Do we like them?

Do we like Estée Lauder?

Global prestige beauty group (Estée Lauder, MAC, Clinique, La Mer and more), based in New York, US.

Our score: 5 out of 10. Mixed. It's a big, established beauty group with some climate targets. But it has a $210m shareholder settlement and a data-breach settlement, and it is weak on animal testing.

Estée Lauder is one of the biggest names in prestige beauty. Stéphane de La Faverie, a company insider, took over as CEO on 1 January 2025 from Fabrizio Freda. He inherited falling sales in China and soft demand in the US, and he has been running a turnaround since.

The big drama is the shareholder lawsuit. In May 2026 the company agreed to a $210m settlement. Shareholders accused it of hiding how much it relied on gray-market 'daigou' resellers in China. Estée Lauder denied wrongdoing, and the settlement still needs a judge's approval.

On data, it agreed to pay CAD$1.515m to settle a Canadian class action over two 2023 data breaches. It denies liability, and no court found it liable.

On ethics, the company says it doesn't test on animals, but it sells in countries where the law requires testing. Good On You rates it 'Not Good Enough' on animals and 'It's a Start' on planet. It does have a science-based emissions target. That adds up to a middling score.