Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken | |
---|---|
Born | Charlene Heineken 30 June 1954 Amsterdam, Netherlands |
Education | Rijnlands Lyceum Wassenaar |
Alma mater | Leiden University |
Spouse | [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]
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]
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]
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]
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.
All in the family: How to pass on a company to the next generation. The de Carvalho family (...) Alexander (...) Louisa, Charles, Sophie, and Isabel.