Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken

Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken
Born	Charlene Heineken (1954-06-30) 30 June 1954 (age 70) Amsterdam, Netherlands
Education	Rijnlands Lyceum Wassenaar
Alma mater	Leiden University
Spouse	Michel de Carvalho ​ (m. 1983)​ [1]
Children	5
Parent(s)	Freddy Heineken Lucille Cummins

Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken (born 30 June 1954) is a Dutch billionaire businesswoman, and the owner of a 25% controlling interest in the world's second-largest brewer, Heineken N.V. As of July 2024, Forbes estimated her net worth at US$14.1 billion. ^[2]

Early life

Charlene Heineken was born on 30 June 1954, the daughter of Freddy Heineken, a Dutch industrialist, and Lucille Cummins, an American from a Kentucky family of bourbon whiskey distillers. She was educated at Rijnlands Lyceum Wassenaar, followed by a law degree from Leiden University. ^[2]

Career

She owns a 25% controlling stake in Dutch brewer Heineken, of which she is also an executive director. ^[3]

The biannual Heineken Prize for cognitive science is named after her. ^[4]

Personal life

She is married to Michel de Carvalho, a British financier, director of Citigroup and a former Olympic skier, whom she met on a ski holiday in St. Moritz, Switzerland. ^[5] He is known for portraying T.E. Lawrence's ill-fated servant Farraj in the 1962 film classic Lawrence of Arabia as a teen, and he is currently a member of the supervisory board of Heineken NV. They reside in London with their five children. ^{[2] [6] [7]}

Upon the death of her father in 2002, Charlene inherited about £3 billion, making her the wealthiest person with Dutch citizenship. ^{[8] [9]} Prior to that, she had no money to her name except for one share of Heineken stock. ^[1] In 2019, the Sunday Times Rich List ranking of the wealthiest people in the UK named her the wealthiest woman and the 7th overall, with an estimated fortune of £12 billion. ^[10] Charlene's wealth in 2021 was estimated by Forbes at $16.7 billion making her 116th among the world's billionaires. ^[11]

See also

• List of Dutch by net worth

References

1. Sellers, Patricia (17 December 2014). "The mysterious banker behind the world's best-known beer". Fortune.
2. "Forbes profile: Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken". Forbes. Retrieved 21 July 2024.
3. "Age Gate". Theheinekencompany.com. Archived from the original on 26 December 2014. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
4. "C.L. de Carvalho-Heineken Foundation for Cognitive Science". Archived from the original on 27 September 2018. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
5. Sellers, Patricia (3 December 2014). "Heineken's Charlene de Carvalho: A self-made heiress". Fortune Magazine. Retrieved 30 December 2014. While women in the Netherlands generally attach their maiden name to their married name, Charlene, as a London resident, had dropped "Heineken" from her surname.
6. Sellers, Patricia (3 December 2014). "Heineken's Charlene de Carvalho: A self-made heiress". Fortune . Retrieved 3 June 2022. All in the family: How to pass on a company to the next generation. The de Carvalho family (...) Alexander (...) Louisa, Charles, Sophie, and Isabel.
7. Lalah, Nashana (9 March 2017). "Red Stripe fetes Heineken family". The Gleaner . Retrieved 4 June 2022.
8. Rossingh, Danielle (26 February 2003). "Heineken heiress remains a mystery". BBC News. Retrieved 18 March 2010.
9. The Daily Telegraph - Sunday Times Rich List 2010: Britain's richest see wealth rise by one third, 2010-04-24
10. "The Rich List: At last, the self-made triumph over old money". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
11. "Forbes Billionaires 2023: The Richest People In The World". Forbes. Retrieved 4 January 2024.