What Hailey Bieber’s $1B Rhode Deal Means For The Brand

Hailey Bieber’s beauty brand Rhode has been acquired by e.l.f Cosmetics for $1 billion – and that’s huge news for the cosmetics and skincare world.

Hailey announced the news this week, stating that the deal will allow her to bring Rhode to “more spaces, places, and faces” around the world.

She said: “Today I am so incredibly excited and proud to announce that we are partnering with e.l.f. Beauty as we step into this next chapter in the world of rhode.

“I found a like-minded disruptor with a vision to be a different kind of company that believes in big ideas and innovation in the same way that I do and will help us continue to grow the brand.”

Hailey added her thank you to the Rhode team and confirmed that for her, “this is only the beginning.”

 

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A post shared by Hailey Rhode Bieber (@haileybieber)

So, what does this deal mean for the brand – and for Hailey herself?

Well, she’s a billionaire now. The deal was closed on Wednesday, and saw e.l.f commit to paying $800 million in cash and stock, alongside a potential earn-out of $200 million, depending on the brand’s performance.

It’s likely that the entire $1 billion deal will go ahead as planned, if Rhode’s popularity up until this point is anything to go by.

Hailey launched Rhode in 2022, originally as a skincare brand focusing on “curated skincare essentials with high performing ingredients.”

The brand soon expanded into cosmetics including the viral pocket blushes and lip tints, which you’ve probably seen embedded on the back of Hailey’s phone case over the years.

Last year Rhode made $212 million, so it’s likely with this new e.l.f deal that the brand will only continue to grow… and yes, that means more new products.

 

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A post shared by Hailey Rhode Bieber (@haileybieber)

Why was Rhode acquired?

Celebrity brand acquisitions are nothing new. In fact, they’re a fairly standard path for companies as successful as Rhode.

For a brand to continue to grow, it often needs the backing of a larger company with the resources and money to take things to the next level.

The deal doesn’t appear to mean that Hailey is ready to step away from the brand right now. In fact, that’s the contrary, as she will be taking on the hugely significant roles of Chief Creative Officer and Head of Innovation of Rhode as well as strategic advisor to e.l.f. Beauty.

In fact, financial expert Mahalakshmi C shared her thoughts on Instagram, saying that she won’t be surprised if Hailey takes more of a back seat in the coming years, allowing Rhode to flourish independent of her name.

“Celebrity brand acquisitions are usually structured this way: the celebrity continues to be a part of the company for a few years,” she said.

“We all know the celebrities and their personal brands play a huge role in growing these businesses. Ideally, the acquiring company will figure out a strategy to grow the brand independent of the celebrity over the next few years.

“In the meantime, the company is incentivised to keep performing well with a future payment – this is known as an earn-out. For Rhode, the acquisition was for $1bn, but $200mn will only be earned if the company hits certain targets over the next 3 years.”

 

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Will Rhode come to Ireland?

As it stands, here in Ireland we can only buy Rhode products online (and with hefty customs charges, might we add).

But this new deal means that the products could very well be available to buy at stockists where other e.l.f products are already selling.

There has been no confirmation on this as of yet, but as Hailey said herself, she wants Rhode to be a global brand and that means ensuring that the products will be available to buy everywhere – from Boots to Brown Thomas.

Earlier this month, Sephora confirmed that they were set to stock Rhode from autumn 2025, and while that doesn’t mean much to us here in Ireland, it does mean that the products are already getting ever closer to Irish shores.

As Hailey told Vogue this week: “I want to be the biggest beauty brand in the world, and I believe that e.l.f is going to help me get there.”