The Estée Lauder Companies Announces North America Regional Leadership Transitions

Rhea-AI Summary

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) has announced leadership transitions in its North America region. Mark Loomis, Group President, North America, will retire at the end of fiscal year 2025. He will be succeeded by Tara Simon as President, North America, and Amber English as President, Digital and Online, North America, effective January 1, 2025.

Simon will focus on executing the company's brick-and-mortar channel strategy, while English will oversee the acceleration of digital-first transformation and omni-capabilities. Both leaders bring extensive experience in prestige beauty and commercial expertise to drive growth in the North America region.

The company's CEO, Fabrizio Freda, praised Loomis for his visionary leadership and contributions over nearly three decades, and expressed confidence in Simon and English's ability to capture new growth opportunities in the evolving North American market.

Positive

• Planned succession strategy for smooth leadership transition
• Appointment of experienced leaders with strong backgrounds in prestige beauty
• Focus on digital transformation and omni-channel capabilities
• Strategic emphasis on consumer engagement and product innovation

Negative

• Potential disruption during leadership transition period
• Loss of long-term executive with 28 years of company experience

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) today announces that after more than 28 years with the Company, Mark Loomis, Group President, North America, will retire at the end of fiscal year 2025. He will be succeeded by Tara Simon, who will assume the role of President, North America, and Amber English, who will assume the role of President, Digital and Online, North America. Ms. Simon and Ms. English will assume their new roles beginning January 1, 2025 to ensure a seamless transition ahead of Mr. Loomis’ retirement. Ms. Simon will report directly to Fabrizio Freda, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Ms. English will jointly report to Fabrizio Freda and Gibu Thomas, Executive Vice President, Online.

Mark Loomis, Group President, North America, will retire at the end of fiscal year 2025 (Photo: Business Wire)

“Mark is a visionary leader who has driven meaningful impact through nearly three decades at the Company, promoting greater integration across our portfolio and regions, championing a commitment to our people and values, and inspiring excellence and creativity every day,” said Fabrizio Freda. “He guided the business strategy in North America, maintaining a steadfast focus on the consumer amid the shifting beauty landscape, and while leading our Asia/Pacific region, he oversaw regional strategies that supported business acceleration and commercial operations to drive growth. We are grateful for his contributions and dedication to the Company.”

Mr. Freda continued, “As we embark on the next phase of growth for North America, Tara and Amber bring incredible experience that make them uniquely well-suited to capture the promise of this evolving market while advancing our strategy and ambitions. Together, their leadership marks a new chapter of growth in North America, by launching new products and taking existing ones to new audiences, fueled by relevant, compelling and differentiated marketing, and serving our customers wherever they prefer to shop.”

Ms. Simon will focus on executing the Company’s North America brick-and-mortar channel strategy, including specialty-multi, department stores, and free-standing stores. She joined The Estée Lauder Companies in 2020 as Senior Vice President, Global Manager, Too Faced, and was promoted to Global Brand President, California Brands, which includes oversight of Too Faced and Smashbox, where she focused on driving product and consumer engagement innovations. Ms. Simon is a recognized brand builder, focused on creating brand love and loyalty with a range of diverse consumers. A bold, authentic and highly collaborative leader, her energy and passion for fostering a culture of bravery drives agility, ingenuity and creativity within teams. Furthermore, her experience in achieving strategic gains specifically within the specialty-multi prestige beauty space, make her uniquely suited for this North America leadership role.

A successor to Ms. Simon’s role leading the Company’s California-based brands will be announced at a later date.

Ms. Simon joined The Estée Lauder Companies from Ulta Beauty, where she served most recently as Senior Vice President of Merchandising, Prestige Beauty. In this role, Ms. Simon was responsible for the successful business model evolution and elevation of Ulta Beauty’s prestige brands. As the leader of Ulta Beauty’s Prestige Merchandising Team, Merchandising Strategy Team, and Emerging Brands Team, Ms. Simon dramatically increased the number of prestige brands sold through the retailer by attracting exclusive launches from well-established powerhouse brands like M·A·C and Clinique, while also aggressively pursuing and successfully launching smaller start-up brands, resulting in increased consumer engagement and loyalty. Prior to her time at Ulta Beauty, Ms. Simon served as Divisional Merchandise Manager of Color at Sephora.

“I look forward to galvanizing the incredible North America team and leading a strategic framework to accelerate our iconic brands’ consumer reach and impact in beauty and culture,” said Ms. Simon. “As someone who is growth obsessed, I understand the industry is fiercely competitive, and evolving to continually engage a wide range of consumers for increased prestige beauty share is more important than ever. I look forward to working closely with Amber to identify and capture fast-growing distribution opportunities while bringing to market accelerated product innovations, scaling our hero products and responding to trends faster.”

In her new role as President, Digital and Online, North America, Ms. English will oversee the continued acceleration of the Company’s digital-first transformation and omni-capabilities for North America, fueled by Online. She will drive a best-in-class strategy that supports consumer acquisition, retention and differentiated, exceptional brand experiences while leading all eCommerce activities in the region, including across the Company’s owned Brand.com properties, Retailer.com, and pure play Online retailers. Most recently, Ms. English has played an instrumental role in leading the Company’s initial brand launches in the U.S. Amazon Premium Beauty store, and has led the North America digital transformation focused on developing best-in-class digital experiences for consumers across owned Brand.com properties, Retailer.com and Amazon.

Ms. English joined The Estée Lauder Companies in 2022 from Amazon, where she most recently led the global Amazon Fashion Private Brands business, developing exclusive-to-Amazon brands and products across Apparel, Shoes, and Accessories. During her time at Amazon, she spent 14 years serving in various roles across Amazon Fashion, Beauty, and Consumables.

“We have a new chapter ahead of us, and I am excited to collaborate with Tara to advance the strategic direction of our North America business,” said Ms. English. “We will continue to prioritize recruiting new consumers, engaging consumers with captivating products, and approaching improvements and distribution with an eye towards scaling growth.”

“Mark has done a terrific job of leading the Company’s North America business throughout a highly complex, competitive, and fast-evolving landscape,” said William P. Lauder, Executive Chairman, The Estée Lauder Companies. “He has guided the business strategy and innovation agenda across brands and channels for the region, with a focus on unlocking emerging, granular opportunities. He will be greatly missed across the organization.”

Mr. Lauder continued: “I am thrilled to welcome Tara and Amber to these leadership roles. Tara’s deep experience within specialty-multi prestige beauty, coupled with her commitment and passion for consumer-focused brand building will enable our teams to push boundaries to grow and win. Amber is a dynamic eCommerce leader with a strong track record of developing bold strategies to attract and retain consumers. I know they will both leverage their extensive backgrounds in prestige beauty and commercial expertise to help drive our business in the dynamic North America region.”

About The Estée Lauder Companies Inc.

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. is one of the world’s leading manufacturers, marketers, and sellers of quality skin care, makeup, fragrance, and hair care products, and is a steward of luxury and prestige brands globally. The company’s products are sold in approximately 150 countries and territories under brand names including: Estée Lauder, Aramis, Clinique, Lab Series, Origins, M·A·C, La Mer, Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, Aveda, Jo Malone London, Bumble and bumble, Darphin Paris, TOM FORD, Smashbox, AERIN Beauty, Le Labo, Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle, GLAMGLOW, KILIAN PARIS, Too Faced, Dr.Jart+, the DECIEM family of brands, including The Ordinary and NIOD, and BALMAIN Beauty.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Statements in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements include those in the various quotations. Although the Company believes that its expectations are based on reasonable assumptions within the bounds of its knowledge of its business and operations, actual results may differ materially from the Company’s expectations. Factors that could cause actual results to differ from expectations include the ability to successfully implement the Company’s North America strategy and its profit recovery and growth plan and those described in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K. The Company assumes no responsibility to update forward-looking statements made herein or otherwise.

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View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240930321177/en/

Investor Relations:

Rainey Mancini

(212) 284-3049



Media Relations:

Jill Marvin

(212) 572-4438

Source: The Estée Lauder Companies Inc.

FAQ

When will Mark Loomis retire from Estée Lauder Companies (EL)?

Mark Loomis will retire from Estée Lauder Companies (EL) at the end of fiscal year 2025.

Who will succeed Mark Loomis in Estée Lauder Companies' (EL) North America leadership?

Tara Simon will succeed Mark Loomis as President, North America, and Amber English will assume the role of President, Digital and Online, North America at Estée Lauder Companies (EL).

When will the new North America leadership roles at Estée Lauder Companies (EL) take effect?

The new North America leadership roles at Estée Lauder Companies (EL) will take effect on January 1, 2025.

What is Tara Simon's background before joining Estée Lauder Companies (EL)?

Before joining Estée Lauder Companies (EL), Tara Simon was Senior Vice President of Merchandising, Prestige Beauty at Ulta Beauty, and previously served as Divisional Merchandise Manager of Color at Sephora.