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The wheels of change continue to turn at Estée Lauder Companies.
Jane Lauder — the granddaughter of Estée Lauder, the company’s founder — will step down from her role as chief digital officer and executive vice president of enterprise marketing at the end of this year, the company confirmed to The Business of Beauty on Monday.
The company is undergoing a raft of executive changes as it shores up its succession strategy. Chief financial officer Tracey T. Travis will step down on November 1, while chief executive officer Fabrizio Freda is set to retire next June. A successor to Freda has yet to be named.
Lauder has occupied her dual role since 2020, and was named as a co-leader of the company’s profit recovery plan in July alongside executive group president Stéphane de la Faverie. She previously worked as a global brand president at various ELC brands, including the skincare lines Clinique and Origins. She will retain her board seat, though her departure will mean the Lauder family no longer hold any roles in the company’s quotidian operations.
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Investors have been calling for a shake-up in the company’s leadership since 2022. The aftermath of the pandemic laid bare how reliant the company had been on the Chinese market and department stores, and its slow recovery, downward revisions to its outlook and tepid sales growth have seen its stock price slide by around 80 percent since the end of 2022.
The company will report quarterly earnings on Thursday.
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A To-Do List for Estée Lauder’s Next CEO
Whoever steps into Fabrizio Freda’s Italian loafers in June 2025 has a big job on their hands, as the American beauty conglomerate battles softened demand internationally and on its home turf. Kickstarting meaningful growth will mean a fresh China strategy, channel and category overhauls, and generating some much needed buzz.
