The Estée Lauder Companies Elects Richard F. Zannino to Its Board of Directors

The Board of Directors of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE: EL) has expanded the Board to 14 members and elected Richard F. Zannino as a Director effective January 14, 2010. He will also serve as an additional member of the Audit Committee.

Mr. Zannino, 51, is a Managing Director at the private equity firm CCMP Capital Advisors, LLC, a position he has held since July 2009. He is on the firm’s investment committee and co-heads the consumer, retail and media practices. Prior to joining CCMP Capital, he was Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors of Dow Jones & Company from February 2006 until his resignation in January 2008, shortly after its acquisition by News Corp. Mr. Zannino joined Dow Jones as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer in February 2001 and was promoted to Chief Operating Officer in July 2002. From 1998 to 2001, he was Executive Vice President of Liz Claiborne where he oversaw the finance, administration, retail fragrance and licensing divisions. From 1993 to 1998, Mr. Zannino was with Saks Fifth Avenue, serving as Vice President and Treasurer, Senior Vice President, Finance and Merchandise Planning and then Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. He earned his B.S. in finance and economics from Bentley College and an M.B.A. in finance from Pace University.

“We are very pleased that Rich Zannino is joining our Board of Directors,” said William P. Lauder, Executive Chairman of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. “Rich’s broad-based experience at various retailing and media companies and his financial expertise will be an asset to our Company and its stockholders.”

Mr. Zannino also serves as a Director of IAC/InterActive Corp. and a Trustee of Pace University.

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. is one of the world’s leading manufacturers and marketers of quality skin care, makeup, fragrance and hair care products. The Company’s products are sold in over 140 countries and territories under the following brand names: Estée Lauder, Aramis, Clinique, Prescriptives, Lab Series, Origins, M•A•C, Bobbi Brown, Tommy Hilfiger, Kiton, La Mer, Donna Karan, Aveda, Jo Malone, Bumble and bumble, Darphin, Michael Kors, American Beauty, Flirt!, Good Skin™, Grassroots Research Labs, Sean John, Missoni, Daisy Fuentes, Tom Ford, Coach and Ojon.

An electronic version of this release can be found at the Company’s website, www.elcompanies.com.

The forward-looking statements in Mr. Lauder’s remarks above involve risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those forward-looking statements include current economic and other conditions in the global marketplace, shifts in the preferences of consumers as to where and how they shop for the types of products the Company sells, competition, the Company’s ability to successfully implement its long-term strategic plan and those described in the Company’s quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2009.

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