Leonard Lauder

Leonard Lauder
Born
Leonard Alan Lauter

(1933-03-19)March 19, 1933
DiedJune 14, 2025(2025-06-14) (aged 92)
New York City, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of Pennsylvania (BS)
Columbia University (MBA)
Occupations
  • Businessman
  • art collector
Known forChairman emeritus –
The Estée Lauder Companies
Spouses
(m. 1959; died 2011)
    Judy Ellis Glickman
    (m. 2015)
    Children2, including William P. Lauder
    MotherEstée Lauder
    RelativesRonald Lauder (brother)
    Aerin Lauder Zinterhofer (niece)
    Jane Lauder Warsh (niece)

    Leonard Alan Lauder (March 19, 1933 – June 14, 2025) was an American billionaire, philanthropist, and art collector. Together, he and his brother, Ronald Lauder, were the sole heirs to The Estée Lauder Companies cosmetics fortune, founded by their parents, Estée Lauder and Joseph Lauder, in 1946. Having been its CEO until 1999, Lauder was the chairman emeritus of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. During his tenure as the CEO, the company went public at the New York Stock Exchange in 1996 and acquired several major cosmetics brands, including MAC Cosmetics, Aveda, Bobbi Brown, and La Mer.

    In 2013, Lauder promised his collection of Cubist art to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The collection is valued at over $1 billion and constitutes one of the largest gifts in the museum's history.

    At the time of his death, Forbes estimated his net worth at US$9.7 billion.