TYCOON OF THE YEAR HAILEY BIEBER

IN September, I landed at LAX and found myself unmistakably in Hailey Bieber's Los Angeles.

- BY SAMUEL HINE

bracelet (throughout) Verdura all other jewelry (throughout), her own

On my way to meet the 28-year-old at the Chateau Marmont, I spotted her on no fewer than four enormous billboards along a mile-long stretch of Sunset Boulevard. There was Hailey the fashion muse fronting a DKNY campaign; Hailey the celebrity wife and mother standing with Justin and their son, Jack, in a promotion for her husband's new album; Hailey the influencer toting a giant Chase credit card; Hailey the visionary businesswoman in an ad for her beauty brand, Rhode. This spring, only three years after its launch with a handful of glossy products, Bieber sold Rhode in a deal worth $1 billion. No cosmetics brand in history has hit unicorn status so quickly, which underscores both Bieber's entrepreneurial savvy and her status as one of the most influential lifestyle moguls of our time.

GQ: In May, you sold Rhode to the beauty company E.l.f. for $1 billion. Where were you when you first heard that number, and what was your reaction?

HAILEY BIEBER: I always said that I would never sell the company unless it was a billion dollars. I was just like, it's going to be this or I am not doing it. That was my goal. But also it was not always entirely my goal to sell the company. I thought if the right opportunity came along and the right home for it came along, then I would definitely consider it. And I think with E.l.f., all of the boxes that I would want to check to find a home for it, they checked them and then some. But of course when you hear that it's a real thing and the number is real and that's a real situation being put in front of you, it's definitely like, Whoa. Okay. It is very cool.