Former Estée Lauder CEO Was 92

Leonard Lauder, the former Estée Lauder CEO, has died. He was 92.

Leonard, who was also famed art collector and philanthropist, died “surrounded by family” on Saturday, June 14, the Estée Lauder Companies Inc. announced in a statement on Sunday, June 15.

“Mr. Lauder was a true visionary, fearless leader, and cherished friend to so many,” the statement read. “He was the beacon of our company and the north star of an entire industry. The world is a better place because Leonard Lauder was in it.”

Leonard was the eldest son of Estée and Joseph Lauder, who together formally started the Estée Lauder business in 1946. Leonard joined the business in 1958 and served for years as CEO. His first wife, the late Evelyn Lauder, co-created the pink breast cancer ribbon.

He was born in New York City in 1933. His mother was born Josephine Esther Mentzer, and his father was born Joseph Lauter. Estée got into the makeup business thanks to her uncle, who sold beauty products. Estée and Joseph changed their names to enhance the mythology of the Estée Lauder brand.

“My mother wasn’t like other mothers,” Leonard wrote in his 2020 memoir The Company I Keep: My Life in Beauty, which was excerpted by CBS. “When I was growing up in the 1930s, I remember sitting in the kitchen, watching my mother cook up facial creams on the stove.”

As he and his younger brother Ronald ate lunch and did their homework, women would come to the apartment to receive facials and buy products.

Leonard graduated from Bronx Science High School and then completed undergraduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. He then served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy beginning in 1956.

After he was discharged, he joined Estée Lauder. According to the company’s website, Leonard wasn’t sure he wanted to join the company and considered re-enlisting in the Navy for a full-time career. But he ultimately made the jump, and from 1972 to 1995 he served as president. In 1982, he became CEO, a role he served in until 1999. In 1995, he became Chairman, and in 2009 he transitioned into Chairman Emeritus. Leonard was also called the company’s Chief Teaching Officer.

Under Leonard’s leadership, Estée Lauder transformed into the global company it is today. He created its first research and development lab, and beginning in the ’90s, they started to acquire other companies, including MAC, Bobbi Brown and Aveda.

According to Forbes, in December 2024, Leonard was worth $10.8 billion, making him the 234th richest person in the world.

Leonard married Evelyn Hausner in 1959, and they had two sons, William and Gary Lauder. Evelyn was a teacher when she and Leonard wed, but became a Senior Corporate Vice President at Estée Lauder and founded the Clinique line. She also helmed the company’s largest social issue — breast cancer awareness — helping to create the now-ubiquitous pink ribbon. Leonard and Evelyn together worked with New York’s  Memorial Sloan-Kettering Hospital and helped launched the hospital’s Evelyn H Lauder Breast Center.

Leonard and his brother Ronald co-founded the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation in 1998, which has awarded over $209 million to fund trials in 19 countries, according to Forbes.

Leonard was also passionate about visual art and was a major collector. He wrote in his memoir, excerpted in ArtNews, that his love of collecting began with postcards, and he ultimately amassed a vintage postcard collection of more than 125,000 items. Then he began collecting posters before jumping to fine art.

He wrote, “I had become interested in modern art back when I was in elementary school. I was crazy about films and two or three times a week, I’d take the subway by myself — kids had an extraordinary amount of freedom in those days — to watch classic movies at the Museum of Modern Art. If I arrived early or had time after the film ended, I would wander through the galleries. I didn’t discover Cubism then, but I experienced the great satisfaction of savoring a picture again and again and making it ‘mine.’ ”

He donated some of his collection to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and the Newberry Library, and has served as both president and chairman at the Whitney Museum of American Art. In April 2013, he promised his collection of 81 pieces of Cubist art to New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. The New York Times called it “a sterling act of philanthropy.”

Evelyn died in 2011. Leonard married Judy Ellis Glickman in 2015. Like Leonard, Glickman had also lost a spouse after more than 50 years of marriage. Leonard told The New York Times in 2015, “We were lucky in that our next chapters’ endings and beginnings coincided.”

Reflecting on his life and whether he had any regrets, he told Brunswick Group in 2020, “I can’t think of anything that I really regret. Now, could I have done a few things a little bit better? Of course. You can always keep trying to do better. But do I regret anything? Not a bit. Onward!”

Leonard is survived by his brother, wife and sons William and Gary, who both celebrated his legacy with statements of their own following his death.

“He was the most charitable man I have ever known, believing that art and education belonged to everyone, and championing the fight against diseases such as Alzheimer’s and breast cancer,” William wrote in part. “Above all, my father was a man who practiced kindness with everyone he met. His impact was enormous.”

“He was not only well-respected and admired, but he was also adored by his employees and colleagues. This affection stands out for me,” wrote Gary, in part. “While we mourn his passing, we also celebrate his extraordinary life, his lasting contributions, and the values he instilled in all of us: integrity, curiosity, and the importance of giving back. He will be missed more than words can express.”