The founder of a cosmetics empire has died, leaving behind a fortune of $15.6 billion

He created an empire from a handful of powder and a huge passion. Leonard Lauder, a visionary of the cosmetics market and a philanthropist with a heart for art, has died at the age of 92. A man who was able to turn a perfume bottle into a story of luxury and dreams has passed away.

Leonard Lauder grew up in the shadow of fragrant jars and perfume samplers. His mother, the legendary Estée , took him to meet boutique owners as a child - he absorbed the atmosphere of sales and intuitively understood what beauty in a feminine version was. When he joined the family business in 1958, the company had a few employees and barely exceeded $1 million in annual sales.

Leonard Lauder/photo GettyImages

Today, Estée Lauder Companies is a global corporation operating in 150 countries, with annual revenues of $15.6 billion and brands in its portfolio such as La Mer, Clinique, MAC and The Ordinary. But before the world fell in love with this logo, Leonard Lauder had to take risks, be brave and have a pinch of brilliant intuition.

He was not only a businessman, but also a pioneer. He opened the company's first research and development lab, took it public in 1995, and boldly entered the Asian and European markets. He always wore a white shirt in the office, but what he created was full of color and expression. No wonder model Elizabeth Hurley called him "American Daddy," and Steve Forbes said after his death, "He's a loss to the world."

He also amassed one of the most valuable collections of Cubism in the world, worth a billion dollars—and donated it to the Met in New York. And he never forgot that beauty is also health: he was a pillar of the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

Leonard Lauder wasn't just the face of his business. He was its soul.