Rhode Hits $390M in Sales Under e.l.f. Beauty Ownership

Rhode generated roughly $390 million in net sales during fiscal 2026, an 80% increase from the prior year, validating a rare acquisition model in the prestige beauty industry where founders retain near-total operational control after a buyout.

The performance follows e.l.f. Beauty’s agreement to acquire the skincare brand for up to $1 billion, a deal that closed after Rhode co-founders Hailey Bieber and Lauren Ratner spent three years building the company exclusively through direct-to-consumer channels. Rather than absorbing Rhode into its corporate structure, the Oakland, California-based parent company has maintained the brand as a standalone operation, a strategy that defies the traditional playbook used by major beauty conglomerates over the past two decades.

Historically, when large cosmetics firms acquire viral indie brands, they integrate supply chains, replace executive teams, and push products into mass retail networks to justify high purchase multiples. L’Oréal’s acquisitions of IT Cosmetics and Youth to the People, or Estée Lauder’s purchase of Drunk Elephant, typically resulted in significant leadership turnover within the first 18 months. E.l.f., which built its own reputation on fast-turnaround, affordable color cosmetics, took the opposite approach with Rhode, prioritizing backend infrastructure support while leaving product development untouched.

Bieber, who now serves as Rhode’s chief creative officer, confirmed she retains final decision-making authority across the brand’s portfolio. Beyond her original role, she also operates as a strategic advisor to e.l.f. Beauty’s broader product pipeline, testing formulations and consulting on launches outside the Rhode umbrella. Ratner remains president and chief brand officer.

The structural independence proved critical as Rhode transitioned from a digital-only business into physical retail. The brand entered Sephora locations in the United States last September and has since expanded into the retailer’s U.K. stores and Australia’s Mecca network. According to Ratner, Rhode currently ranks as the top-selling brand in every retail market it occupies.

That retail footprint widened significantly in early October 2026 when Rhode launched across 19 European markets through Sephora, adding more than 500 physical points of distribution. First-day online sales for the European rollout surpassed the entirety of Sephora Europe’s Black Friday revenue from the previous year, signaling that the brand’s social media momentum translates directly to international brick-and-mortar demand.

E.l.f. Beauty acquired Rhode at a moment when the smaller brand’s internal team had reached its operational ceiling. Scaling global logistics, managing wholesale relationships with Sephora parent company LVMH, and handling international regulatory compliance required resources that a lean startup could not efficiently build alone. By selling to a publicly traded operator with established distribution architecture rather than a private equity firm focused on short-term margin extraction, the founders secured the capital and systems needed to expand without sacrificing autonomy.

Rhode’s trajectory toward $1 billion in annual revenue now hinges entirely on sustaining its current retail velocity. The brand’s fiscal 2026 net sales of $390 million place it among the fastest-growing prestige skincare lines globally, operating in a sector where legacy competitors rely heavily on department store counters and clinical marketing rather than the creator-driven community model Bieber and Ratner established from launch.