Leonard Lauder to pen memoir

Leonard Lauder, chairman emeritus of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc., is publishing a memoir about his life that is set to be released in 2020. 

Harper Collins has won the right to publish the book that will span 50 years of Lauder's life and reveal much of how he came to head up one of the world's most successful beauty enterprises.

During his time at the helm of Estée Lauder Co Inc. Leonard Lauder created the first R&D laboratory and grew the business by acquiring brands like MAC, Bobbi Brown and Aveda in the 1990s. He stepped down from the position of CEO in 1999.

Elsewhere, he has dedicated himself to the arts, becoming the most significant benefactor to the Whitney Museum of American Art after gifting US$131 million in 2008. He also established the Leonard A. Lauder Research Centre for Modern Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

A title and release date for the book are yet to be announced.