Estee Lauder President, CEO Fabrizio Freda to Retire Next Year

By Colin Kellaher

Estee Lauder's longtime president and chief executive, Fabrizio Freda, plans to retire from the beauty giant next year.

Estee Lauder on Monday said Freda, who joined the New York company as president in March 2008 and added the CEO post in July 2009, will depart of the end of fiscal 2025, which ends in June.

Estee Lauder said its board is well advanced in a succession-planning process, adding that it has already considered several internal and external candidates.

The Wall Street Journal earlier this year reported that Estee Lauder's board had discussed keeping Freda at the helm despite its sagging performance and division in the founding family over the direction of the company.

Board members had discussed Freda's future at a meeting in late May and talked about extending his tenure beyond this past June, people familiar with the matter told the Journal, adding that the directors wanted Freda to continue to stabilize the company as it kick-started the next phase of CEO succession planning.

Estee Lauder said Freda will work with his successor to ensure a smooth transition and will be available to the company in fiscal 2026 as an adviser.

Write to Colin Kellaher at colin.kellaher@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 19, 2024 07:08 ET (11:08 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2024 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.