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.