Huda Beauty has named Nathalie Kristo its new CEO, succeeding Huda Kattan, who will be elevated from Founder and CEO to Founder and Chairwoman. Since joining the company in 2018, Nathalie has been pivotal to the brand’s meteoric rise from a start-up to a global empire now valued at $1.2 billion. Working closely alongside Huda, her family, and the global team as Global Deputy CEO since 2019, Nathalie established Huda Beauty’s first North American operation, helping to triple their DTC business, and guided their cross-category expansion into skin care with the launch of Wishful this year.
Huda said of the transition, “I never wanted to be CEO. I was enjoying creating products, producing content, and I thought I would do this for free for the rest of my life. When our company started to make money, I realized I had a big responsibility to not only support my family and our Huda Beauty family of team members, but to also create product with purpose.” She continued, “Out of necessity, I quickly shifted into the CEO role and found I had to sacrifice being involved with some areas of the business I enjoyed the most, which left me feeling unfulfilled. As the social media and beauty worlds became intertwined, I realized the opportunity for growth and also that I needed focus and support. After nearly a year of searching for a CEO, we were thrilled to meet Nathalie and to see how we could combine her wealth of knowledge and experience with the scrappiness and magic of Huda Beauty. With Nathalie on board, I feel like the sky is truly the limit.”
Nathalie said of her new role, “I have deep respect and admiration for the incredible business and movement that Huda, Mona and the family have built. In a few short years, Huda Beauty has become one of the most influential beauty brands in the world, fueled by an authentic and personal connection with our community that spans the globe. I am honored to join forces with such an inspiring founder and continue to harness our digital leadership, unique global footprint and total beauty expertise to grow the company into a global beauty powerhouse, which is deeply human at its core.”
Nathalie has spent 20 years in the beauty industry in various senior leadership roles, primarily for the L’Oréal group. Prior to Huda Beauty, Nathalie held the position of Global Brand President of NYX Professional Makeup, working on international expansion and reimagining their digital retail experience. Previously she was Senior Vice President of Marketing for L’Oréal Paris USA, and General Manager of Maybelline New York and Garnier in Canada.