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The Estée Exodus

Notes on the accelerated retirement of C.E.O. Fabrizio Freda, the two senior executives following him out the door, and whether Jane Lauder will step into her uncle Leonard’s old job running the family cosmetics empire.

Fabrizio Freda
There’s a lot of executive turnover for a company whose board has long insisted, as recently as June, that Fabrizio Freda wasn’t going anywhere. Photo: Sean Zanni/Patrick McMullan/Getty Images
Rachel Strugatz
August 21, 2024

The week got off to a frenzied start on Monday morning when I learned that Estée Lauder Companies C.E.O. Fabrizio Freda would finally be stepping down at the end of this fiscal year. Ahead of its full year earnings and a depressing 2025 outlook, ELC announced that Freda had at last informed the board of his “intention to retire,” which comes just two months after longtime and well-regarded C.F.O Tracey Travis also decided to retire. Afterward, I heard about two more yet-to-be announced high-ranking departures, both of whom are on the ELC executive leadership team: Mark Loomis, group president of North America, and Peter Jueptner, group president of International. (A spokesperson for The Estée Lauder Companies declined to comment.)