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The $10 Billion e.l.f. on Your Shelf

How the multibillion-dollar cosmetics kingpin outmaneuvered rivals through savvy marketing (Jennifer Coolidge!), employee equity, and behaving more like a Silicon Valley startup than a New York beauty brand.

Kory Marchisotto
E.l.f. Beauty truly gets youth culture, despite being 20 years old—an almost ancient vintage in an industry that’s particularly prone to rapid trend cycles. Photo: Katie Jones/Variety/Getty Images
Rachel Strugatz
August 7, 2024

Last year, e.l.f. Beauty shot and produced its first Super Bowl commercial, co-written by White Lotus creator Mike White and starring Jennifer Coolidge, and acquired skincare line Naturium for $355 million. The deft multitasking was but one example of why e.l.f. remains an anomaly in big beauty—maneuvering like a startup but with the budgets of a publicly traded company with a market cap around $10 billion.