NEW YORK, April 25 (UPI) -- Estee Lauder, described as the last independent titan of the cosmetics industry died Saturday at her home on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.
The New York Times report Sunday that her family announced her death at age 97. The cause was cardiopulmonary arrest, her son Leonard A. Lauder told the Times.
Estee Lauder convinced generations of women that her beauty creams were "jars of hope" for obtaining the look of youth.
"The pursuit of beauty is honorable," Lauder used to say, and the business of beauty was profitable. Her efforts turned into a privately held company estimated to be worth $5 billion when it went public in 1995. Lauder was given the title of founding chairman.
By 2003, the company had 21,500 employees and an estimated worth of about $10 billion.
The Times said Estee Lauder Companies was established until 1946, but its beginnings were in the 1920s with facial creams made over a gas stove in a kitchen by her uncle, John Schotz. The products were boosted financially and technically years later by Arnold L. van Ameringen, a Dutch-born industrialist.
