The Estée Lauder Companies Splits North America President Role Between Digital & Brick-and-mortar

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has announced that, after more than 28 years with the company, Mark Loomis, group president, North America, will retire at the end of fiscal year 2025, succeeded by Tara Simon, who will assume the role of president, North America, and Amber English, who will assume the role of president, digital and online, North America, both effective January 1, 2025.

Simon will report directly to Fabrizio Freda, president and CEO, who is also departing the company at the end of fiscal 2025, while English will jointly report to Freda and Gibu Thomas, executive vice president, online.

The move comes after The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. announced net sales of $15.61 billion for fiscal 2024, reflecting a year-over-year decrease of 2%. 

Splitting Digital and Brick-and-mortar NA President Responsibilities

Amber English will assume the role of president, digital and online, North America, effective January 1, 2025.Simon, an Ulta alumna, will focus on executing the company’s North America brick-and-mortar channel strategy, including specialty-multi, department stores and free-standing stores.

A successor for her role leading the company’s California-based brands will be announced at a later date.

“I look forward to galvanizing the incredible North America team and leading a strategic framework to accelerate our iconic brands’ consumer reach and impact in beauty and culture,” says Simon. “As someone who is growth obsessed, I understand the industry is fiercely competitive, and evolving to continually engage a wide range of consumers for increased prestige beauty share is more important than ever. I look forward to working closely with Amber to identify and capture fast-growing distribution opportunities while bringing to market accelerated product innovations, scaling our hero products and responding to trends faster.”

Meanwhile, English, an Amazon alumna who has been with the company since 2022, will oversee the company’s digital-first transformation and omni-capabilities for North America, fueled by online and a focus on consumer acquisition, retention and differentiation and brand experiences .

She will also lead all ecommerce activities in the region, including the company’s owned brand sites, retail sites and pure-play online retailer sites.

“We have a new chapter ahead of us, and I am excited to collaborate with Tara to advance the strategic direction of our North America business,” says English. “We will continue to prioritize recruiting new consumers, engaging consumers with captivating products, and approaching improvements and distribution with an eye towards scaling growth.” 

“I am thrilled to welcome Tara and Amber to these leadership roles," says William P. Lauder, executive chairman, The Estée Lauder Companies. "Tara’s deep experience within specialty-multi prestige beauty, coupled with her commitment and passion for consumer-focused brand building will enable our teams to push boundaries to grow and win. Amber is a dynamic ecommerce leader with a strong track record of developing bold strategies to attract and retain consumers. I know they will both leverage their extensive backgrounds in prestige beauty and commercial expertise to help drive our business in the dynamic North America region.”

Praise for Mark Loomis

“Mark [Loomis] is a visionary leader who has driven meaningful impact through nearly three decades at the company, promoting greater integration across our portfolio and regions, championing a commitment to our people and values, and inspiring excellence and creativity every day,” says CEO Fabrizio Freda.“Mark is a visionary leader who has driven meaningful impact through nearly three decades at the company, promoting greater integration across our portfolio and regions, championing a commitment to our people and values, and inspiring excellence and creativity every day,” says Freda. “He guided the business strategy in North America, maintaining a steadfast focus on the consumer amid the shifting beauty landscape, and while leading our Asia/Pacific region, he oversaw regional strategies that supported business acceleration and commercial operations to drive growth. We are grateful for his contributions and dedication to the Company.”

Freda continues, “As we embark on the next phase of growth for North America, Tara and Amber bring incredible experience that make them uniquely well-suited to capture the promise of this evolving market while advancing our strategy and ambitions. Together, their leadership marks a new chapter of growth in North America, by launching new products and taking existing ones to new audiences, fueled by relevant, compelling and differentiated marketing, and serving our customers wherever they prefer to shop.”

Lauder adds, “Mark has done a terrific job of leading the company’s North America business throughout a highly complex, competitive, and fast-evolving landscape. He has guided the business strategy and innovation agenda across brands and channels for the region, with a focus on unlocking emerging, granular opportunities. He will be greatly missed across the organization.”