This celebrity beauty brand has the highest valuation. No, it's not Hailey Bieber's Rhode or Selena Gomez's Rare Beauty

The fast-expanding beauty industry is projected to grow at a rate of 8.4 per cent per year through 2028, as per Euromonitor International estimates – and with celebrities jumping into the wagon by launching their own brands, this momentum is here to stay. Beauty brands like Fenty Beauty have turned its celebrity founders like Rihanna into billionaires.

On Wednesday, model Hailey Bieber sold her beauty and skincare brand Rhode to Elf Beauty Inc. in a $1 billion deal. In a statement on Wednesday, Elf said it would pay $800 million to the shareholders of Rhode in a cash and stocks combination. There will also be an additional potential earnout consideration of $200 million subject to certain performance-related conditions.

As Hailey Bieber strikes a billion dollar deal for Rhode, here are some of the top companies with biggest valuations in the world.

Fenty Beauty

Rihanna launched Fenty Beauty in 2017, when the makeup industry was largely lacking of diversity. The pop singer created the brand with a mission that “women everywhere (feel) included.” According to Forbes' estimates in 2021, Fenty Beauty was worth a conservative $2.8 billion. Forbes estimated Fenty Beauty to grow more, and since then Rihanna's brand has expanded with more products and presence in different countries, as well as at more stores online and offline.

Rare Beauty

Actor, singer and entrepreneur Selena Gomez launched her own makeup brand Rare Beauty in 2020 and revolutionalised the beauty industry with her products that resonated with her fans and general beauty enthusiasts alike. Four years later, in 2024, Bloomberg reported that the company to have a valuation of $2 billion. Selena, as per the report, was in talks at the time with investors and bankers about the potential sale of Rare Beauty.

Kylie Cosmetics

Kylie Cosmetics, launched by Kylie Jenner in 2014, at the early age of 17, has become one of the cult brands in the beauty world with makeup enthusiasts vouching for it for nearly a decade. By 2019, the brand expanded into the realm of skincare and fragrances and in the later half of that year, Coty bought out a 51 per cent majority stake in the company in a deal worth approximately $600 million. This deal put Kyline Cosmetics' valuation at $1.2 billion as per Vogue Business, making it one of the most valued beauty brands in the world.

Rhode

Rhode launched in 2022 and became an instant hit, thanks to the internet and Hailey Bieber's popularity among her fans. The products resonated with millennials and GenZ alike, and the brand quickly embarked on a growth road. In just two years, Rhode hit a valuation of $1.44 billion, as per media reports. The $1 billion deal with Elf Beauty reiterates Rhode's success in its industry.