Rhode moved from a three-product online launch to a profitable beauty brand acquired by e.l.f. Beauty three years later.
The company paired Hailey Bieber's audience with a narrow product system, accessible prestige pricing and direct distribution. After the acquisition, e.l.f. used Sephora and MECCA to turn Rhode into an international retail brand.
E.l.f. agreed to pay approximately $800 million in cash and shares at closing, with up to another $200 million tied to Rhode's revenue through 2028. Hailey Bieber remained founder, chief creative officer and head of innovation after the sale.[4][5]
An audience came before the products
Hailey Bieber approached OBB Media founder Michael D. Ratner in 2020 after he had produced the YouTube documentary series Justin Bieber: Seasons. TIME reported that they developed a beauty company and a video format in parallel. Ratner later introduced Bieber to Lauren Rothberg, now Lauren Ratner, who became the third cofounder.[8]
The resulting YouTube series, Who's in My Bathroom?, let Bieber establish a public point of view through interviews and beauty routines before Rhode asked viewers to buy anything. OBB says the wider YouTube ecosystem generated more than one million launch-waitlist registrations.[9]
HRBeauty LLC was formed in March 2021. Rhode launched on 15 June 2022 with Peptide Glazing Fluid and Barrier Restore Cream at $29 each and Peptide Lip Treatment at $16. TIME reported that all three sold out within a day.[2][10][8]
A small range became a product system
Rhode expanded gradually. Each new product reused the visual language, portable formats and hydration-led proposition of the launch range. That gave every release a clear role and kept the catalogue legible while the brand moved from skincare into lip and cheek colour.
Peptide Glazing Fluid, Barrier Restore Cream and Peptide Lip Treatment
Jun 2022Glazing Milk and Peptide Lip Tint
2023Pocket Blush
Jun 2024The compact cream blush moved Rhode more clearly from skincare into colour cosmetics.[14]
Barrier Butter
Oct 2024The richer treatment extended Rhode's original barrier-care proposition.[15]
Lip Case
2024The phone case turned Rhode's lowest-priced repeat-purchase format into an object carried and photographed throughout the day.[16]
The range's concentration also made product problems conspicuous. Customers reported that early Peptide Lip Treatment tubes could become grainy. Rhode traced the issue to temperature-related ingredient crystallisation, reformulated the product and explained the change publicly.[8]
Hailey Bieber was founder and distribution
Celebrity participation can mean little more than licensing a name. The public record places Bieber closer to the operating end of the spectrum. At launch, she told Allure that product and brand decisions did not proceed without her involvement. Vogue Business reported that she supplied most of the early capital and worked across development, creative direction and marketing, with One Luxury Group as a strategic minority partner.[10][11]
E.l.f.'s annual report makes the founder dependence explicit. It calls Bieber essential to Rhode's marketing and says the brand's performance will remain substantially dependent on her. She continued as founder, chief creative officer and head of innovation and became a strategic adviser to e.l.f.[1][4]
Hailey Bieber
FounderChief creative officer and head of innovation; strategic adviser to e.l.f. Beauty.
Nick Vlahos
Chief executiveLauren Ratner
CofounderMichael D. Ratner
CofounderExecutive chair, with a continuing board role described when the acquisition was announced.[4]
Rhode was profitable before the sale
Rhode generated $169 million in net sales and $29.9 million in net income in 2024. The first half of 2025 produced another $102.8 million in sales and $35.5 million in net income before the e.l.f. acquisition.[2][3]
Gross margin rose from 59.8% in 2024 to 62.3% in the first half of 2025, while inventory increased from $15.8 million to $39.6 million as Rhode prepared for retail expansion. These results show that the business entering the transaction was already profitable and investing in a larger distribution footprint.
What e.l.f. agreed to pay
E.l.f. announced the agreement on 28 May 2025 and completed it on 5 August. The maximum headline value combines consideration delivered at closing with an earnout that Rhode's sellers may never receive in full.
Subject to closing adjustments.
Approximately 2.6 million newly issued e.l.f. shares.
Based on Rhode revenue across three measurement periods.
The earnout is split across three revenue measurement periods ending in September 2026, 2027 and 2028. E.l.f. later increased the accounting value assigned to that obligation after Rhode outperformed its earlier forecast, although the maximum payment remains $200 million.[1][6]
The $800 million upfront value equalled about 3.8 times Rhode's $212 million of trailing net sales. The price reflected a profitable brand with rapid growth, a concentrated product system and a founder whose audience had already demonstrated commercial demand.[4]
Sephora changed the distribution model
Rhode was still described as direct-to-consumer when the acquisition was signed. Sephora launched the brand in the US and Canada on 4 September 2025, followed by the UK in November. MECCA added Australia and New Zealand in February 2026. A Sephora rollout across 19 additional European countries was scheduled for September 2026 at this report's cutoff.[17][18][19]
From the acquisition date through 31 March 2026, Rhode contributed $293.5 million of net sales and $112.8 million of net income to e.l.f. E.l.f.'s July 2026 proxy said the brand generated more than $500 million in global retail sales during the fiscal year and reached the top beauty-brand ranking at Sephora North America, Sephora UK and MECCA.[1][7]
The retail rollout changed Rhode from a digitally distributed founder brand into one of e.l.f.'s principal growth businesses. Its next phase depends on maintaining product demand as availability expands far beyond the audience and channels that produced the original launch.
Celebrity beauty has several ownership models
Rhode's closest comparisons are useful for transaction structure, not as interchangeable operating companies. Some founders sell control, some retain a minority, and others build alongside a strategic group from the beginning.
Naturium's announced $355 million price against $90 million of expected annual sales was close to four times sales, similar to Rhode's announced 3.8 times trailing-sales multiple. Rhode stands out for reaching that transaction after only three years in market and for keeping Bieber in a central operating and marketing role after the sale.[23][4]