Anyone using Deciem's The Ordinary range?
- Thread starter Swanky
- Start date
Read his IG, and the website is down and stores are closed. I really love the products too.
The founder and CEO is pretty much a loose cannon. Brandon Truaxe is creative and innovative but he's also highly emotional, overreactive, and possibly insane. I read an article where it said the company was a difficult place to work. Some employees were being promoted who didn't know what they were doing, while others were being fired and had no idea what they did wrong.
It's possible this is a publicity stunt to create an inflated demand for the products by causing a perceived "shortage." But sometimes the most obvious reason is the correct one and he's just plain nuts.
Inside the C.E.O.’s Social Media Meltdown at Deciem
“He is destroying what could have been a very successful company.”
In the last two years, The Ordinary has become one of the hottest brands in skin care, selling no-fuss products at a fraction of the prices of its competitors, to the obsessive delight of young consumers.
The Ordinary is one of a cluster of brands run by Deciem, which was founded in 2013 by a computer programmer named Brandon Truaxe.
Mr. Truaxe on Tuesday capped off a year of increasingly outlandish behavior with a minute-long Instagram video posted to the Deciem account, in which he said that the company would stop all operations. In an incoherent monologue, apparently filmed in the back of a moving car, he said that almost everyone at Deciem “has been involved in a major criminal activity, which includes financial crimes.”
Emails obtained by The New York Times sent by Mr. Truaxe before and after the video was posted show that his behavior was similarly disorderly in private. In one email, sent Tuesday afternoon with the subject line “EXECUTIVE ORDER 2.12.10.10.18,” the Deciem founder said: “All offices, production facilities and stores are shut down as of this moment.”
He then threatened to release employees’ private messages through Deciem’s social media channels. He identified specific employees by their emails and first names, several times suggesting that someone had changed the password to at least one of the company’s social media accounts without his permission. (Mr. Truaxe announced in January he would control the company’s social media accounts himself.)
A person familiar with the email who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak for the company said that the messages were typical of what they described as Mr. Truaxe’s bullying, threatening style.
In another email, sent a week before the video was posted, Mr. Truaxe took a more gentle tone, praising two employees for their “humility” and asking them to “dedicate ten days to spending time with me.” He declared that “the next few days will be more instrumental for DECIEM than DECIEM’s birth in 2012.”
Referring to himself occasionally in the third person, he told the Deciem staff that “my love and respect for you is immense” and asked that they pay close attention to “the communication that DECIEM will share with our world during the few weeks and months ahead of us.”
Stephen Kaplan, formerly Deciem’s chief financial officer, left the company in February. He said in an email Wednesday that he had resigned “because Brandon’s demeanor had changed following a December vacation in Mongolia.”
Mr. Kaplan said that he had “no interest in all the current drama.”
“I feel sorry for all the staff that must deal with Brandon on a day-to-day basis,” he said. “Until he changes his ways, he is destroying what could have been a very successful company.”
An investor in the company indicated that it was also troubled by Mr. Truaxe’s behavior.
“The Estée Lauder Companies is a minority investor in Deciem, and, as such, we do not control the company’s operations, social media or personnel decisions,” said a spokeswoman for Estée Lauder Companies. “We are deeply concerned by the material that has recently been posted on social media and will defend our rights as a minority investor.”
Mr. Truaxe answered his phone on Wednesday but hung up when a reporter asked permission to record the call; following calls went to voice mail.
The Instagram video this week apparently signaling the end of Deciem sent many of the company’s customers into a frenzy as they sought to understand whether their preferred products would remain available. Many of the company’s New York stores were closed on Tuesday afternoon and its website indicated that almost all its stores around the world had been shuttered, including ten locations in Canada and four locations in the U.K. (Only its three stores in Mexico City were not marked as closed.)
Mr. Truaxe’s run of unusual behavior in public began in late January, when he posted a video to Deciem’s Instagram account saying that he had canceled the company’s marketing plans. “From now on I am going to communicate personally with you,” he said. That was followed by a number of other strange videos: in one, Mr. Truaxe changed his title, from C.E.O. to “Worker;” in another, he announced that Deciem would sever its relationship with Tijion Esho, a well-known cosmetic doctor who was still promoting the lip care products he released with the company when news of the post broke.
Several weeks later, Deciem’s co-C.E.O. Nicola Kilner left the company, the first major internal rupture that could be linked to Mr. Truaxe’s erratic posting. (Ms. Kilner later told Elle that she had argued with Mr. Truaxe over the announcement about Mr. Esho, and, days afterward, was informed by human resources that she was no longer a part of the company.)
After a chaotic flurry of news set off by Mr. Truaxe’s posts earlier in the year, Deciem seemed until this week to have regained some stability. In July, Ms. Kilner, widely viewed as a calming influence, confirmed to Racked that she had rejoined the company.
Though Deciem has had at least a dozen product lines, The Ordinary has been its most popular brand. Whereas many skin care products arrive as premade serums and cocktails, The Ordinary gained devotees by offering simpler solutions, such as its popular line of acids. Customers were encouraged to experiment with ingredients in order to concoct tailored regimens, a practice that has helped drive conversation around the brand on social media.
On Tuesday, that conversation mixed elements of alarm and bargain hunting as fans discussed the news and wondered whether products would remain available. Customers swapped rumors in a private Facebook group with more than 57,000 members, while others flocked to an Instagram fan account to discuss whether products could be ordered online. (For the most part, as of Tuesday afternoon, they reportedly could, though it was unclear whether products would be delivered.)
On Twitter, many users said that they were in the midst of a purchasing spree, even as they were not sure whether the company would continue to exist. Others wondered whether the whole debacle was a false alarm, or perhaps, some unintelligible form of marketing scam.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/10/style/deciem-the-ordinary-stores.html
“He is destroying what could have been a very successful company.”
In the last two years, The Ordinary has become one of the hottest brands in skin care, selling no-fuss products at a fraction of the prices of its competitors, to the obsessive delight of young consumers.
The Ordinary is one of a cluster of brands run by Deciem, which was founded in 2013 by a computer programmer named Brandon Truaxe.
Mr. Truaxe on Tuesday capped off a year of increasingly outlandish behavior with a minute-long Instagram video posted to the Deciem account, in which he said that the company would stop all operations. In an incoherent monologue, apparently filmed in the back of a moving car, he said that almost everyone at Deciem “has been involved in a major criminal activity, which includes financial crimes.”
Emails obtained by The New York Times sent by Mr. Truaxe before and after the video was posted show that his behavior was similarly disorderly in private. In one email, sent Tuesday afternoon with the subject line “EXECUTIVE ORDER 2.12.10.10.18,” the Deciem founder said: “All offices, production facilities and stores are shut down as of this moment.”
He then threatened to release employees’ private messages through Deciem’s social media channels. He identified specific employees by their emails and first names, several times suggesting that someone had changed the password to at least one of the company’s social media accounts without his permission. (Mr. Truaxe announced in January he would control the company’s social media accounts himself.)
A person familiar with the email who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak for the company said that the messages were typical of what they described as Mr. Truaxe’s bullying, threatening style.
In another email, sent a week before the video was posted, Mr. Truaxe took a more gentle tone, praising two employees for their “humility” and asking them to “dedicate ten days to spending time with me.” He declared that “the next few days will be more instrumental for DECIEM than DECIEM’s birth in 2012.”
Referring to himself occasionally in the third person, he told the Deciem staff that “my love and respect for you is immense” and asked that they pay close attention to “the communication that DECIEM will share with our world during the few weeks and months ahead of us.”
Stephen Kaplan, formerly Deciem’s chief financial officer, left the company in February. He said in an email Wednesday that he had resigned “because Brandon’s demeanor had changed following a December vacation in Mongolia.”
Mr. Kaplan said that he had “no interest in all the current drama.”
“I feel sorry for all the staff that must deal with Brandon on a day-to-day basis,” he said. “Until he changes his ways, he is destroying what could have been a very successful company.”
An investor in the company indicated that it was also troubled by Mr. Truaxe’s behavior.
“The Estée Lauder Companies is a minority investor in Deciem, and, as such, we do not control the company’s operations, social media or personnel decisions,” said a spokeswoman for Estée Lauder Companies. “We are deeply concerned by the material that has recently been posted on social media and will defend our rights as a minority investor.”
Mr. Truaxe answered his phone on Wednesday but hung up when a reporter asked permission to record the call; following calls went to voice mail.
The Instagram video this week apparently signaling the end of Deciem sent many of the company’s customers into a frenzy as they sought to understand whether their preferred products would remain available. Many of the company’s New York stores were closed on Tuesday afternoon and its website indicated that almost all its stores around the world had been shuttered, including ten locations in Canada and four locations in the U.K. (Only its three stores in Mexico City were not marked as closed.)
Mr. Truaxe’s run of unusual behavior in public began in late January, when he posted a video to Deciem’s Instagram account saying that he had canceled the company’s marketing plans. “From now on I am going to communicate personally with you,” he said. That was followed by a number of other strange videos: in one, Mr. Truaxe changed his title, from C.E.O. to “Worker;” in another, he announced that Deciem would sever its relationship with Tijion Esho, a well-known cosmetic doctor who was still promoting the lip care products he released with the company when news of the post broke.
Several weeks later, Deciem’s co-C.E.O. Nicola Kilner left the company, the first major internal rupture that could be linked to Mr. Truaxe’s erratic posting. (Ms. Kilner later told Elle that she had argued with Mr. Truaxe over the announcement about Mr. Esho, and, days afterward, was informed by human resources that she was no longer a part of the company.)
After a chaotic flurry of news set off by Mr. Truaxe’s posts earlier in the year, Deciem seemed until this week to have regained some stability. In July, Ms. Kilner, widely viewed as a calming influence, confirmed to Racked that she had rejoined the company.
Though Deciem has had at least a dozen product lines, The Ordinary has been its most popular brand. Whereas many skin care products arrive as premade serums and cocktails, The Ordinary gained devotees by offering simpler solutions, such as its popular line of acids. Customers were encouraged to experiment with ingredients in order to concoct tailored regimens, a practice that has helped drive conversation around the brand on social media.
On Tuesday, that conversation mixed elements of alarm and bargain hunting as fans discussed the news and wondered whether products would remain available. Customers swapped rumors in a private Facebook group with more than 57,000 members, while others flocked to an Instagram fan account to discuss whether products could be ordered online. (For the most part, as of Tuesday afternoon, they reportedly could, though it was unclear whether products would be delivered.)
On Twitter, many users said that they were in the midst of a purchasing spree, even as they were not sure whether the company would continue to exist. Others wondered whether the whole debacle was a false alarm, or perhaps, some unintelligible form of marketing scam.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/10/style/deciem-the-ordinary-stores.html
Estée Lauder Sues Deciem After Founder Shuts Down Stores
Founder of skin-care company cited ‘major criminal activity’ for decision to temporarily close Deciem’s stores
Estée Lauder Cos. filed a lawsuit against popular skin-care company Deciem and its founder after he announced in a video on Instagram that he was temporarily shutting down all of its stores because of what he described as “major criminal activity.”
Estée Lauder, which owns a minority stake in Toronto-based Deciem, is requesting that founder Brandon Truaxe be removed as co-chief executive and that the other chief, Nicola Kilner, serve as sole CEO on an interim basis, according to the suit filed in the Ontario Superior Court...
https://www.wsj.com/articles/estee-lauder-sues-deciem-after-founder-shuts-down-stores-1539277196
Founder of skin-care company cited ‘major criminal activity’ for decision to temporarily close Deciem’s stores
Estée Lauder Cos. filed a lawsuit against popular skin-care company Deciem and its founder after he announced in a video on Instagram that he was temporarily shutting down all of its stores because of what he described as “major criminal activity.”
Estée Lauder, which owns a minority stake in Toronto-based Deciem, is requesting that founder Brandon Truaxe be removed as co-chief executive and that the other chief, Nicola Kilner, serve as sole CEO on an interim basis, according to the suit filed in the Ontario Superior Court...
https://www.wsj.com/articles/estee-lauder-sues-deciem-after-founder-shuts-down-stores-1539277196
Annnnnd, he's out. The stores are reopening.
Judge Removes Deciem Founder From CEO Role
The decision in Ontario Superior Court bars Brandon Truaxe from involvement in company operations, after a week where he ordered stores to close and fought publicly with investors and employees on Instagram. Co-chief executive Nicola Kilner will serve as interim CEO.
An Ontario Superior Court judge on Friday removed Brandon Truaxe as chief executive of Deciem, the skin care company he founded five years ago, effective immediately.
The Estée Lauder Companies, which owns 28 percent of Deciem, applied for an injunction Thursday to relieve Truaxe, after he had ordered the company to shut down in an Instagram post on Monday. Since then, many of the company's The Ordinary stores had closed and its website had been replaced by a red background. Truaxe continued to post about his fight with the beauty giant and his own staff on both his personal account and to hundreds of thousands of Deciem fans on the company's official account.
Truaxe did not attend the hearing, where the judge also removed him from the company's board and appointed co-chief executive Nicola Kilner as interim CEO. Deciem's board now consists of Pasquale Cusano, who is another minority investor, and Andrew Ross, executive vice president of strategy and new business development at Estée Lauder.
Truaxe has been stripped from any role as an officer or employee at the company and is prohibited from taking any actions pertaining to the operations of Deciem.
"We are pleased with the court’s decision today, 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," said a spokeswoman for The Estée Lauder Companies.
By Friday afternoon, freestanding stores in New York City and Brooklyn were reopened.
https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/news-analysis/judge-removes-deciem-founder-from-ceo-role
Judge Removes Deciem Founder From CEO Role
The decision in Ontario Superior Court bars Brandon Truaxe from involvement in company operations, after a week where he ordered stores to close and fought publicly with investors and employees on Instagram. Co-chief executive Nicola Kilner will serve as interim CEO.
An Ontario Superior Court judge on Friday removed Brandon Truaxe as chief executive of Deciem, the skin care company he founded five years ago, effective immediately.
The Estée Lauder Companies, which owns 28 percent of Deciem, applied for an injunction Thursday to relieve Truaxe, after he had ordered the company to shut down in an Instagram post on Monday. Since then, many of the company's The Ordinary stores had closed and its website had been replaced by a red background. Truaxe continued to post about his fight with the beauty giant and his own staff on both his personal account and to hundreds of thousands of Deciem fans on the company's official account.
Truaxe did not attend the hearing, where the judge also removed him from the company's board and appointed co-chief executive Nicola Kilner as interim CEO. Deciem's board now consists of Pasquale Cusano, who is another minority investor, and Andrew Ross, executive vice president of strategy and new business development at Estée Lauder.
Truaxe has been stripped from any role as an officer or employee at the company and is prohibited from taking any actions pertaining to the operations of Deciem.
"We are pleased with the court’s decision today, 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," said a spokeswoman for The Estée Lauder Companies.
By Friday afternoon, freestanding stores in New York City and Brooklyn were reopened.
https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/news-analysis/judge-removes-deciem-founder-from-ceo-role
So crazy!
Watch their prices skyrocket now that Estée Lauder is overseeing things.
They are only minority investors so they can't change pricing without the consent of the others. It's a shame it had to go this way, but they couldn't let the founder's hissy fit put the company out of business completely. I'm sure dozens of employees were affected by him closing everything earlier in the week.
Wow. I just want the niacinamide and Peeling solution. They are the bomb. I’d pay double for those because they are already cheap. I just hope prices don’t go too high.
I know he has a lot of supporters on Instagram but once you take other investors $$ you gotta be a tad more professional. [emoji12]
I know he has a lot of supporters on Instagram but once you take other investors $$ you gotta be a tad more professional. [emoji12]