A Life of Success

Meet William Lauder, the grandson of Estee Lauder who has built of life of success for himself and the company his grandmother founded. He is the son of Evelyn (nee Hausner) and Leonard A. Lauder and graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1983 with a B.S. in economics, a degree that he applied assiduously to catapult his career in business.

Perhaps because his grandmother was Estee Lauder, William Lauder worked to make the last name more of a coincidence rather than an obvious nepotistic opportunity. In actuality, after finishing college, he chose to pursue his career independent of the clear advantage offered through his familial connections. To that end, he first joined up with the Macy’s executive training program and began building his resume by becoming Associate Merchandising Manager of the New York Division/Dallas store at its public launch in September 1985.

Sooner or later, it appeared to be inevitable that he would be drawn back to his own family background and want to contribute to his own business lineage. Once more, William Lauder did not demand or expect top positioning in his family’s firm. Instead, building upon his success and business savvy from his experience at Macy’s, he joined The Estee Lauder Companies in 1986 as Regional Marketing Director of Clinique U.S.A. in the New York Metro area. Mr. Lauder also committed two years at Prescriptives as Field Sales Manager, which gave him essential ground level experience with their customer base.

Fast-forward 15 years or so, and the success story of William Lauder continues to blossom. From the modest beginnings of Regional Marketing Director, William Lauder has graduated to the ultimate position of chief executive officer of the Estee Lauder Companies, naturally progressing through such prestigious positions by starting as President of Clinique, where their Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion proved to be the bestselling high-end skincare product in U.S. department stores, and Clinique launched its first anti-aging product, Stop Signs Visible Anti-Aging Serum, which won the Cosmetic Executive Women (CEW) Award for "Best Skin Care Product in Limited Distribution" in 2000.

William Lauder represents an excellent example of a dedicated life of business success. It may be partially attributed to his early exposure to successful business practices as established by his own grandmother, Estee Lauder.

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William Lauder's Family Company

As the current Chairman of the board of directors of Estee Lauder, William Lauder has been successful in advancing his family's company into the twenty-first century. As a premiere cosmetics producer, Estee Lauder has seen substantial growth and development while under the leadership of William Lauder.

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While William Lauder's family ran the business, William started making early impacts after joining the company in 1984. He faithfully served the company his grandmother built for six years before moving to lead Origins Natural Resources, a company owned by Estee Lauder. Lauder led the division from 1990 to 1998, becoming President during that time. He was instrumental in Origins's success as he combined ingenuity and intelligence to help them succeed. A key factor of this growth was the development of the store-within-a-store model. Origins's concept design showed how a retail space could partner with another company to have a seperate store inside a larger department store, like bookstores and coffee shops. This model gave Origins a substantial edge over the competition, and revenue streams continued to improve while Lauder ran the division.

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As Lauder moved upwards through his namesake company, his visions and talents were rewarded by increasing success throughout the business. William Lauder started running the entire Estee Lauder business, becoming CEO when he was 44. The Estee Lauder Companies include smaller companies pawned and operated by Estee Lauder, such as Origins and also Clinique, the subsidiary that Lauder himself ran during the turn of the century. While Lauder acted as Clinique’s President, it became a successful and award-winning branch of the cosmetic giant.

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Lauder was succeeded by Fabrizio Freda in 2009 as CEO, but Lauder's influence is still felt throughout the company due to his critical role on the board. Through his leadership and business ingenuity, Estee Lauder continues to succeed, boasting a six percent growth in 2011 over 2010. William Lauder has been an asset to the family company for over 20 years, and deserves the recognition as a true business expert.