Why Hailey Bieber refused to sell Rhode for less than $1 billion

By Lollie Hancock | Published: 11-May-2026

Following e.l.f. Beauty’s acquisition of Rhode for a landmark figure in 2025, founder Hailey Bieber reveals why she refused to sell the brand for less and why, despite the sale, she is ‘here to stay’

Hailey Bieber, founder of Rhode, has revealed insight into the brand’s landmark sale to e.l.f. Beauty in May 2025.

The beauty conglomerate acquired the brand just three years after its launch, investing the impressive fee to purchase the brand, which only had ten products at the time.

The acquisition saw Bieber enter new roles with both Rhode and e.l.f. Beauty, maintaining her founder title while becoming Chief Creative Officer and Head of Innovation at Rhode and Strategic Advisor to both Rhode and e.l.f. Beauty.

Bieber, who sold the brand for US$1bn, revealed in an interview with Time why the fee was her “goal” for the acquisition.

"I am somebody who really believes in, like, what you say out loud is very important," Bieber said in the interview. 

"Our words are important, the kind of manifestations we put out there into the world are very important.”

She continued: “From a very early on conversation when we were just kind of like ‘hey what would it look like, what would we want the number to be’, I was like, 'It has to be this number. I will not go for less’. 

“It was a goal. 

"That was the line I drew in the sand and the goal that I set."


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Later talking about the possibility of launching another brand, Bieber revealed she would “like to eventually” while standing firm that “I am not going anywhere with Rhode – I am here and here to stay”.

She explained: “That was another thing that was really important to me with being with e.l.f. [Beauty].

“You hear a lot of stories that founders, they sell their business and they get pushed out or they leave or they kind of just get a payday and decide to move on and I was like ‘that is absolutely not what I want’.

“I want to be here forever… I am so engrained in this brand, I could never imagine not being so intricately woven into it, but I definitely have other aspirations and things that I am inspired by and that I am thinking of.”

Rhode’s global expansion plan

Self-proclaimed “skin care fanatic and nerd” Bieber also shared insight into the brand’s rollout into new territories, confirming that Rhode will be available to shop in the EU from autumn 2026.

She said the brand would be “launching in Sephora EU in the fall” and is “taking it a territory at a time”.

Looking ahead, she is “eager” to continue global expansion, noting how “South America is another really important one to me – my mom is from Brazil, so being able to do that is another big goal of mine”.

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