $20 billion.

In statements released by their lawyers, Bettencourt Meyers said the resolution will let her and her mother "rediscover family harmony," while Liliane Bettencourt called the accord "a source of hope."