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Another day, another chapter of the Deciem drama continues. The company behind cult brands The Ordinary and NIOD, hailed as a game-changer of the beauty industry had been going from strength to strength, until a bizarre turn of events saw it become headline news all last week – and not for positive reasons.
Given that successful brands operate like well-oiled machines, it was baffling to everyone, when over the past year, beauty company Deciem’s founder and CEO, Brandon Truaxe, threw away that rulebook. Gone were the carefully curated social media posts; tidbits of the brand’s stellar achievements. Instead, we saw its founder turning to Instagram to regularly incite one drama after another. Even to a casual bystander, it’s been exhausting to witness.
Following a tirade last week in which Truaxe announced in now-deleted videos on social media that he would effectively and abruptly shut down his company – several stores in the US reported that they received phone calls telling them to close immediately with no prior warning – fans of the products were left wondering what was to become of it all. However, it was announced that the CEO had been removed from his position and that, at least for now, it was business as usual.
Reports confirmed that Truaxe has been removed from his post as CEO by an Ontario Superior Court Judge, effective immediately.
The Estée Lauder Companies – who own 28% of the company after purchasing a minority stake in 2017 – started legal proceedings, after rants which saw Truaxe accuse his own company of “major criminal activity.”
His unpredictable behaviour had been a cause of concern for many over the past year, which strange posts began appearing on Deciem’s official Instagram account.
A judge ruled in favour of Estée Lauder, removing Truaxe from his post as CEO, as well as removing him from the company’s board. Nicola Kilner – who, once referred to as co-CEO by Truaxe was abruptly fired by the founder and then quietly re-instated a few months ago – has been appointed as interim CEO.
As part of the ruling, Truaxe is prohibited from having any role at the company he founded, and from posting on Deciem’s social media accounts (which have had all Truaxe’s strange posts removed).
In a statement, a spokesperson for Estée Lauder Companies said that the company would be running as usual:
“We are pleased with the court’s decision, and will be working closely with Deciem’s leadership team to support and guide them as they resume operations and continue to provide consumers with the products that they know and love.”
Truaxe has remained silent following the ruling, but our advice would be to stock up on your favourite products because it’s unlikely that this will be the end of the brands’ strange story.