Beloved Estee Lauder pioneer and NYC arts benefactor Leonard Lauder dead at 92

Billionaire cosmetics heir Leonard Lauder — who played a key role in transforming his parents’ Estee Lauder brand into a global phenomenon — has died at age 92.The company Sunday announced the death of its former CEO and chairman emeritus, a Manhattan native who was also renowned for his contributions to New York City’s arts.“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,” said his son William, executive chairman of The Estee Lauder Companies, in a press release.“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,” William said.“Above all, my father was a man who practiced kindness with everyone he met.” Leonard, the Jewish son of company founders Estee and Joseph Lauder, was born and raised on the Upper West Side and spent six decades at the firm, launching a number of its top brands, including Clinique, Lab Series and Aramis.He graduated from the Bronx High School of Science and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School before serving as a lieutenant in the Navy.When he joined the family firm in 1958, it was just a handful of products sold under a single brand in US stores.Today, Estee Lauder, worth $15.6 billion, is the third biggest cosmetics company in the world, after French giant L’Oreal and the British-Dutch firm Unilever, according to Women’s Wear Daily.Leonard was worth an estimated $9.7 billion at the time of his death, according to Forbes.In 1995, he took the company public, after announcing that he wanted it to be “the preeminent supplier of upmarket cosmetics in the world,” Women’s Wear reported.But despite astonishing financial success, Leonard insisted that money wasn’t his biggest motivator.“Money doesn’t drive me.Wha...