NEW YORK — Estee Lauder, who started a kitchen business blending face creams and built it into an international cosmetics empire, has died. She was 97.
Lauder died late Saturday at her home in Manhattan of cardiopulmonary arrest, a company spokeswoman said.
In 1998, Lauder was the only woman on Time magazine's list of the 20 most influential geniuses of business of the century.
Her company placed No. 349 in the 2003 ranking in the Fortune 500 list of the nation's largest companies, with revenue at $4.74 billion.
She courted the rich and famous, such as Princess Grace of Monaco, who became a friend.
Born Josephine Esther Mentzer in the working-class Corona section of Queens, she was the daughter of Max and Rose Schotz Mentzer. Lauder never disclosed her birth date, but a company spokeswoman said she was 97.
During the 1930s, she began selling face creams that her uncle John Schotz, a chemist, mixed in a makeshift laboratory in a stable behind the family house. And she began experimenting with mixes herself.
Estee Lauder first became a household name in 1953, when the company debuted Youth Dew, a bath oil and perfume.
Packaging developed by Lauder in a delicate shade of greenish blue — chosen because it complemented virtually any bathroom decor — became a trademark.
She dueled with archrival Charles Revson, who built the Revlon empire.
Earlier this year, Forbes magazine estimated the net worth of Lauder's sons at $5.1 billion total, ranking them both in the top 300 richest people in the world.