Leonard Lauder, billionaire heir to cosmetics empire, dies at 92

Lauder died on June 14 surrounded by family, according to a statement by Estée Lauder.

- LAURENCE ARNOLD

In almost 40 years running the New York-based company founded by his parents, Lauder oversaw the launch or acquisition of such brands as Clinique, Aveda, MAC Cosmetics, Tom Ford Beauty, Bobbi Brown, Jo Malone London and La Mer. He took the company public in 1995, and its share price rose 33% on the first day of trading.

One of Lauder’s quirkier creations was the notion that lipstick sales can serve as a countercyclical economic indicator, because women turn to inexpensive cosmetics when they can’t afford clothing and other bigger-ticket luxuries.

When Lauder joined the family company in 1958, annual revenue was about $800,000, he said. In 2009, the year he stepped down as chairman, it topped $7.3 billion.

Lauder’s net worth was tied closely to his ownership of more than 80 million shares in the company. He was worth an estimated $26.2 billion in March 2023, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. As of June 2025, following a prolonged slump in the share price, his net worth was an estimated $15.6 billion.

His younger brother, Ronald Lauder, ran overseas operations before becoming chairman of the company’s Clinique Laboratories division in 1994. He was US ambassador to Austria in 1986-1987 and sought the Republican nomination for New York City mayor in 1989, losing to Rudolph Giuliani.

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