The Real Story: Who Owns ELF and How It Became a $2 Billion Beauty Empire

E.l.f. Cosmetics has grown from a modest startup into a $2 billion empire that's altered the map of the beauty industry. The company's growth since its founding in 2004 shows in its 25 consecutive quarters of increasing sales.

The numbers tell an impressive story. E.l.f. Cosmetics' parent company achieved $1.3 billion in sales for fiscal 2025, showing a 28 percent increase from the previous year. This performance makes it the market's fastest-growing major beauty company. The parent company expanded its portfolio by acquiring Hailey Bieber's Rhode Skin for $1 billion and Naturium for $355 million. These mutually beneficial alliances showcase how the founder's initial vision has evolved into an ambitious growth strategy.

This piece will tell the complete story of E.l.f. Cosmetics' ownership structure. We'll trace its unique experience from its early days to its current status as a beauty giant. You'll learn about the crucial decisions that led to its soaring win. The story of this e-commerce-only brand is remarkable - from generating $5 million in its first year to becoming a dominant force in the $75.4 billion US beauty market.

Who owns E.l.f. Cosmetics today?

E.l.f. Beauty, Inc. owns E.l.f. Cosmetics and trades publicly on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol ELF. The financial markets show strong confidence in the company's growth and performance through this ownership structure.

Major shareholders and insider ownership

Institutional investors own most of E.l.f. Beauty's shares with approximately 109.63% ownership. Baillie Gifford & Co leads as the largest institutional shareholder with 14.09% ownership (7.94 million shares) as of March 2025. Blackrock Inc. holds 9.56% (5.38 million shares), and Vanguard Group maintains 9.52% (5.36 million shares). JPMorgan Chase (4.96%), Champlain Investment Partners (4.73%), and William Blair Investment Management (4.04%) round out the prominent institutional holders.

The company's insiders hold a 2.56% ownership stake. CEO Tarang Amin owns 1,183,400 shares. The core team's holdings include Head of Sales & Marketing Kory Marchisotto with 131,977 shares and General Counsel Scott Milsten with 111,870 shares.

E.l.f. Cosmetics parent company and structure

E.l.f. Beauty runs as a multi-brand beauty company. The parent company's brands include E.l.f. Cosmetics, E.l.f. SKIN, Well People, Keys Soulcare, and Naturium. TPG Growth's acquisition of a majority stake in February 2014 marked a turning point, and Tarang Amin replaced Joey Shamah as CEO.

The company sells eye, lip, and face makeup, beauty tools, accessories, and skincare products. Customers can find these products online and in beauty, mass market, and specialty stores both in the US and internationally.

Recent acquisitions and their effect on ownership

E.l.f. Beauty bought skincare brand Naturium for $355 million in October 2023. This purchase helped boost the company's Q3 fiscal 2024 revenue.

The company plans to buy Hailey Bieber's beauty brand Rhode in a deal worth up to $1 billion, announced in May 2025. This marks E.l.f.'s biggest acquisition yet. The deal offers $800 million in cash and stock upfront, with a possible $200 million more based on Rhode's three-year performance. The specifics include $600 million in cash and about 2.6 million new E.l.f. Beauty common stock shares valued at $200 million.

Bieber will stay on as Rhode's Chief Creative Officer and Head of Innovation. She will oversee creative direction, product development, and marketing[63]. This purchase helps E.l.f. Beauty tap into the prestige beauty market and brings new retail partners like Sephora.

The founding story: How E.l.f. began

Joseph Shamah and Scott Vincent Borba's chance meeting at a party in 2002 led to the creation of E.l.f. Cosmetics in New York City in June 2004. Joseph was a 23-year-old New York University business student, while Borba brought his experience from launching brands like Hard Candy cosmetics. Their partnership would soon transform the beauty industry.

Who founded E.l.f. Cosmetics?

Joseph Shamah and Scott Vincent Borba created E.l.f. with help from Joseph's father, Alan Shamah. The team combined their strengths effectively - Borba's beauty industry knowledge complemented the Shamahs' business expertise. They built a brand that challenged traditional cosmetics pricing. Borba worked with scientists, dermatologists, and nutritionists to develop the product line that brought professional quality to affordable makeup.

The inspiration behind the brand

E.l.f. stands for Eyes, Lips, Face—the brand's core mission focused on creating affordable products for every facial feature. Alan and Joey Shamah found their inspiration by watching bargain-hunting shoppers in dollar stores. Their background in apparel helped them see a chance to shake up the beauty market with quality cosmetics at groundbreaking prices.

Early business model and product pricing

The brand took a bold step by selling $1.00 cosmetics online—something unheard of in 2004. E.l.f.'s launch featured just 13 makeup products at $1.00 each, which challenged the industry's standard pricing. The brand grew quickly as one of the first online beauty retailers to feature product ratings and reviews, even with a no-refund policy and extra shipping costs.

E.l.f.'s direct-to-consumer website became an instant success. The company made about $1.5 million in its first year and processed around 18,000 orders daily. Customers found that quality makeup didn't need to cost more than $10, and they didn't even need to visit stores to find their favorite products.

From budget brand to billion-dollar empire

A game-changing $1 cosmetics seller turned into a $2 billion beauty powerhouse. E.l.f.'s growth story shows how innovative business models can reshape the scene. The company's meteoric rise demonstrates what happens when fast-fashion principles combine with beauty retail expertise.

Fast-fashion influence on product development

E.l.f. changed cosmetics forever by bringing fast-fashion principles to beauty. The Shamah family saw how successful fast-fashion retailers were and believed beauty could follow the same path. They noticed that "the traditional beauty model of high prices, long product cycles, and traditional advertising was out of touch with changing consumer behavior".

Their strategy helped them create products in just 26 weeks, way ahead of traditional beauty brands. The company launched 128 new SKUs in 2017, showing a 40% jump from the previous year.

E-commerce and retail expansion

The company's digital-first approach proved to be brilliant. E.l.f. started selling online in 2004 when e-commerce made up only 2.5% of US retail sales. This strategy paid off big time, especially during COVID-19, as E.l.f. saw "triple-digit" e-commerce revenue growth. The brand grew through mutually beneficial alliances with Target, Walmart, and others.

E.l.f. now sells in 14 countries and reaches more markets through eShopWorld. Recent global growth includes 1,600 ROSSMANN stores in Germany, Sephora Mexico, and Coles in Australia. The brand ranks as the 4th largest mass makeup brand in both the UK and Canada.

Key milestones in revenue growth

E.l.f.'s financial journey shows impressive consistency:

• First year (2005): $5 million in sales

• Fiscal 2019: $283 million in revenue

• Fiscal 2023: $579 million (47.61% growth)

• Fiscal 2024: $1.02 billion (76.89% growth)

• Fiscal 2025: $1.31 billion (28.28% growth)

The company reported 25 straight quarters of growth through 2025. E.l.f. passed Revlon to become the fourth-largest mass company in the US. Young consumers now rank it as their number-one beauty brand.

Strategic moves that shaped E.l.f.’s success

E.l.f. Beauty has grown from a small startup into a beauty industry giant through smart business moves. The company has seen remarkable changes in its market position and ownership structure since Tarang Amin took charge in 2014.

Acquisition of Naturium and Rhode

E.l.f. Beauty's buying strategy has been bold lately. The company bought skincare brand Naturium for $355 million in October 2023, which added a faster-growing skincare line to its collection. Sales jumped right after adding Naturium.

An even bigger move came in May 2025 when E.l.f. bought Hailey Bieber's Rhode Skin for up to $1 billion—their biggest purchase yet. The deal gave Rhode $600 million in cash, $200 million in E.l.f. stock (about 2.6 million shares), and a possible $200 million more based on performance over three years.

Celebrity partnerships and brand incubation

E.l.f. has done more than just buy companies. They worked with Alicia Keys to create Keys Soulcare, a wellness-focused beauty brand. Their Rhode deal keeps Hailey Bieber involved as Chief Creative Officer, which helps the brand stay true to its roots while gaining from E.l.f.'s business expertise.

Marketing innovation and digital-first strategy

E.l.f.'s digital approach has worked amazingly well. They jumped on TikTok marketing before others, creating viral content that boosted sales consistently. Their online store, which opened in 2004, set them up perfectly for the surge in digital shopping that followed. While other beauty brands spend big on traditional ads, E.l.f. puts its money into social media and influencer relationships.

Global retail expansion through Sephora

E.l.f. has grown both online and in stores worldwide. Rhode's addition helps E.l.f. sell more high-end products through Sephora, alongside their regular store offerings. They now sell in 14 countries, including new spots in Germany's ROSSMANN stores, Sephora Mexico, and Australia's Coles supermarkets.

Conclusion

E.l.f. Beauty has grown from a modest $1 cosmetics startup into a powerful $2 billion beauty empire through strategic vision, state-of-the-art technology, and by revolutionizing traditional industry models. The company's success story shows how challenging conventional wisdom creates extraordinary results in a competitive market.

E.l.f. showed remarkable business sense throughout its progress. The brand revolutionized beauty retail with its $1 price point and e-commerce-only model when online shopping was new. This digital-first approach positioned E.l.f. perfectly for the e-commerce boom that followed, especially when you have a pandemic that made online sales soar.

The company's fast-fashion approach to beauty product development worked exceptionally well. Traditional brands needed years to develop new products, but E.l.f. cut this time to just 26 weeks. This quick response to emerging trends and consumer priorities helped them achieve 25 consecutive quarters of growth—a rare achievement in the volatile beauty industry.

E.l.f.'s acquisition strategy stands out. The company went beyond expanding its original brand and strategically acquired complementary brands like Naturium and Rhode Skin. On top of that, these acquisitions diversified their portfolio while authentic connections to founder stories and brand identities remained intact.

E.l.f. succeeded where all but one of these budget brands failed—you retain control over quality while offering affordability. The company started with $1 products and expanded its price range without losing its value proposition. This balanced approach attracted both price-conscious consumers and those ready to pay premium prices for quality products.

E.l.f. Beauty looks set for future growth. The company built reliable systems through strong institutional investor confidence, strategic collaborations across 14 countries, and successful celebrity partnerships. The brand that started with just 13 products priced at $1 each has become a beauty powerhouse that competitors must take seriously.

E.l.f.'s story shows how state-of-the-art technology, adaptability, and strategic vision can turn a simple idea into a billion-dollar reality in less than two decades. This compelling case study proves that revolutionizing traditional industry models creates extraordinary value for consumers and investors alike.

FAQs

Q1. Who currently owns e.l.f. Cosmetics?

E.l.f. Beauty, Inc. is the parent company of e.l.f. Cosmetics. It's a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange, with major institutional investors holding the majority of shares. Baillie Gifford & Co is the largest shareholder, followed by Blackrock Inc. and Vanguard Group.

Q2. How much did e.l.f. Beauty pay to acquire Rhode Skin?

E.l.f. Beauty acquired Hailey Bieber's Rhode Skin for up to $1 billion. The deal includes $800 million in cash and stock at closing, with a potential additional $200 million based on Rhode's performance over three years.

Q3. Who is the CEO of e.l.f. Beauty?

Tarang Amin is the current CEO of e.l.f. Beauty. He took over the role in 2014 when TPG Growth acquired a majority stake in the company.

Q4. How did e.l.f. Cosmetics start?

E.l.f. Cosmetics was founded in 2004 by Joseph Shamah and Scott Vincent Borba in New York City. They started with just 13 makeup products priced at $1.00 each, selling them online and disrupting the traditional cosmetics pricing model.

Q5. What strategies contributed to e.l.f.'s growth into a billion-dollar company?

E.l.f.'s success can be attributed to several strategies, including its fast-fashion approach to product development, early adoption of e-commerce, strategic retail partnerships, celebrity collaborations, innovative marketing on platforms like TikTok, and recent acquisitions of brands like Naturium and Rhode Skin.