E.l.f. Acquires Hailey Bieber's Rhode in $1B Bet on ‘Fervent’ Brand Engagement
E.l.f. Beauty is expanding its portfolio by acquiring Rhode, a multi-category beauty brand founded by celebrity Hailey Bieber.
Rhode launched three years ago, created by Bieber and co-founders Michael D. Ratner and Lauren Ratner. All founders, along with CEO Nick Blahos, will continue to lead the brand out of Los Angeles, California.
Bieber will also serve as chief creative officer and head of innovation, with oversight of creative, product innovation and marketing. Additionally, she is tasked with acting as a strategic advisor to the combined companies.
About Rhode
Rhode has achieved $212 million in direct-to-consumer (DTC) net sales in the last 12 months ended March 31, 2025 with just 10 products. Its products are currently only available on rhodeskin.com, but the brand plans to launch its first physical in-store partnership with Sephora across North America and the U.K. this year.
The company considers Rhode a “like-minded disruptor” that will “break beauty barriers” and further diversify the E.l.f. portfolio, according to CEO Tarang Amin.
During recent earnings conversations, Amin said Rhode brings “a powerful engagement model that has cultivated an incredibly enthusiastic and vocal community of brand champions — the type of fervent community engagement that people will camp out overnight and stand in line for 14 hours at a pop-up event in L.A. not just to buy a product, but to buy into the brand lifestyle.”
Rhode's aided awareness is 20% in the U.S., which Amin said is impressive for a young brand — half the level of other premium skincare brands, which average 40% or more awareness. The brand, he said, ranks No. 1 in earned media value among skincare peers, with less than 1% of Rhode social media content being sponsored.
Business Strategy
E.l.f Beauty plans to invest in marketing for Rhodes to build out its existing loyal audience and further grow brand awareness. Additionally, it will help Rhode expand further into retail distribution.
“We see potential to provide Rhode with opportunities to broaden its product assortment and innovation in the skincare and hybrid makeup categories, and expand into new adjacent categories in the future,” added Amin. “Hailey's instincts have proven to break through the most crowded categories, and we look forward to supporting her and the team at each lifestyle stage.”
The companies agreed on a $1 billion deal — with a potential $200 million earnout add-on based on a three-year growth roadmap.
This transaction will help E.l.f. Beauty break further into the prestige beauty channel and expand its relationship with Sephora after it entered into a limited number of stores last year. Amin also said that business diversification is among several approaches E.l.f. is taking to offset the business impact of the ongoing tariff war.
