Leonard Lauder, Billionaire Art Collector and Cosmetics Heir, Dies at 92

Leonard Lauder, the son of cosmetics entrepreneurs Estée and Joseph H. Lauder and a major art philanthropist, died Saturday at the age of 92, Estée Lauder Companies announced in a press release.

Lauder held the title of chairman emeritus at the company at his death, though he had previously served as president from 1972 to 1995 and CEO from 1982 to 1999. He served as chairman from 1995 to 2009.

Lauder was the eldest son of Estée, who founded the company in 1946 and helped build it into behemoth over his many decades working there. According to the New York Times, the company’s sales grew from $800,000 per year from when he joined in 1958 to over $16 billion as of 2021. Lauder’s personal fortune grew during that time to around $11.5 billion, making him one of the 100 richest Americans.

Lauder’s other passion was art. He was a longtime philanthropist of the arts, with a particularly deep and fruitful relationship with the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. In 2013, he gifted 81 pieces of Cubist paintings, sculptures, and collages, including works by Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Fernand Léger, and Juan Gris. The Leonard A. Lauder Collection was the result of 40 years of collecting, and was estimated to be worth over $1 billion.

As Lauder told the New York Times at the time of the donation, “You can’t put together a good collection unless you are focused, disciplined, tenacious, and willing to pay more than you can possibly afford.”

Even after making the donation, he continued to support the museum. In fall 2018, the Met acquired the Gris still life The Musician’s Table (1914) with help from Lauder. The painting was offered at Christie’s New York that year from the collection of Peggy and David Rockefeller in New York. With a winning bid from Lauder of $31.8 million, it was one of the top lots at the sale.

He later added five additional major works to that gift and his philanthropy helped establish the Leonard A. Lauder Research Center for Modern Art at the museum, which supports a robust program of film screenings, lectures, fellowships, and research exhibitions.

In a statement at the time, Max Hollein, director of the Met, praised Lauder for his contributions to the Met’s holdings, saying that “there is no one who better exemplifies the spirit of giving that has fostered the growth of the Met and the benefits it provides to the public than Leonard A. Lauder.” In response, Lauder said, “I am inspired by previous generations of supporters who have contributed to making the Met’s collections among the greatest in the world.”

Lauder also held the title of chairman emeritus at the Whitney Museum and was a trustee at that museum from 1977 to 2011.

“Throughout his life, my father worked tirelessly to build and transform the beauty industry, pioneering many of the innovations, trends, and best practices that are foundational to the industry today,” William P. Lauder, his son and the chair of Estée Lauder said in a statement. “He was the most charitable man I have ever known, believing that art and education belonged to everyone, and championing the fight against diseases such as Alzheimer’s and breast cancer. Above all, my father was a man who practiced kindness with everyone he met. His impact was enormous. He believed that employees were the heart and soul of our company, and they adored him and moments spent with him. His warmth and thoughtfulness made an imprint on our company, the industry, and, of course, our family. Together with my family, The Estée Lauder Companies, and the countless people he touched, we celebrate his extraordinary life.”

Lauder was born in 1933 in New York City, where he attended the Bronx High School of Science. He later graduated from University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. He served as a lieutenant in the US Navy and received a graduate degree from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business.

He appeared on 25 consecutive editions of the ARTnews Top 200 Collectors list, ranking each year between 1990 and 2024.