Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken

Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken
Born	Charlene Lucille Heineken (1954-06-30) 30 June 1954 (age 71) Noordwijk, 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 Lucille 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. ^[3] 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. ^[4]

The biannual Heineken Prize for cognitive science is named after her. ^[5]

Personal life

She married in Perroy in 1983 Michel de Carvalho, a British financier and private banker, director of Citigroup and a former Olympic skier, whom she met on a ski holiday in St. Moritz, Switzerland. ^[6] 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] [7] [8]} Alexander Alfred Charles de Carvalho (b. London, 9 December 1984), married in London on 26 November 2016 to Stephanie Gräfin und Edle Tochter von und zu Eltz genannt Faust von Stromberg (b. Vienna, 25 February or November 1984), Louisa Lucile H. de Carvalho (b. London, July 1986), married at Cap d'Antibes on 7 October 2017 to Hugo Timothy Brassey (b. 29 July 1982/1988), son of Anthony Hugh Owen Brassey (b. 5 January 1945) and his wife Sarah/Susan Sigri Fuglesang, twins Isabel Catherine C. de Carvalho and Sophie Charlene V. de Carvalho (b. London, November 1987) and Charles Andrew George de Carvalho (b. London, August 1990). ^[9]

Upon the death of her father in 2002, Charlene inherited about £3 billion, making her the wealthiest person with Dutch citizenship. ^{[10] [11]} 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. ^[12] Charlene's wealth in 2021 was estimated by Forbes at $16.7 billion making her 116th among the world's billionaires. ^[13]

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. "The Heirs of Europe: HEINEKEN". June 2011.
4. "Age Gate". Theheinekencompany.com. Archived from the original on 26 December 2014. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
5. "C.L. de Carvalho-Heineken Foundation for Cognitive Science". Archived from the original on 27 September 2018. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. Lalah, Nashana (9 March 2017). "Red Stripe fetes Heineken family". The Gleaner . Retrieved 4 June 2022.
9. "The Heirs of Europe: HEINEKEN". June 2011.
10. Rossingh, Danielle (26 February 2003). "Heineken heiress remains a mystery". BBC News. Retrieved 18 March 2010.
11. The Daily Telegraph - Sunday Times Rich List 2010: Britain's richest see wealth rise by one third, 2010-04-24
12. "The Rich List: At last, the self-made triumph over old money". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
13. "Forbes Billionaires 2023: The Richest People In The World". Forbes. Retrieved 4 January 2024.