Estee Lauder, who started a kitchen business blending face creams and built it into a multimillion-dollar international cosmetics empire, died at 97. Photo by AFP
Estee Lauder, who started a kitchen business blending face creams and built it into a multimillion-dollar international cosmetics empire, died. She was 97. Lauder died of cardiopulmonary arrest late Saturday at her home in Manhattan. In 1998, Lauder was the only woman on Time magazine's list of the 20 most influential business geniuses of the century. Her company placed No. 349 in the 2003 ranking in the Fortune 500 list of the nation's largest companies, with revenue at USD 4.744 B.