Who Owns e.l.f. Cosmetics?

E.l.f. (short for eyes, lips, and face) is an American cosmetics brand based in Oakland, California. In 2004 by Joseph Shamah and Scott Vincent Borba co-founded the company to provide affordable eyeliners, lipsticks, glosses, blushes, bronzers, brushes, mascara, bath and skin-care products, and mineral-based makeup.

They also offer professional beauty tools. In Aug 2023, e.l.f was the No. 3 mass cosmetics brand in the U.S., behind L’Oréal and Maybelline. It earned the spot with a 9.5% market share. [1]

E.l.f. Cosmetics is known for its affordable products. Its Beauty Squad loyalty program members contribute almost 80% of sales on ElfCosmetics.com and 95% of E.l.f. Cosmetics app transactions.

In Aug 2022, the company combined its team’s efforts to create a cohesive consumer journey within its app. This implementation paid off, with a 125% increase in monthly active app users between Mar and Oct 2023. Over 4.5 million consumers have joined Elf’s Beauty Squad. The program is growing 30% year-over-year. [2]

E.l.f. Cosmetics targets Gen Zs and Millennials seeking affordable beauty products. The brand uses several marketing strategies to reach its audience. In Sep 2023, e.l.f. Cosmetics launched its first community-led U.K. marketing campaign.

The initiative used #expressyourelf as its slogan to encourage self-expression and individuality. The brand partnered with several actors, actresses, marketers, and influencers to promote its products across social media and online channels.

But who owns e.l.f. Cosmetics? [3]

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Who is e.l.f. Cosmetics’ Parent Company?

E.l.f. Cosmetics is a wholly owned brand of e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. E.l.f. Beauty, Inc. is a public company trading on the NYSE under the ticker symbol ELF. The parent company owns and operates several brands, including e.l.f. Cosmetics, e.l.f. SKIN, Well People, and Keys Soulcare.

In Oct 2023, e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. acquired Naturium for $355 million to expand its offering. The new acquisition boosted e.l.f. Beauty’s Q3 fiscal 2024 revenue. The parent company expects Naturium to generate $9 million in 2024. [4]

E.l.f. Beauty has four brands and several franchises, including Halo Glow, Holy Hydration, Camo, Power Grip, and Putty. The parent company stays ahead of competitors by refreshing and extending its brands and franchises.

In 2023, e.l.f. Beauty launched Camo Liquid Blush to expand Camo into the blush category and introduced new Glow Reviver Lip Oils. Both helped boost e.l.f. Beauty’s sales. [5]

E.l.f. Beauty is an eco-conscious business. The company is creating new sustainability goals and progressing on previous targets. In 2023, e.l.f. Beauty reformulated over 300 SKUs to exclude ingredients beyond the FDA and European Union Cosmetic Regulation restrictions. The company released its 2023 Impact Report with new sustainability goals, such as reaching a 20% reduction in packaging intensity by 2030. It aims to attain Forest Stewardship Council certification for 100% of its wood brush handles by the end of fiscal 2025. [6]

E.l.f. Beauty builds brands that disrupt norms, shape culture, and connect communities. Its flagship e.l.f. Cosmetics brand achieves this goal via TikTok. One of the brand’s influencers, Mikayla Nogueira, shares makeup videos daily with her 15.2 million TikTok followers.

E.l.f. Cosmetics dominates the beauty industry thanks to its dupes, makeup, and skin care products that are near-replicas of higher-end lines but cheaper. These affordable items allow e.l.f. to capitalize on social media experimentation. [7]

Three makeup brushes on top of compact powders

Image Credit: Rosa Rafael

Elf Cosmetics Ownership History

Joseph Shamah and Scott Vincent Borba founded e.l.f. Cosmetics in 2004. The co-founders are the brand’s original owners. Borba, an L.A. beauty industry veteran, drove by 99% of stores in Los Angeles, California, and witnessed rich women buying truckloads of lip balms and nail polishes.

This experience birthed Borba’s idea to launch an inexpensive, high-quality cosmetics line for women. He partnered with Shamah to draft a business plan and launch e.l.f. in 2004.

Borba and Shamah partnered with suppliers that shared e.l.f.’s vision to minimize costs. E.l.f. upgraded its website in 2005 to a fully functional e-commerce site. This move helped the brand attract the attention of reputable magazines like Glamour, increasing sales.

In 2007, e.l.f. Cosmetics launched its blog to offer beauty tips, advice, and celebrity sightings. The brand added a “Chat Now” button on the site’s landing pages, enabling direct interactions online with consumers.

By 2011, the Elf community had over 2 million members. The platform became the go-to source for superior quality cosmetics and professional beauty tips. [8]

E.l.f. expanded by partnering with drugstores and retailers like Target and Ulta. In 2014, equity investment firm TPG Growth acquired a majority stake in e.l.f. Cosmetics. The brand had reached $100 million in sales before its acquisition. Tarang Amin replaced Shamah as the president and CEO of e.l.f. Cosmetics.

E.l.f. Beauty, Inc. went public in Sep 2016, raising $141 million from 8.3 million shares. The company started trading on the NYSE as ELF. The IPO transferred ownership from TPG to institutions and individual investors.

Elf shut down all physical stores in 2015 as part of its digital transformation plan. The move helped e.l.f. Cosmetics focus on enhancing its e-commerce platform and the online customer experience [9]

E.l.f. Beauty’s shares skyrocketed 55% on the first day on the NYSE. The company posted significant growth after its IPO, expanding its portfolio from one to five brands. E.l.f. doubled its market share from about 4.5% in 2019 to 10% in 2024 and recorded sales growth in 19 straight quarters. These developments got the attention of institutional investors.

In Dec 2023, the company’s mutual fund ownership had soared to over 700, from 375 in Mar 2022. As of Jan 2024, ELF stock had risen 800% on earnings growth of over 360% since its IPO. [10]

Image Credit: Rosy H Nguyen

E.l.f. Cosmetics’ Shareholder Structure

E.l.f. Cosmetics is owned and operated by e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. which is listed on the NYSE under the ELF symbol. As of Dec 2023, e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. had 55,939,080 Stock A shares with one vote. This figure includes 53,820,668 free-float shares, while the remaining 3.04% stake is held by the company. [11]

E.l.f. Beauty’s shareholder structure includes institutions, insiders, and retail investors from the general public. The company has 670 institutional owners. As of Dec 2023, Blackrock was e.l.f. Beauty’s largest institutional shareholder, with 11.74%.

This stake represents 6.52 million shares. The Vanguard Group is e.l.f. Beauty’s second-largest shareholder with 9.88%, followed by Wellington Management at 4.71%, State Street Corp at 3.48%, William Blair Investment at 2.42%, and Price T.Rowe Associates at 3.31%.

Other top players include Invesco, JP Morgan Chase, Renaissance Tech, and Morgan Stanley. [12]

E.l.f. Beauty’s insiders own 3.01% of the company. As of Apr 2024, CEO Tarang Amin was the company’s top insider shareholder, with 1,183,400 shares. Head of Sales &Marketing Kory Marchisotto is second with 131,977 shares, followed by General Counsel Scott Milsten at 111,870, Joshua Franks at 86,237, and Mandy Fields at 77,146.

Other insiders with E.l.f. Beauty shares include Richard Wolford at 23,813, Beth Pritchard at 19,460, Lauren Levitan at 19,318, Gayle Tait at 3,020, and Maureen Watson at 1,570. [13]

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