https://www.wsj.com/articles/estee-lauders-annual-shareholder-meeting-is-a-pampered-affair-1481567339
A-hed
Estée Lauder's Annual Shareholder Meeting Is a Pampered Affair
As other companies tighten belts, makeup giant treats guests to breakfast and goody bags
A view of Central Park from the 38th floor of construction of 157 West 57th Street in New York, N.Y. on Dec. 6th, 2011.
Photo: Ramsay de Give for The Wall Street Journal
Sharon Terlep
@sharonterlep
Updated Dec. 13, 2016 3:05 pm ET
Evelyn Rochlin, 78 years old, came to a meeting at New York's historic Essex House hotel dressed head-to-toe in deep purple and realized too late that she had forgotten to apply lipstick. After explaining her dilemma to her hosts, she obtained a complimentary tube of Clinique Pop Lip Colour and, to her relief, applied it just in time.
Clinique lotion by Estee Lauder
"How would it look?" she said. "A shareholder with no lipstick."
Every fall, a few hundred people descend on Essex House, on the southern edge of Central Park for the annual Estée Lauder Cos. shareholder meeting. The crowd is dominated by impeccably dressed women in their 60s, 70s and 80s, many of whom have been attending the event since the company went public in 1995.
Many shareholder meetings have evolved into no-frills presentations in which irritated executives spar impatiently with unhappy investors, who feel fortunate if they receive a freebie hat.
June O'Neill Fuller is an Estée Lauder investor from Moorestown, N.J.
Photo: June O
At this meeting, shareholders enjoy a free and unhurried breakfast of gourmet pastries and tropical fruit and receive a goody bag filled with luxury cosmetics. They are encouraged to mingle with the children and grandchildren of Estée Lauder, who co-founded the beauty giant 70 years ago with her husband Joseph.
"I just had to get the bag," said June O'Neill Fuller, of Moorestown, N.J., who describes herself as a "newly minted senior citizen." She clutched the coveted sack, filled with cosmetics including Estée Lauder cleansing foam, a DKNY fragrance and a MAC mascara.
"Some of these other shareholder meetings, they make you feel like, 'Jeez, do I have to be here,' " Ms. Fuller said. "Here, we are so welcome. And there is certainly no yelling."
During the meeting itself, Jean Papsun of Glen Rock, N.J., stood and asked how long she could use her blue-grey Clinique Quickliner For Eyes before it goes bad.
Jane Lauder, global president of Clinique, stood up and answered: "Three months on average."
Companies should appreciate engaged shareholders, Ms. Papsun said. "They should be glad they have people like this willing to take the time." Ms. Papsun, who goes to a handful of other investor meetings, particularly enjoys Estée's "beautifully displayed breakfast," with "a nice variety of juices."
Walt Disney Co. used to hold shareholder meetings near its theme parks. Walt Disney World Resort, above, marked its 45th anniversary this year.
Corporate belt-tightening has largely done away with the tradition of annual meetings that double as an opulent bazaar, with expansive food spreads, free products and, sometimes, live entertainment. Walt Disney Co. , for instance, used to hold the event near its theme parks and give shareholders tickets to the park.
As a child, Ms. Fuller recalls hearing her father's accounts of shareholder meetings in the 1960s and 1970s in which investors dined on steak dinners and sparred with executives willing to engage in spirited debate. She said meetings she has attended over the years for other companies were disappointing, if not outright hostile.
At October's Procter & Gamble Co. shareholders meeting at the company's Cincinnati headquarters, an investor took to the microphone to express fear that P&G was going the way of other "fallen giants," such as Polaroid and Sears. "Please tell me that I'm wrong," he implored.
"You're wrong," CEO David Taylor replied, and then moved the meeting along.
Warren Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., left, with Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft Corp., on the sidelines the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting in Omaha, Neb.
Photo: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg News
At internet giant Alphabet Inc.'s annual meeting in June, the first question from the crowd: "I thought we were gonna get a cute little bag or cap or mug," the investor asked. "Can you bring it back?"
"Who is in charge of this?…This is a real failure on the part of you all," Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt joked to a trio of top executives. "Never again." At the end of the meeting, another executive took the stage to tell "the shareholder from Fresno" that he had found 100 Google hats to dole out.
Warren Buffett hosts thousands of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. investors at an annual retreat in Omaha, Neb., replete with displays such as Coca-Cola "can art" and a model railroad by BNSF Railway. Time Warner Inc. treats shareholders to a breakfast spread on its Warner Bros. studio lot in Hollywood, followed by discounts at the studio gift shop.
Take a Look at Other Recent A-Heds
Venezuela's Nemesis Is a Hardware Salesman at a Home Depot in Alabama
You Know What Kids Need Today? Their Own Teslas
Rivalry, Drama, Betrayal—and the Opera Hasn't Even Started Yet
Consumer companies such as Estée Lauder tend to embrace annual sit-downs with investors more than other firms, said Nell Minow, vice chairwoman of ValueEdge advisers, a corporate governance consulting firm.
William Lauder, executive chairman at Estée Lauder and a grandson of the company's founders, runs the hourlong meeting and sticks around afterward to mingle with investors. "It seems like a ritual at this point," he said in an interview.
Over the years. Mr. Lauder said, he has received questions that "run the whole spectrum." "It can be anything from, 'What is the impact of currency on your business?' to 'How do I find this product in the store?' "
Jane Lauder and William Lauder talked with shareholders at the Estée Lauder annual meeting.
Photo: Joe Schildhorn/BFA
This year, one investor wanted to thank the Lauder family for sponsoring an exhibit at Kensington Palace in London on fashions of the royal family. A makeup artist implored Mr. Lauder to make sure women know how important it is that they care for their face and not simply hide flaws with cosmetics.
Ms. Fuller, the shareholder from Moorestown, had only one gripe about the meeting. The value of shares she bought seven months ago has since fallen, so she has lost a little money on the investment.
"I kept thinking, 'When is somebody going to ask the question, why has the stock gone down?' " Ms. Fuller said. "Maybe nobody did because it was a very polite meeting."
—Jack Nicas contributed to this article.
Write to Sharon Terlep at sharon.terlep@wsj.com
Corrections & Amplifications:
Estee Lauder shareholder Jean Papsun is from Glen Rock, N.J. An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated she was from Glenwalk, N.J. (Dec. 13, 2016)
Appeared in the December 13, 2016, print edition as 'Estée Lauder Shareholder Meeting Is a Genteel Affair.'