rhode

Quick Take

rhode was founded by model Hailey Bieber in 2022 and sold to e.l.f. Beauty in a deal worth up to one billion dollars, with the sale closing in August 2025. e.l.f., traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker ELF, has drawn national attention for standing behind diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, including a 2024 corporate board diversity campaign, at a time when many large companies retreated. rhode's own giving program, the rhode Futures Foundation, pledges at least 1 percent of rhode's sales to organizations working to remove barriers that hold women back. Neither rhode nor e.l.f. operates a prominent federal political action committee, and the company's political profile shows up in values based marketing rather than in campaign donations.

Who Owns rhode Now

Hailey Bieber launched rhode in June 2022 with co-founders Michael D. Ratner and Lauren Ratner, naming it after her middle name, and built it into a direct to consumer brand that reported 212 million dollars in net sales in the year ending March 31, 2025, from a lineup of only about ten products [1]. In May 2025, e.l.f. Beauty announced a deal to buy rhode for up to one billion dollars: 800 million dollars at closing, split between 600 million in cash and 200 million in e.l.f. stock, plus a potential 200 million dollar earnout tied to the brand's growth over three years [2]. The acquisition closed on August 5, 2025, and rhode became a wholly owned subsidiary of e.l.f. Beauty, confirmed in e.l.f.'s quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission [3]. Bieber stayed on as founder, chief creative officer, and head of innovation, and as a strategic advisor to the parent company [1].

The Parent's Public Stance on Diversity

e.l.f. Beauty, based in Oakland, California, and led by chairman and chief executive Tarang Amin, has become one of the most visible corporate defenders of diversity efforts. The company says its own board is 78 percent women and 44 percent people of color, which it calls among the most diverse of any publicly traded U.S. company [4]. In 2024 it ran a provocative outdoor campaign titled "So Many D****" in New York's financial district, built on its own research showing that more men named Richard, Rick, or Dick sat on U.S. public company boards than there were Hispanic, Native American, or Middle Eastern women on those boards; the campaign was part of a broader "Change the Board Game" initiative that included a partnership with the National Association of Corporate Directors and an aim to double the rate at which women and diverse candidates join boards by 2027 [5]. As the federal government issued executive orders against diversity programs in 2025, e.l.f. publicly reaffirmed its commitments while several large consumer companies scaled theirs back [6][7]. These are the company's own stated positions and actions, reported here as documented fact.

Where the Money Goes

e.l.f. Beauty's own Political Advocacy and Giving Policy says the company does not endorse any political party or candidate and does not use corporate funds for political advocacy, lobbying, campaign contributions, or contributions to tax-exempt groups including trade associations, at the local, state, or federal level [13]. It does encourage employees and consumers to take part in elections, giving employees paid time off to vote and, in 2020, running a nonpartisan get-out-the-vote campaign [13]. Consistent with that policy, no federal political action committee or significant federal lobbying presence surfaced for rhode or e.l.f. in Federal Election Commission and OpenSecrets records [8].

Where the company is more active is in values-oriented philanthropy. In its fiscal 2023 impact report, e.l.f. said it donated more than 635,000 dollars, close to 3 percent of prior year profits, across a range of causes [14]. Its holiday employee match that year sent nearly 25,000 dollars in corporate funds to more than 100 organizations, in causes it listed as including women's reproductive rights, food security, animal welfare, health research, and racial and gender justice [14]. In 2022 e.l.f. joined what it called the largest beauty industry reproductive justice initiative, the Every Body Campaign, and donated proceeds from a special product line to SisterSong, an organization focused on reproductive rights [14]. It has also given 50,000 dollars to Pull Up For Change, which supports Black-owned small businesses [14].

rhode's own giving runs through the rhode Futures Foundation, a sponsored program of the Social Impact Fund, a registered 501(c)(3) charity, funded by a pledge of at least 1 percent of rhode's sales [12]. The foundation says it backs organizations working to dismantle the barriers that hold women back, and it lists its focus as women's health and bodily autonomy through access to health services, guaranteed income for mothers and caregivers, and the future of work; it defines the women it serves to include non-binary and transgender people [12]. In its own 2025 recap, the foundation said it gave 2.6 million dollars to 46 organizations that year, with its largest effort a 1 million dollar Support for Moms Fund providing guaranteed income to mothers and caregivers, plus 1.6 million dollars for Los Angeles wildfire relief [15]. All of this is values-oriented giving and advocacy rather than partisan campaign spending.

The Founder

Hailey Bieber, formerly Hailey Baldwin, is a model and entrepreneur, the daughter of actor Stephen Baldwin and the wife of singer Justin Bieber [10]. She remains the public face and creative lead of rhode after the sale, and the brand has leaned on her large social media following rather than on partisan messaging. Her personal political views are her own and are not a documented part of the brand's positioning.

What They Sell

rhode sells a tight range of skincare and hybrid makeup: peptide lip treatments and tints, the glazing mist and glazing milk, a barrier restore cream, and pocket blush and bronzer, with most items priced between about 16 and 50 dollars [11]. The brand grew online first through rhodeskin.com and began rolling into Sephora stores in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in 2025 [1]. It markets what it calls mindful skincare, including packaging made with post consumer recycled materials and consciously sourced ingredients [9].

Where to Find Them

rhode sells directly at rhodeskin.com and, since 2025, through Sephora stores in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Its parent, e.l.f. Beauty, is headquartered in Oakland, California [1][11].

Footnotes

[1] CNBC, "E.l.f. Beauty to acquire Hailey Bieber skincare brand Rhode in deal valued up to $1 billion," May 28, 2025. https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/28/elf-beauty-to-acquire-hailey-bieber-brand-rhode-in-1-billion-deal.html

[2] e.l.f. Beauty, "e.l.f. Beauty Announces Definitive Agreement to Acquire rhode in $1 Billion Deal," Business Wire, May 28, 2025. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250528613364/en/

[3] e.l.f. Beauty, Inc., Form 10-Q, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, filed for the quarter ended September 30, 2025 (rhode acquisition consummated August 5, 2025), accessed August 2026. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1600033/000160003325000058/elf-20250930.htm

[4] CNN Business, "Companies are running away from DEI. One of America's biggest beauty brands is standing firm," January 25, 2025. https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/25/business/elf-beauty-dei-support

[5] e.l.f. Beauty, "So Many D****, So Few of Everyone Else: e.l.f. Beauty Encourages More Diversity Across U.S. Corporate Boards," Business Wire, May 13, 2024. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240512945710/en/

[6] Modern Retail, "How Mandy Fields steered e.l.f. Beauty through tariffs and a high stakes Rhode acquisition in 2025," December 10, 2025. https://www.modernretail.co/operations/how-mandy-fields-steered-e-l-f-beauty-through-tariffs-and-a-high-stakes-rhode-acquisition-in-2025/

[7] CNN Business, "e.l.f. Beauty's CEO wants to make a beauty empire for Gen Z," February 14, 2026. https://www.cnn.com/2026/02/14/business/elf-beauty-ceo-dei-tariffs-risk-takers

[8] Federal Election Commission and OpenSecrets records, searched August 2026; no prominent federal PAC or significant lobbying presence found for rhode or e.l.f. Beauty. https://www.opensecrets.org/

[9] rhode, company website, accessed August 2026. https://www.rhodeskin.com/

[10] Forbes, "E.L.F. Continues To Disrupt The Beauty Business By Acquiring Hailey Bieber's Rhode For $1 Billion," May 31, 2025. https://www.forbes.com/sites/pamdanziger/2025/05/31/elf-continues-to-disrupt-the-beauty-business-by-acquiring-hailey-biebers-rhode-for-1-billion/

[11] rhode, product listings, rhodeskin.com, accessed August 2026. https://www.rhodeskin.com/

[12] rhode, "rhode futures foundation" (philanthropy page), accessed August 27, 2026. https://www.rhodeskin.com/pages/philanthropy

[13] e.l.f. Beauty, "Political Advocacy and Giving Policy," September 2024, accessed August 27, 2026. https://www.elfbeauty.com/pdfs/e-l-f-beauty-political-advocacy-and-giving-policy-sept-2024-vdraft.pdf

[14] e.l.f. Beauty, "Fiscal 2023 Impact Report," accessed August 27, 2026. https://www.elfbeauty.com/pdfs/fy-23-impact-report.pdf

[15] rhode, "rhode futures foundation: 2025 end of year recap," accessed August 27, 2026. https://www.rhodeskin.com/pages/rff-2025-end-of-year-recap