Jane Lauder is departing Estée Lauder, taking her out of the race to lead the company her grandmother founded

• Jane Lauder, beauty magnate Estée Lauder's granddaughter, is leaving the family-run company.
• Her departure comes after Estée Lauder announced its CEO, Fabrizio Freda, is stepping down.
• Lauder is no longer in the race to succeed Freda, but will remain on the board of directors.

Jane Lauder, whose grandmother founded Estée Lauder, is set to depart the company after being seen as a contender for CEO, Business Insider has learned.

Lauder joined the family-run company in 1996 and was named its first executive vice president of enterprise marketing and chief data officer in 2020, according to a press release. Before that, she worked in senior leadership positions for brands including Clinique, Origins, and Darphin, which are all owned by Estée Lauder.

Fashion trade outlet WWD first reported the news. Estée Lauder declined to comment when contacted by BI.

Her departure comes amid a leadership shake-up for Estée Lauder Companies Inc., which announced in August that longtime CEO Fabrizio Freda would retire at the end of the 2025 financial year.

The announcement of Freda's departure came as Estée Lauder reported a 2% decrease in organic sales for the year to June, citing "ongoing softness in China" as a key reason. In the earnings release, Freda also called the sales and profit outlook for the current financial year "disappointing."

At the time of his retirement announcement, Estée Lauder said it was "well advanced in its long-established CEO succession planning process" and that the board was considering both internal and external candidates.

In an internal memo, Lauder said she plans to remain a board member and shareholder, WWD reported.

"The company is embarking on a necessary and fundamental turnaround," Lauder said, per WWD. "I have thought about how I can be most effective in helping the company reclaim its rightful position as the world's leader in prestige beauty and restore long term shareholder value."

Lauder also said in the memo that she will remain an advisor to the CEO in the coming months.

Lauder isn't the only family member to have had leadership stints at her grandmother's company.

Her cousin, William Lauder, stepped down as CEO in 2009 to serve as Estée Lauder's executive chairman. Her sister, Aerin Lauder Zinterhofer, also spent decades working at the company before launching her eponymous luxury lifestyle brand Aerin, which is part of Estée Lauder's portfolio.

After nearly three decades, Lauder will soon no longer be involved in day-to-day operations at Estée Lauder, but her family still owns a 38% share of the company and controls most of the voting rights.