Blake Sabbath

blake lively
Unfortunately for Lively, the support and positive sentiment appears to have been short-lived: This drama is increasingly messy, and mess is never good for sales. Photo: Etienne Lauret/AFP/Getty Images
Rachel Strugatz
January 8, 2025

It’s been a hectic start to the year for the C.E.O.s of publicly traded beauty concerns. Over at The Estée Lauder Companies, Stéphane de La Faverie is wrapping up his first week atop the business, kicking off what’s almost certain to be a chaotic first few months—or as it’s being referred to within the walls of the GM Building, a “sprint.” De La Faverie is already bracing for a significant round of layoffs through February, a continuation of the vaguely Orwellian “Profit Recovery and Growth Plan” that began implementation last year. But there are a slew of promotions coming, too, not least of which is the backfilling of de La Faverie’s old executive group president gig, a coveted role that once belonged to John Demsey