Revlon taps Debra Perelman as CEO, first female to hold the role

Revlon Inc named Debra Perelman its first female chief executive officer on Wednesday, as the cosmetics maker controlled by her billionaire father, Ronald Perelman, tries to keep up with changing consumer preferences.

Debra Perelman moves into the role immediately. She replaces Fabian Garcia who stepped down in January after two years. He was hired to turn around Revlon.

With 20 years at Revlon, Debra Perelman was most recently chief operating officer at the company, where her father is also chairman.

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Debra Perelman was also most recently the executive vice president MacAndrews & Forbes, the holding company through which her father owns an 85 percent stake in Revlon.

Board member Paul Meister, who was overseeing day-to-day operations of Revlon on an interim basis, will keep his position as the vice chairman, Revlon said.

It's been a tough start to 2018 for Revlon Inc., which owns Elizabeth Arden, American Crew, Almay and Almex. 

The New York-headquartered cosmetic group said earlier in the month that first-quarter sales decreased a further 16%, resulting in a widening loss of $90.3 million, from $37.4 million in the year prior.

The burden lay in the firm's North American market it said at the time of reporting, adding the region fell 11.9%, but rose slightly (1.5%) in the international market.

Additional reporting by Benjamin Fitzgerald