Estée Lauder Companies (ELC) announced that Chief Data Officer and EVP of Enterprise Marketing Jane Lauder will step down at the end of 2024. Lauder, whose four-year tenure has seen her oversee crucial digital and marketing transformations, will transition to an advisory role, supporting ELC’s profit recovery and strategic overhaul through the fiscal year’s close.
Lauder’s departure coincides with growing anticipation around the company’s top job. According to reports in The Wall Street Journal, longtime Estée Lauder executive Stéphane de La Faverie is set to take the reins as CEO, filling the role left open by Fabrizio Freda’s planned retirement next June. ELC has yet to confirm the appointment, but de La Faverie, currently Executive Group President overseeing brands like Jo Malone London, Le Labo, and Kilian Paris, is seen as a front-runner. He brings over a decade of leadership within ELC and a prior senior role at L’Oréal, adding to his credibility as the potential new face of the global beauty giant.
In an internal memo, Lauder expressed her commitment to ELC’s next chapter, calling the company’s turnaround both “necessary and fundamental.” She highlighted her new focus on strategic imperatives, noting that stepping aside would allow her to “have the greatest impact on ELC’s future.”
The move follows CFO Tracey Travis’s recent exit, marking yet another high-profile change in ELC’s leadership roster. The reshuffle signals a major strategic shift as the company contends with slowing growth in the global beauty sector, especially in key markets like China, where demand has faltered.
The timing of these changes is particularly notable, with ELC set to release its Q1 fiscal 2025 earnings this Thursday.
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