The passing of Leonard Lauder, the former CEO of Estée Lauder, has occurred. He was 92 years old.
In addition to being a well-known art collector and philanthropist, Leonard passed away on Saturday, June 14, “surrounded by family,” according to a statement released by Estée Lauder Companies Inc. on Sunday, June 15.
“Mr. Lauder was a true visionary, fearless leader, and cherished friend to so many,” according to the official statement. “He was the guiding light of our organization and the compass that pointed the way for a whole sector. There is no doubt that Leonard Lauder’s presence has made the world a better place.
Leonard Lauder was the oldest son of Estée and Joseph Lauder, who together established the Estée Lauder firm in 1946. Leonard followed in his father’s footsteps. Leonard became a member of the company in 1958 and held the position of CEO for a number of years. Additionally, his first wife, Evelyn Lauder, who passed away, was a co-creator of the pink breast cancer ribbon.
1933 was the year that he was born in New York City. Both his mother, Josephine Esther Mentzer, and his father, Joseph Lauter, were born according to their respective names. It was Estée’s uncle, who was in the business of selling beauty items, who introduced her to the world of cosmetics. As a means of enhancing the mystique around the Estée Lauder brand, Estée and Joseph decided to alter their names.
An extract from Leonard’s book, The Company I Keep: My Life in Beauty, which to be published in 2020, states that “My mother was not like other mothers.” CBS has chosen to excerpt this passage. “When I was a child growing up in the 1930s, I remember sitting in the kitchen and watching my mother make facial creams on the stove,” I said.
Women would come to the flat to have facials and purchase items while he and his younger brother Ronald engaged in activities such as eating lunch and doing their schoolwork.
Leonard received his high school diploma from Bronx Science High School and then went on to pursue his undergraduate education at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. After that, commencing in 1956, he made his debut in the United States Navy as a lieutenant.
He joined Estée Lauder once he was released from the military. On the website of the firm, it is said that Leonard was uncertain about whether or not he wanted to join the company and that he contemplated returning to the Navy in order to pursue a full-time job. However, in the end, he was successful in making the leap, and he served as president from 1972 to 1995. As of 1982, he was the Chief Executive Officer, a position he held until 1999. It was in 1995 that he was appointed Chairman, and in 2009, he was elevated to the position of Chairman Emeritus. Additionally, Leonard was referred to as the Chief Teaching Officer of the organization.
The transformation of Estée Lauder into the multinational corporation that it is today occurred under Leonard’s direction. He established the company’s first research and development center, and starting in the 1990s, they began to buy other businesses, including as MAC, Bobbi Brown, and Aveda, with the intention of expanding their business.
Leonard’s wealth was estimated to be $10.8 billion in December 2024 by Forbes, which placed him at the 234th position on the list of the wealthiest people in the world.
In 1959, Leonard Lauder tied the knot with Evelyn Hausner, and the couple went on to have two sons: William and Gary Lauder. At the time of her marriage to Leonard, Evelyn was working as a teacher. However, she later went on to become a Senior Corporate Vice President at Estée Lauder and established the Clinique brand. She was also in charge of the company’s most important social problem, which was raising awareness about breast cancer, and she was instrumental in the development of the pink ribbon, which is now widely used. The Evelyn H. Lauder Breast Center was established at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Hospital in New York, where Leonard and Evelyn worked together. They were instrumental in the establishment of the center.
According to Forbes, Leonard and his brother Ronald partnered together in 1998 to establish the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation. Since then, the foundation has distributed more than $209 million to sponsor clinical studies in 19 different countries.
In addition to this, Leonard was a tremendous collector and had a strong interest in visual art. He said in his book, which was reprinted in ArtNews, that his passion of collecting started with postcards, and that he eventually accumulated a vintage postcard collection that included more than 125,000 objects. After that, he started collecting posters before transitioning into doing fine art.
In his writing, he said, “I had developed an interest in contemporary art when I was in elementary school.” I was a huge movie fan, and I would ride the subway by myself two or three times a week to go to the Museum of Modern Art to view classic films. Back then, children had a great deal of independence, so I was able to do this. Whenever I came early or had some spare time after the movie was over, I would go around the galleries and look around. Even though I had not yet discovered cubism at the time, I had the opportunity to feel the immense delight of savoring an image over and over again and making it’mine.’
Over the course of his career, he has held the positions of president and chairman at the Whitney Museum of American Art. Additionally, he has given a portion of his collection to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston as well as the Newberry Library. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City was the recipient of his vow to donate his collection of 81 works of Cubist art in April of 2013. The New York Times referred to it as “an example of philanthropy of the highest caliber.”
In 2011, Evelyn passed away. By 2015, Leonard had tied the knot with Judy Ellis Glickman. Glickman, like Leonard, had also experienced the loss of a spouse after being married for more than half a century. “We were fortunate in that the beginnings and endings of our subsequent chapters coincided,” Leonard said in an interview with The New York Times in the year 2015.
When asked about his life and if he had any regrets, he responded to Brunswick Group in the year 2020 by saying, “I can’t think of anything that I really regret.” To be honest, there are a few things that I could have done a little bit better. Indeed, it is. One can never stop striving to improve their performance. But is there anything that I regret? Not even close. Here we go!
Leonard is survived by his brother, his wife, and his kids William and Gary, all of whom commemorated his legacy with statements of their own after his passing. Robert is also survived by his wife.
“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 a portion of his biography. Above all else, my father was a guy who worked hard to treat everyone he came in contact with with compassion. The impression he left was immense.
Not only was he well regarded and appreciated by his peers and workers, but he was also cherished by colleagues and employees alike. When I think about this devotion, it jumps out to me,” Gary wrote in part. “Although we are saddened by his departure, we also celebrate his exceptional life, the contributions he made that will last a lifetime, and the principles that he taught in each and every one of us, including honesty, curiosity, and the significance of giving back. It is impossible to adequately describe how much we shall miss him.
