A Letter from Stéphane de la Faverie

Company Feature, Oct 28, 2026

As featured in The Estée Lauder Companies FY26 Social Impact and Sustainability report, published October 28, 2026.

Dear Stakeholders,

Fiscal 2026 marked an important turning point for The Estée Lauder Companies. Through Beauty Reimagined, we reignited growth, improved profitability, and accelerated the transformation of our company. But as we build a stronger, more agile and consumer-centric organization, one conviction remains unchanged: how we grow matters just as much as the growth we achieve.

For 80 years, our company has been built on more than exceptional beauty products. We have believed in the power of beauty to inspire confidence, create opportunities and make a positive difference in people’s lives. From our longstanding commitment to advancing women and girls globally and our mission to create a breast cancer-free world to our efforts to protect the environment, social impact and sustainability have long been part of who we are.

Today, these commitments are more relevant than ever. As we pursue our ambition to become the world’s best consumer-centric prestige beauty company, we recognize that consumers are increasingly interested not only in what our products deliver, but also in how they are made, the ingredients they contain and the values our brands represent. This creates an important opportunity to bring together science, innovation, transparency and responsibility to build stronger brands, deeper consumer trust and lasting competitive advantage.

Our Beauty Reimagined transformation is helping us accelerate this ambition. Guided by our B.E.A.U.T.Y. Commitments, we are fostering a culture that is bolder, more entrepreneurial, agile and unified, empowering our people to challenge conventions, embrace new possibilities and turn ambition into action. This same mindset shapes how we approach social impact and sustainability: with greater focus, accountability and a determination to make meaningful progress.

Fiscal 2026 marked our first year of progress against our current 2030 social impact and sustainability goals. As you will discover in this report, we are advancing our priorities while continuing to evolve how we measure and deliver impact. We recognize that meaningful change requires sustained effort, transparency about our progress and the humility to acknowledge where more work is needed. Our responsibility is not defined by a single year or business cycle, but by the lasting difference we make over time.

None of this would be possible without our extraordinary people. I am deeply grateful to our employees around the world, whose passion, resilience and creativity continue to bring our values to life. I also want to thank our partners and communities, whose collaboration and shared commitment are essential to driving meaningful change.

As I look ahead, I am energized by what we can accomplish. We have the brands, the talent, the scientific expertise, the creativity and the determination to help shape the next era of prestige beauty. And I believe our greatest opportunity lies in demonstrating that business performance and positive impact are not competing priorities, but powerful forces that can reinforce one another.

Our ambition is clear: to build a more resilient and innovative company that not only leads the future of prestige beauty but also contributes positively to the world around us.

Stéphane de La Faverie
President and Chief Executive Officer, The Estée Lauder Companies