Estee Lauder Cuts Executive Pay, Suspends Quarterly Dividend

By Chris Wack

The Estee Lauder Cos. Inc. said Executive Chairman William P. Lauder and Chief Executive Officer Fabrizio Freda will have their salaries cut in half, with other executives seeing 10% to 30% cuts, effective May 1 through Oct. 31.

The company's board of directors will forgo their cash retainers through November 2020.

Estee Lauder also is suspending its next quarterly dividend, which would have been paid in June. It has also borrowed the full amount under its $1.5 billion revolving credit facility while temporarily suspending share repurchases of its class A common stock.

The company awarded a $2 million grant was awarded to Doctors Without Borders to support their response to the coronavirus pandemic and provided a grant to support the establishment of the NYC Covid-19 Response & Impact Fund, administered by the New York Community Trust.

The Estee Lauder brand is donating two million surgical masks for front-line workers in New York, and its Clinique brand is donating 50,000 skin-care products to thank the doctors and nurses in New York City's hospitals.

Write to Chris Wack at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 15, 2020 07:45 ET (11:45 GMT)

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