The Huda Beauty Buyback: Why Huda Kattan Took Back Full Ownership

In June 2025 Huda Kattan bought back the minority stake private-equity firm TSG had held since 2017, making Huda Beauty founder-owned again. Here is what was announced, what was not, and what it shows about founder control.

The Huda Beauty buyback, announced on June 3, 2025, ended an eight-year minority investment by private-equity firm TSG Consumer Partners and left founder Huda Kattan as the company’s sole owner. It runs against a familiar pattern in celebrity and creator beauty, where several founder-led brands, Kylie Cosmetics among them, sold control to larger groups. The deal’s price was never disclosed, so this story sticks to what the company and reputable outlets reported and draws lessons only from that record.

What happened in the Huda Beauty buyback?

Kattan purchased the equity TSG had held since 2017, taking Huda Beauty back to full founder ownership. The company’s release said she “has officially bought back her equity, regaining full control of the brand.” Cosmetics Business reported that she “acquired all outstanding shares of the company.” The release called Huda Beauty “one of the rare founder-fully-owned brands in the beauty space.”

Date Event (source)
2013 Huda Beauty launches with false eyelashes (Entrepreneur ME)
2017 TSG buys a minority stake; Forbes reports a $1.2 billion valuation
February 2025 Kattan sells her Kayali ownership to sister Mona (Cosmetics Business)
June 3, 2025 Buyback announced (company release)
May 2026 Huda Beauty launches its own fragrance (company release)

What TSG’s stake was

TSG Consumer Partners is a U.S. private-equity firm, per Cosmetics Business, that invests in consumer brands. Forbes described its 2017 purchase as “a small minority stake in 2017 in a deal that valued the company at $1.2 billion.” A minority stake means owning less than half the shares, so TSG did not control the company; Kattan and her family kept running it.

Private-equity investors typically plan to exit after several years by selling to another buyer, listing the company or selling back to the founder. The company’s release described the end of “its eight-year partnership,” which fits that pattern, but neither side said whether TSG sought the exit or Kattan initiated it.

Why did Huda Kattan buy the stake back?

The only stated reasons come from the company, and they are about independence rather than finance. The release said the move reaffirms “its commitment to a founder-led vision.” Kattan’s own explanation was personal: “It says that while many of us dreamers have visions that we are told are too big or not possible to do alone, in actuality, you have all the power you need to change the world yourself!” We found no reporting that disclosed the price, the financing (for example, whether debt was used) or any disagreement between the parties.

How the business was reshaped around the deal

The buyback was the second ownership change of 2025. Earlier that year, Cosmetics Business reported, the Kayali fragrance label passed from Kattan to Mona, another sister, who leads it as CEO of a standalone company. In June, Huda Beauty became fully founder-owned, with a family leadership team: the release paired Kattan with Goncalo, her husband, as co-CEOs and put Alya, her sister, in charge of social strategy.

Then the company moved into the category it had just separated from. In May 2026, Huda Beauty launched Easy Bake Intense Eau de Parfum under its own name, which its release said took more than 100 versions to develop with perfumer Hamid Merati-Kashani.

How founders usually pay for a buyback

A founder buying out an investor needs a price both sides accept and the money to pay it. In general, that money can come from cash the company has built up, from new borrowing, from a new partner who replaces the old one, or from the founder’s own savings. Each choice has a cost: debt adds repayment pressure, a new partner brings back outside ownership, and company cash is money not spent on growth. Huda Beauty has not said which route it used. Because the release describes Kattan as sole owner, it does not appear that a new equity partner joined, but the company has not commented on any borrowing.

What the deal shows about founder control

Compare two paths in the same industry. Kylie Jenner’s route ran the other way: Coty’s 2019 release set a price of $600M for a 51% holding in her beauty company, handing a listed group control; the story of that deal is in our Kylie Cosmetics Coty breakdown. Kattan took a minority investor instead, kept control throughout and, eight years later, bought the investor out.

  • Minority money preserves the exit option. Because TSG never controlled Huda Beauty, a founder buyback was simpler to arrange. Reversing a majority sale means buying control back from a buyer that may not want to sell.
  • Owned audiences lower the cost of independence. Forbes noted Kattan says she has never spent money on advertising. A founder who does not depend on paid marketing may need less outside capital.
  • Full ownership also means full risk. Without an outside shareholder, gains and losses sit with the founder, and there is no outside shareholder to report to.
  • Simplify before you consolidate. Separating Kayali first left a single brand for Kattan to own outright.

What we still do not know

Huda Beauty is private. Forbes’s profile, last updated in 2023, put annual sales at about $200 million, but no current revenue, profit or valuation has been published, and the buyback price remains undisclosed. That means no one outside the company can say whether TSG made money on its investment or what the business is worth today. The closest comparison on this site is the Skims valuation story, a founder-led brand that has kept raising outside money instead.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why did Huda Beauty buy back its stake from TSG?

The company framed it as a return to full independence and a founder-led vision, and Huda Kattan called it a deeply important moment. Neither side disclosed the price or gave a financial reason.

How much did Huda Kattan pay to buy back Huda Beauty?

The price was not disclosed in the June 2025 release or in the trade coverage we reviewed.

When did TSG invest in Huda Beauty?

TSG Consumer Partners acquired a minority stake in 2017. Forbes reported the deal valued the company at $1.2 billion.

Who runs Huda Beauty now?

According to the company, Kattan owns it outright and shares the co-CEO title with Christopher Goncalo, her husband; Alya Kattan, her sister, heads social strategy.

Is Kayali still part of Huda Beauty?

No. Per Cosmetics Business, Mona Kattan took over Huda’s Kayali holding in February 2025 and runs it independently.

Sources

This article is general information for founders and is not accounting, legal or investment advice. Net worth figures are estimates published by the outlets named, on the dates shown. They are not disclosed by the people profiled, they move with markets and private valuations, and different publications reach different numbers. Found Founders is not affiliated with anyone profiled here.