The Estée Lauder Companies names Dave Smith as SVP, new business development

By

Gabriella Lacombe

Published
Jan 17, 2021

The Estée Lauder Companies has named Dave Smith as senior vice president, new business development. 

He will report to Andrew Ross, executive vice president, strategy, new business development and integration.

Estée Lauder's new business development was previously overseen by Shana Randhava, who recently transitioned to take on an expanded role leading new incubation ventures for the Estée Lauder companies, the company said. She will continue to report to Ross. 

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In a press release, the company praised Smith for his talent and experience as a mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and strategic investments professional, noting his "record of successfully driving all phases of the M&A process," including identification and evaluation of target companies, relationship building and management, strategic business case development, creative deal structuring and due diligence, among others.

The company further applauded Smith for executing "sophisticated M&A and strategic investment transactions that have contributed to long-term growth and value creation across a variety of industries" throughout his career. 

Smith joins Estée Lauder from Corning Incorporated, a technology company specializing in specialty glass, ceramics and related materials, where he was most recently head of corporate venture capital and director of M&A.  In this role, he led an interdisciplinary team in the execution of complex M&A transactions and the development of broad, strategic investment themes.

Prior to his time at Corning, Smith served as senior director, M&A at Ebay, where he focused on M&A opportunities in user experience, machine learning and logistics. Over the course of his career, he also spent more than a decade at several Wall Street firms in investment banking, investment management and corporate strategy, including serving as managing director at BNY Mellon, where he oversaw corporate strategy for the investment services portfolio of businesses.

“Dave’s deep experience, global perspective and creative vision for New Business Development make him the ideal leader to help us further develop our progressive end-to-end M&A strategy,” said Andrew Ross, executive vice president, strategy, new business development and integration. 

“He brings to ELC a blend of analytics and creativity, as well as an outstanding skillset in building and managing complex relationships with key stakeholders throughout the M&A ecosystem.”

Outside of his work, Smith is a member of the board of trustees at the Winston-Salem State University, a Historically Black University targeting under-served minority students from rural areas.

In November 2020, Estée Lauder, which owns brands including its namesake brand, Becca Cosmetics, Clinique, MAC and La Mer, beat analysts' estimates for quarterly sales and profit thanks to strong Chinese demand and a surge in online orders for its skincare products.