Estee Lauder's Longtime CFO Travis to Depart Next Year

An Estee Lauder cosmetics counter is seen in Los Angeles, California, US, August 19, 2019. (Reuters)
An Estee Lauder cosmetics counter is seen in Los Angeles, California, US, August 19, 2019. (Reuters)
TT

Estee Lauder's Longtime CFO Travis to Depart Next Year

An Estee Lauder cosmetics counter is seen in Los Angeles, California, US, August 19, 2019. (Reuters)
An Estee Lauder cosmetics counter is seen in Los Angeles, California, US, August 19, 2019. (Reuters)

Estee Lauder said on Thursday that Tracey Travis would be stepping down and retiring from her 12-year role as the MAC lipstick maker's finance chief, effective June 30, 2025.

The company said a successor for Travis has been identified and will be named in the coming weeks. Travis will work closely with this person to ensure a smooth and successful transition, it added.

Travis, who has been Estee Lauder's CFO since Aug. 2012, had joined the company from Ralph Lauren, where she served as finance chief for over seven years.

Under her leadership, Estee Lauder has significantly strengthened financially, made extensive investments in innovation and digital transformation, and also made several acquisitions of companies including Tom Ford and Deciem, among others.

"Tracey has been instrumental in growing Estee Lauder from a $24 billion market cap company in 2012 to over $135 billion at peak," Jefferies analyst Ashley Helgans said in a note earlier on Thursday.

"A fresh set of eyes on the business could be beneficial given the recent volatility and would allow for the company to reset the growth algorithm," Helgans added.

The company had lowered its annual organic sales estimate in May on persistent softness in mainland China's prestige beauty space, even as a demand rebound for its pricey items in the US and Asia-Pacific markets drove a profit forecast raise.

Shares of Estee Lauder, which have dropped more than 30% this year, were marginally up in after-hours trading.



Kering Appoints Demna as Artistic Director of Gucci

A Gucci shop is seen at the Jiangbei international airport in southwestern China's Chongqing on March 6, 2025. (AFP)
A Gucci shop is seen at the Jiangbei international airport in southwestern China's Chongqing on March 6, 2025. (AFP)
TT

Kering Appoints Demna as Artistic Director of Gucci

A Gucci shop is seen at the Jiangbei international airport in southwestern China's Chongqing on March 6, 2025. (AFP)
A Gucci shop is seen at the Jiangbei international airport in southwestern China's Chongqing on March 6, 2025. (AFP)

Italian luxury brand Gucci has appointed Demna as its artistic director, owner Kering said on Thursday, in a much-awaited move to revitalize the struggling label.

The appointment comes after Gucci - once one of the industry's biggest success stories - has suffered a prolonged sales decline, with revenues down 24% in the fourth quarter of 2024. The label's former design chief Sabato De Sarno left in February.

Georgian fashion designer Demna has been the artistic director of Kering's Balenciaga since 2015, and will take up his new role in July, Kering said.

The designer faced criticism in 2022 over a controversial Balenciaga ad campaign with images involving children, which he later said was the "wrong artistic choice".

In a statement, François-Henri Pinault, Kering CEO and chairman, said: "His creative power is exactly what Gucci needs."

Analysts have been impatient for the company to fill the role, with Luca Solca of Bernstein saying that Gucci, which generates nearly half of group sales and two-thirds of operating profit, needed a "heavyweight" chief designer to regain much-needed momentum.