Hailey Bieber just sold Rhode for $1 billion in a deal with E.l.f. Beauty. Here’s everything we’re thinking about this major cultural and cosmetic moment.
Hailey Bieber’s skin may be glazed, but her business acumen is the real gloss here. This week, E.l.f. Beauty announced a deal to acquire Rhode, Bieber’s skincare brand, in a blockbuster transaction valued at $1 billion. The agreement includes $800 million payable at closing — $600 million in cash and $200 million in newly issued E.l.f. Beauty shares with a potential earnout of another $200 million depending on the brand’s growth trajectory over the next three years.
It is the largest deal in E.l.f.’s twenty-year history and a definitive pivot into prestige beauty. Founded in 2004 to “democratize” access to cosmetics, E.l.f. has evolved into a power player. Its 2023 acquisition of Naturium doubled its skincare footprint, and with Rhode now under its umbrella, E.l.f. gains not just products, but cultural currency. Bieber, who will stay on as Chief Creative Officer and Head of Innovation, helped catapult Rhode into a $212 million brand in just 12 months — numbers that make this more than just a celebrity side hustle.
Rhode’s direct-to-consumer business more than doubled its customer base this past year and was the number one skincare brand in earned media value for 2024, according to Tribe Dynamics, with a 367 percent year-over-year increase. Bieber’s influence — steeped in social virality and early-aughts nostalgia — has turned dewy minimalism into a full-on aesthetic, one now headed to Sephora stores across North America and the U.K. later this year.
Bieber launched the brand with Michael D. Ratner and Lauren Ratner, who will continue to operate it from Los Angeles with CEO Nick Vlahos. And while the financials are tight and the strategy sound, the cultural moment here might be even bigger. With this acquisition, Bieber joins the rarefied club of women founders whose personal brand equity has translated into generational wealth.
Hailey Bieber has not only made “glazed” a universally recognized texture, she’s built an empire from the glow-up. In her words, “Just three years into this journey, our partnership with E.l.f. Beauty marks an incredible opportunity to elevate and accelerate our ability to reach more of our community with even more innovative products and widen our distribution globally.”
She added, “As I continue as Founder and step into an expanded role of Chief Creative Officer and Head of Innovation, I look forward to leading the brand into this exciting new chapter of possibilities.”
So yes, we are impressed. But we’re also curious. Extremely curious. Below, a list of thoughts and questions we had immediately following the news.
- This is the same woman who convinced the internet to contour their lips like ‘90s Cindy Crawford. Of course she could sell it for a billion.
- But…does the world need another billion-dollar beauty brand?
- More specifically, does the world need another celebrity beauty brand?
- Even more specifically, does the world need another white, wealthy, classically beautiful celebrity with a beauty brand?
- Can we still call her “Mrs. Bieber,” or has she officially earned first-name-only status?
- Of course she sealed the deal in a white power blazer. Somewhere, Kris Jenner is slow-clapping.
- What is the minimum number of lip peptides one must own to qualify for Rhode Island citizenship?
- Is it ironic or inevitable that Justin’s last hit was “Yummy”?
- Was that bus photo a subtle metaphor for her driving the brand forward?
- Was the boob grab meant to say: this is my woman, my mogul, or my cash cow?
- Did we all ignore the fact that her name is Hailey Baldwin?
- Can we acknowledge the poetic justice of her being told she’d never get a Vogue cover, then gracing one and closing a billion-dollar deal in the same month?
- Can someone explain why every Rhode product looks like a glossy Lego?
- That one product photo where she’s holding a Peptide Lip Treatment between two fingers like it’s a sacred relic? Core memory.
- Why are the only two career paths for women under 30 in America currently: a) run a beauty brand or b) become a wellness influencer with an Erewhon smoothie?
- Should we be worried that Rhode has no SPF?
- There’s no greater flex than making $212 million in sales while barely speaking above a whisper in interviews.
- Is there a government grant for anyone who wants to launch a serum in 2025?
- If Y2K had a business strategy, it would look like this deal.
- Hailey really said: let’s take the dewy look from runway to receivables.
- What exactly does a Chief Creative Officer and Head of Innovation do? (Asking for a LinkedIn update.)
- Can you be both relatable and a billionaire?
- Did Hailey Bieber just become the Kylie Jenner of Clean Girl Aesthetic?
- Are prestige skincare lines the new fast fashion?
- Was this acquisition announced to counteract divorce rumors?
- Does anyone else feel like Gen Z has fully redefined what “luxury” even means?
- Will Rhode ever be refillable, or are we still pretending single-use tubes are sustainable?
- Do people really use the Glazing Milk or just take photos of it?
- Are we finally going to admit that women-led beauty brands scale faster because women actually buy things?
- Should more women be billionaires, or should billionaires be illegal?
- We’ll be watching. And moisturizing.
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