MAC Cosmetics has spent three decades doing something unusual for a makeup brand: turning a lipstick into a fundraising machine for HIV/AIDS and LGBTQ causes. Since 1994, every cent of the selling price of its VIVA GLAM lipstick has gone to charity, a program first fronted by the drag performer RuPaul and now credited with raising more than 540 million dollars. Yet MAC sits inside The Estée Lauder Companies, whose most politically prominent family member, Ronald Lauder, has long been one of the largest Republican and Trump donors in the country. Depending on where you look, the brand and the family behind its parent point in very different directions.
- Since 1994, MAC has raised over 540 million dollars for HIV/AIDS and LGBTQ causes through VIVA GLAM.
- The first VIVA GLAM lipstick campaign, in 1994, was fronted by drag star RuPaul.
- MAC is owned by Estée Lauder, whose own disclosure says it has no PAC.
- Estée Lauder heir Ronald Lauder is among the biggest Republican and Trump donors in the country.
- Other Lauder family members have given heavily to Democrats, splitting the family politically.
Quick Take
MAC's signature cause, VIVA GLAM, is one of the most visible corporate LGBTQ and HIV/AIDS efforts in beauty, and its grant partners have included Planned Parenthood and GLAAD. Its parent, The Estée Lauder Companies, trades on the New York Stock Exchange as EL and states in its own disclosures that it does not operate a political action committee. The politics that draw headlines belong to the founding family, not the corporation: Ronald Lauder, an Estée Lauder heir who served on the company's board until January 2025 and remains chairman of its Clinique unit, has given tens of millions of dollars to Republican and pro-Trump causes over his lifetime, while his late brother Leonard and other relatives have backed Democrats. Those are the individuals' personal donations, not positions taken by MAC or by the company.
Who Owns MAC
MAC, short for Make-Up Art Cosmetics, was founded in Toronto in 1984 by makeup artist Frank Toskan and salon owner Frank Angelo, aimed first at professional makeup artists [6]. The Estée Lauder Companies bought 51 percent of MAC in 1994 and acquired the rest by 1998, making it a wholly owned subsidiary [6]. Estée Lauder, based in New York City, is one of the world's largest beauty companies and trades publicly as EL; it reported about 15 billion dollars in net sales in its 2026 fiscal year, up 5 percent and returning to growth after several years of declines and a 2025 leadership change [11][16]. The company is controlled by the Lauder family through a dual class share structure: the family holds most of the Class B stock, which carries ten votes per share against the public Class A stock's one, and as of 2026 the family controlled about 82 percent of the shareholder voting power while holding a much smaller minority of the equity [13].
The Lipstick That Funds a Cause
VIVA GLAM is the heart of MAC's public identity. Launched in 1994 at the height of the AIDS epidemic, the lipstick line donates 100 percent of its selling price to what began as the MAC AIDS Fund and is now the MAC VIVA GLAM Fund [2]. The brand says the program has raised more than 540 million dollars since 1994, reaching more than 60 million people across 92 countries, with 4.5 million dollars in grants to 64 nonprofits in its 2025 fiscal year alone [1]. The first campaign was fronted by RuPaul in 1994, and later faces included k.d. lang, Elton John, and Lady Gaga [3]. In 2019 the fund broadened its mission beyond HIV/AIDS to fund equal rights for women, girls, and LGBTQ communities, naming Planned Parenthood, GLAAD, and Girls Inc. among its partners [4], and in 2020 it pledged 10 million dollars for COVID-19 relief [10]. These are the brand's own documented statements and giving, reported here as fact.
The Parent Has No PAC
The measurable corporate political footprint is small and, by policy, deliberately constrained. The Estée Lauder Companies states in its own political engagement disclosure that it does not have a political action committee and does not contribute to candidates for federal, state, or local office or to state or local parties [5]. It also says it does not use corporate funds for super PACs, 527 groups, 501(c)(4)s, or ballot measures, and that employees and managers may not take public policy positions or lobby in the company's name without approval from its senior vice president of global public affairs [5]. The company adopted a policy against state and local political contributions in 2018; before that, its state and local giving totaled less than 20,000 dollars a year from 2014 through 2017, which it says was made without regard to its executives' personal politics [5]. The main corporate spending it discloses is trade association dues. Of its 2026 dues, the portion those groups identified as lobbying or political spending was roughly 199,643 dollars for the Personal Care Products Council and about 12,000 dollars for the US Chamber of Commerce [5]. Federal databases show no corporate PAC and no outside election spending by the company [5].
Having no PAC does not mean the parent stays out of politics entirely. On its own account, The Estée Lauder Companies lobbies and takes public policy positions on matters affecting its business, and it has weighed in on LGBTQ rights directly: in 2019 it joined the Business Coalition for the Equality Act, the group of companies backing a federal bill to bar discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and it signed a friend of the court brief urging the Supreme Court to rule that federal civil rights law protects LGBTQ workers, the position the Court adopted in 2020 [15]. These are corporate actions by the parent, distinct from both MAC's charitable giving and the Lauder family's personal politics.
The Family Behind the Parent
The politics that get attention belong to the Lauder family as individuals, not to the brand. Ronald Lauder, a son of founder Estée Lauder who served on the parent company's board for years until retiring from it in January 2025 and who remains chairman of its Clinique unit, is a lifelong Republican and one of the country's more prolific political donors; a 2026 Forbes tally estimated his lifetime political giving at more than 72 million dollars, most of it to Republican candidates and committees [7][14]. A decades long associate of Donald Trump dating to their years at the University of Pennsylvania, he has been credited with suggesting in 2018 that Trump try to buy Greenland [9]. His support of Trump has not been constant. He gave 200,000 dollars to the Trump Victory fundraising committee during Trump's first term, between 2017 and 2019, but after Trump announced his third run in late 2022 Lauder said he would not fund the 2024 campaign, and federal records show he did not [9]. He re-engaged after Trump won the 2024 election, giving 5 million dollars to the pro-Trump super PAC MAGA Inc. in March 2025 [7]. By 2026, reporting indicated he had begun pulling back from political giving [7]. In 2020, more than 100 Estée Lauder employees signed a letter asking that he be removed from the board over his support for Trump [8]. His late brother Leonard Lauder and Ronald's wife, Jo Carole Lauder, by contrast, have given to Democratic candidates and committees [7]. All of this is personal giving by members of the family rather than positions taken by MAC or the company, though the family's tight control of the parent, described above, means those individuals are not ordinary outside shareholders.
What They Sell
MAC sells professional grade color cosmetics, with longtime bestsellers including Studio Fix foundation and Ruby Woo lipstick, sold in more than 100 countries through stores that are typically staffed by makeup artists [6]. The brand is available at its own stores and counters, on maccosmetics.com, at Ulta, and through major department stores [12].
Where to Find Them
MAC sells directly at maccosmetics.com and through its own stores, Ulta, and department stores in the United States. Its parent, The Estée Lauder Companies, is headquartered in New York City [11][12].
Footnotes
[1] MAC Cosmetics, "MAC VIVA GLAM Releases Second Annual Impact Report," PR Newswire, February 10, 2026, accessed August 2026. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mac-viva-glam-releases-second-annual-impact-report-302683012.html
[2] POZ, "MAC Milestones," July 1, 2019, accessed August 2026. https://www.poz.com/article/mac-milestones
[3] The Body, "How Viva Glam Harnessed the Star Power of Two Hip-Hop Legends to Fund Support for People Living With HIV," accessed August 2026. https://www.thebody.com/article/mary-j-blige-lil-kim-viva-glam-campaign
[4] Forbes, "Rebranding At M A C Viva Glam Fund Explicitly Focuses On LGBTQ Equality To Boost HIV Fight," June 28, 2019, accessed August 2026. https://www.forbes.com/sites/devinthorpe/2019/06/28/rebranding-at-mac-viva-glam-fund-explicitly-focuses-on-lgbtq-equality-to-boost-hiv-fight/
[5] The Estée Lauder Companies, "Political Engagement," accessed August 2026. https://www.elcompanies.com/en/our-impact/viewpoints/political-engagement
[6] Wikipedia, "MAC Cosmetics," accessed August 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MAC_Cosmetics
[7] Forbes, "Billionaire Ron Lauder Has Given More Than $70 Million In Political Donations, Including To Trump," August 6, 2026, accessed August 2026. https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2026/08/06/billionaire-trump-pal-ron-lauder-spent-more-than-70-million-on-politics-now-hes-apparently-bowing-out/
[8] Business of Fashion, "Estée Lauder Workers Demand Ronald Lauder Ouster Over Trump Support," 2020, accessed August 2026. https://www.businessoffashion.com/news/workplace-talent/ronald-lauder-donald-trump-supporter-estee-lauder-employees-removal/
[9] The Daily Pennsylvanian, "Former Penn donor Ronald Lauder pushed Trump to buy Greenland. Now he wants to cash in," January 2026, accessed August 2026. https://www.thedp.com/article/2026/01/penn-trump-greenland-ronald-lauder-donor-financial-ties
[10] WWD via Yahoo, "MAC Viva Glam Will Donate $10 Million to Covid-19 Relief Efforts," 2020, accessed August 2026. https://news.yahoo.com/mac-viva-glam-donate-10-183500323.html
[11] The Estée Lauder Companies, company website, accessed August 2026. https://www.elcompanies.com/
[12] MAC Cosmetics, company website, accessed August 2026. https://www.maccosmetics.com/
[13] The Estée Lauder Companies, "The Estée Lauder Companies Announces Secondary Offering of Class A Common Stock by Selling Stockholders," press release, November 4, 2025, accessed August 2026. https://www.elcompanies.com/en/news-and-media/newsroom/press-releases/2025/11-04-2025-214705892
[14] The Estée Lauder Companies, "Ronald S. Lauder to Retire from The Estée Lauder Companies' Board of Directors," press release, January 10, 2025, accessed August 2026. https://www.elcompanies.com/en/news-and-media/newsroom/press-releases/2025/01-10-2025-114520227
[15] The Estée Lauder Companies, "The Estée Lauder Companies Scores 100 on 2021 Corporate Equality Index," company feature, 2021, accessed August 2026. https://www.elcompanies.com/en/news-and-media/newsroom/company-features/2021/hrc
[16] The Estée Lauder Companies, "The Estée Lauder Companies Reports Fiscal 2026 Results," press release, August 19, 2026, accessed August 2026. https://www.elcompanies.com/en/news-and-media/newsroom/press-releases/2026/08-19-2026-110037466
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