e.l.f. Beauty CEO Charts Gen Z–Focused Expansion with Billion-Dollar Bet
Affordable cosmetics brand e.l.f. Beauty has spent years figuring out what many retailers still struggle to master: how to consistently capture the attention – and loyalty – of Gen Z consumers. Now, its chief executive says the company is aiming far beyond viral makeup moments.
Under CEO Tarang Amin, e.l.f. has built momentum through low-priced products, social-media-driven marketing, and “dupes” that echo high-end beauty favorites at a fraction of the cost. The approach has delivered 28 straight quarters of sales growth, positioning the brand as one of the strongest performers in mass beauty.
Last year, however, the company took a dramatic turn. e.l.f. spent $1 billion to acquire rhode, the skincare and makeup label founded by Hailey Bieber – a premium, influencer-led brand that looks very different from e.l.f.’s traditional playbook.
Amin says the move reflects a larger ambition: to build a modern beauty conglomerate that is inclusive, culture-forward, and driven by Gen Z tastes rather than legacy industry norms. Speaking with CNN, Amin described a vision focused on shaping trends instead of chasing them.
Marketing built for virality
Amin, who became CEO in 2014, has played a central role in shaping e.l.f.’s marketing strategy. As beauty discovery increasingly shifted to TikTok, the company leaned heavily into platform-native campaigns that avoided the tone-deaf messaging Gen Z consumers often reject.
Internally, Amin has fostered a culture that gives younger employees significant influence. The workforce – largely Gen Z and millennials – is encouraged to participate in product testing and creative reviews, a level of access Amin says would surprise veterans of larger corporations.
That mindset helped drive a major transformation in 2019, when e.l.f. closed its standalone stores and redirected resources toward digital marketing and wholesale partnerships with retailers such as Target and Walmart. Around the same time, e.l.f.’s viral dupes – including low-cost alternatives to prestige primers and complexion products – gained traction as TikTok beauty culture exploded.
Rhode raises the stakes
Virality is also what attracted e.l.f. to rhode. Launched in 2022, the Bieber-backed brand quickly became a social-media phenomenon, generating $212 million in net sales last fiscal year with a tightly curated product lineup. Fans lined up overnight for pop-up events, driven as much by brand identity as by individual items.
Rhode now sits at a higher price tier than e.l.f.’s core offerings and recently expanded into Sephora, testing Amin’s belief that e.l.f. can succeed across both value and prestige channels – including discount chains like Dollar General.
The acquisition is already reshaping e.l.f.’s financial profile. Rhode added $128 million to third-quarter sales growth and is projected to reach $265 million in net sales this year, while growth in e.l.f.’s namesake brand has slowed.
Politics, prices, and diversity
External pressures remain. Last year, e.l.f. raised prices by $1 on many products, citing tariffs tied to trade policies under Donald Trump. Rather than quietly adjusting prices, the company publicly explained the increase across social platforms – a move Amin said was rooted in transparency with consumers.
At the same time, e.l.f. has resisted rolling back diversity initiatives, even as many corporations pulled back from DEI efforts amid political scrutiny. Amin says the company’s workforce is majority female, heavily Gen Z and millennial, and includes broad racial and ethnic representation. Every employee also receives equity.
That stance has extended into marketing. In 2024, e.l.f. launched a provocative campaign highlighting gender imbalance on U.S. corporate boards, placing billboards in high-profile financial districts.
For Amin, the risk lies not in taking a stand, but in abandoning it. “Our community would notice immediately,” he said, “and they would hold us accountable.”
As e.l.f. balances slowing dupe-driven growth with the high-stakes expansion of rhode, its future as a Gen Z–era beauty empire may depend on whether culture, commerce, and credibility can continue to scale together.
