In beauty, one of the biggest stories of the year was leadership upheaval, with a number of prominent chief executive officers stepping down across the globe.Cos., where after months of speculation Fabrizio Freda revealed his retirement from the company, whose recent struggles have been well documented.
De La Faverie will take over on Jan. 1, about six months earlier than Freda’s previously set retirement date. Days later, her cousin William P. Lauder also revealed his impending departure as executive chairman, focusing solely on his role as chair of the board. This will mark the first time since the company’s inception 75 years ago that it will not have a family member actively involved in day-to-day operations.
The company’s stock has been negatively impacted this year in part due to Chinese consumers pulling back on Japanese goods after Japan began a controversial discharge of treated wastewater from the disabled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. reported an operating loss of 2.7 billion yen in the six months ended June 30, versus a profit of 13.63 billion yen in the same prior-year period.