Huda Kattan steps down as CEO of Huda Beauty

Huda Kattan, founder of Huda Beauty, has appointed Nathalie Kristo as the new global CEO of the company.

Huda Kattan trained as a make-up artist in 2009 and quickly gained a loyal clientele. In 2010, Huda started a beauty blog that has since grown into one of the world’s fastest growing companies.

Huda Kattan

Employing over 250 people worldwide, the Huda Beauty empire is valued at $1.2 billion. As well as this, Huda Beauty is the hottest beauty brand of 2020, according to The Cosmetify Index 2020. The report considered the number of Instagram followers, Instagram hashtags, Instagram engagement, global search volume and increase in searches compared to last quarter, with Huda Beauty coming out on top. Huda Beauty boasts the largest social community in the industry of over 60 million followers across platforms.

“When I started my beauty blog in 2010, never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine I would end up owning one of the world’s fastest-growing beauty companies,” says Huda Kattan. “As we continue to evolve and expand, our goals continue to grow and in the future we see Huda Beauty being one of the biggest beauty companies in the world, both in social impact and in business. To do this, we are doubling down on focus and leadership, which is why I am proud to announce our new CEO, Nathalie Kristo.

“We see Huda Beauty being one of the biggest beauty companies in the world, both in social impact and in business. To do this, we are doubling down on focus and leadership, which is why I am proud to announce our new CEO, Nathalie Kristo.” – Huda Kattan.

“I never wanted to be CEO! I was enjoying creating products and producing content, and I thought I would do this for free for the rest of my life. When our company started to make money, I realised I had a big responsibility to not only support my family and our Huda Beauty family of team members, but to also create product with purpose. Out of necessity, I quickly shifted into the CEO role and found I had to sacrifice being involved with some areas of the business I enjoyed the most, which left me feeling unfulfilled.

“As the social media and beauty worlds became intertwined, I realised the opportunity for growth and also that I needed focus and support. After nearly a year of searching for a CEO, we were thrilled to meet Nathalie and to see how we could combine her wealth of knowledge and experience with the scrappiness and magic of Huda Beauty. With Nathalie on board, I feel like the sky is truly the limit.

“I’m not going anywhere! In some ways I will be more involved than ever before, but in areas where my attention can leave a lasting impact on our community.”

As Huda Beauty, Kayali and Wishful continue to expand, Huda will dedicate her time to content, product development and building community. Huda will also be delving deeper into HB Angels, a pillar of the Kattan’s private investment entity HB Investments, which works with passionate female entrepreneurs to offer mentorship and investment at the early stages of development.

Nathalie Kristo

About Nathalie Kristo
As part of the Huda Beauty family since 2018, Nathalie Kristo established Huda Beauty’s first North America operation and digital centre of excellence in Los Angeles. In March 2019, Nathalie assumed the role of global deputy CEO, quickly becoming the Kattan family’s trusted righthand woman.

Prior to joining Huda Beauty, Nathalie spent 18 years with L’Oreal in various senior leadership roles, building and managing brands and businesses across different geographies. Her previous role was global brand president of NYX Professional Make-up, where she spearheaded the globalisation of the brand. Nathalie has also held the positions of senior vice president of marketing for L’Oreal Paris USA, general manager of Maybelline New York and Garnier in Canada, and various global roles in France.

“I have deep respect and admiration for the incredible business and movement that Huda, Mona and the family have built,” explains Nathalie Kristo. “In a few short years, Huda Beauty has become one of the most influential beauty brands in the world, fuelled by an authentic and personal connection with our community that spans the globe.

“I am honoured to join forces with such an inspiring founder and continue to harness our global digital leadership, unique global footprint and total beauty expertise to grow the company into a global beauty powerhouse, which is deeply human at its core.”