E.l.f.’s acquisition of Hailey Bieber’s Rhode is a $1 billion bet on Gen Alpha

The Oakland-based cosmetics company signed a definitive agreement to acquire Rhode in a deal valued at $1 billion, the company announced Wednesday. The deal consists of $800 million in cash and stock to be paid at closing, as well as a potential $200 million in earnout consideration over the next three years, contingent on Rhode’s performance after the sale.

“We found a like-minded disruptor in Hailey Bieber and the Rhode team,” e.l.f CEO Tarang Amin told Fortune. “I’ve been in the consumer space for 34 years. I’ve never seen a business like this….It’s just incredible the level of consumer fervor and community that this brand has been able to build.”

Founded in 2022, Rhode launched with three products, marketing itself as a minimalist, curated brand of essential must-haves, bolstered by Bieber’s own popularity. Bieber, the daughter of actor Stephen Baldwin and now married to pop star Justin Bieber, has garnered a following of 55 million on Instagram and more than 15 million on TikTok. Rhode generated $212 million in net sales in the past 12 months ending in March 31, according to the press release. Bieber was considering selling the brand last month, Reuters first reported, tapping JPMorgan Chase and Moelis to help with the deal.

Rhode, built as a direct-to-consumer brand, will also make its brick-and-mortar retail debut, selling its products in U.S.,Canada, and UK Sephora locations by the end of the year.

E.l.f. announced the acquisition alongside its fourth-quarter and full fiscal 2024 earnings, posting $332.6 million in quarterly net sales, a 4% year-over-year increase, as well as a 28% boost in year-over-year annual net sales to $1.3 billion. The company did not provide fiscal 2026 guidance due to tariff uncertainty.

Gen Alpha mixes beauty and wellness

Amin hailed e.l.f.’s ability to attract Gen Z and Gen Alpha shoppers, saying, “We have the consumers everyone wants.”

While the young generation has a trepidatious economic outlook, they are willing to spend on skincare and beauty. According to Piper Sandler’s spring 2025 Taking Stock with Teens survey of 6,455 teenagers, 57% of respondents had a worse outlook on economic trends compared to 19% who reported a better outlook. Yet teenagers increased their spending from the prior year, and the beauty category led the way with $374 in spending, a 10% year-over-year jump. Teenagers ranked e.l.f. as their top beauty brand. 

E.l.f.’s acquisition of Rhode aligns with Amin’s observations around Gen Alpha and Gen Z’s growing interest in wellness as a complement to cosmetics.

“We see a real blurring of the lines, actually, even between cosmetics and skincare,” Amin said. “Having skincare benefits in even your cosmetics has proven to be really successful for us.”

Rhode’s products like Peptide Lip Treatments and Glazing Milk toner encapsulate this marriage of skincare and beauty. Bieber’s “glazed donut skin” technique of applying products to make one’s face appear glossy like the eponymous confection went viral on social media.

While e.l.f. is betting on Bieber’s vision, not all collaborations between beauty brands and social media stars have paid off. Sephora pulled the product lines of Addison Rae’s Item Beauty and Hyram Yarbro’s Selfless by Hyram in 2023 after launching the respective partnerships in 2021. Amin said e.l.f.’s new acquisition would not suffer the pitfall of short-lived hype.

“Rhode is a brand where consumers will camp out overnight, wait 14 hours in a line for a pop-up in LA, not not just for the product, but to buy into the entire lifestyle of the brand,” Amin said. “So that is the thing that we believe has real staying power: her instincts, her aesthetic, her vision for this brand.”