The Lauder Blood Sacrifice

Jane Lauder and William Lauder
Does the 51-year-old Jane Lauder really want to step into the newly vacant executive chairperson role after knifing her cousin, William? Photo: Arnold Jerocki/Getty Images for Balmain Beauty
Rachel Strugatz
November 13, 2024

Another shoe has dropped in the long-running, multigenerational drama of the Lauder family. Last week, The Wall Street Journal reported that first cousins William and Jane are feuding, Exhibit A being a letter Jane sent to certain members of the Estée Lauder board blaming William, the chairman, for “destroying the company.” We’ve all heard about the rumored dissension within the family––from how the company should be run, to who should run it, to where its brands should be sold (Amazon is working out well, by the way)––but it’s rare that the inner machinery of America’s most storied beauty dynasty is exposed for all to see, and by a member of the family, no less. It’s not pretty.