Lady Gaga became chief executive officer of Haus Labs effective October 29, 2026, taking commercial control of the beauty brand she co-founded with Ben Jones in 2019 after Jones left the company earlier that month. The Business of Beauty at The Business of Fashion first reported the appointment. Gaga already led creative direction and product development since the brand’s launch. She now adds profit-and-loss responsibility, retail strategy, and supply-chain oversight at a company generating an estimated $100 million in annual revenue. The move lands three weeks after Haus Labs apologized for a bronzer shade range that launched with six options and expanded to eleven only after public criticism. Fans met the news with the line that frames this entire story: she has been “CEO of my heart since 2009.”
Lady Gaga Takes Commercial Control of Haus Labs After Ben Jones Exit
Jones held the CEO title from Haus Labs‘ founding in 2019 until his departure in October 2026. He joined the venture after serving as chief digital officer at The Honest Company, Jessica Alba’s consumer goods business, and before that held leadership roles in the video game industry at Zynga. Michael Yanover, then head of business development at Creative Artists Agency, introduced Jones to Gaga, whose legal name is Stefani Germanotta. Jones built the operating structure that carried Haus Labs through its Amazon-only launch, its 2022 Sephora relaunch, and its reformulation.
Gaga framed the promotion as continuity rather than a break.
“Ben and I started Haus Labs together eight years ago, and I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve built. I’m excited to take on a more active role in the company and work alongside our incredible team to build on everything we’ve accomplished together.”
She added that she has “a lot of vision for this brand” and that “we have so much more we want to do”. Jones issued his own statement through The Business of Beauty, saying he and Germanotta “set out to build a forever brand that stands apart” and that he is “confident she will continue to build on that foundation and take the brand to even greater heights”. Neither party disclosed the reason for his exit. The company has not named a replacement for the chief marketing officer role either; Angela Simpson left Haus Labs in August 2026 to join Patrick Ta.
What Ben Jones Built and Why His Departure Matters
Jones was not a figurehead CEO. He ran the commercial machine while Gaga ran the creative one. That split defined Haus Labs’ two-phase history. The first phase began in 2019 under the name Haus Laboratories, backed by a $10.4 million seed round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, with Gaingels, Riverside Ventures, and Sozo Ventures participating. It was the first prestige beauty brand built exclusively on Amazon. It topped Amazon’s makeup category on Prime Day. It still stalled.
- Amazon-era revenue: roughly $20 million in 2021
- Outside funding: $10.4 million total, led by Lightspeed
- 2022 relaunch: Sephora, 25 doors in June, 500 by fall
- Reformulation: roughly 2,700 ingredients removed, about 90 SKUs
- Flagship product: Triclone Skin Tech Medium Coverage Foundation, 51 shades
- Growth after Sephora: 400 percent year over year, $80 million to $100 million in first-year revenue
Jones told The Business of Beauty in 2025 that the brand had grown “substantially” in the preceding three years. His exit removes the operator who designed that comeback. Gaga now owns both sides of the business, which is unusual and consequential.
From Amazon Failure to Sephora Comeback: The Financial Stakes
Haus Labs sits in a competitive tier below Fenty Beauty and Rare Beauty but above most celebrity launches. Industry estimates put annual revenue near nine figures, with growth around 40 percent year over year. The brand’s customer base is roughly 25 percent male, a figure no other major celebrity beauty line reports. That widens the addressable market and gives Gaga a differentiated story to tell retailers.
The ownership structure stays private. Haus Labs has never disclosed a valuation, and with only $10.4 million raised, it has never needed to. A brand at $100 million in revenue, priced at a conservative multiple, implies a company worth several hundred million dollars. Rhode sold at roughly 3.8 times sales, which sets a reference point for any future exit. Gaga’s personal fortune was estimated near $900 million in September 2026, supported by the Mayhem Ball tour’s roughly $230 million gross and Haus Labs’ revenue. She also co-founded Outer Bio, a skin research business with fiancé Michael Polansky, which introduced its Yuna discovery platform in August 2026.
The Bronzer Controversy That Preceded the CEO Announcement
The CEO announcement arrived three weeks after a public apology that damaged the brand’s inclusivity reputation. Haus Labs planned to launch its Sun Dipped Bronzing Veil with six shades. Beauty creator Golloria tested three of the darkest options in May 2026 and argued the range did not serve deeper skin tones. Haus Labs asked her to remove the post, citing an embargo. That request turned a product critique into a corporate conduct story.
Gaga apologized on October 1, 2026, through a Haus Labs statement.
“We want to take full responsibility for our mistakes.”
She called the six-shade launch “the wrong decision” and described the request to Golloria as “unkind”. The brand paused the launch, returned to development, and expanded the range to 11 shades. Gaga said the creator was “100 percent right” and promised to personally prevent a repeat. The new launch date has not been announced. The episode matters for the CEO story because it shows where Gaga’s authority was already being tested. She now holds the title that owns those decisions outright.
A Rare Celebrity CEO Move and the Rihanna Precedent
Most celebrity founders do not run their companies. They take titles like chief creative officer or chief brand officer while a professional operator handles the financials. Kim Kardashian’s Skims, Jennifer Garner’s Once Upon a Farm, Hailey Bieber’s Rhode, and Selena Gomez’s Rare Beauty all follow that pattern. Rihanna was the notable exception. She served as CEO of Savage X Fenty for five years before stepping down in 2023, replaced by former Anthropologie Group CEO Hillary Super.
Gaga now joins that short list. The difference is that Rihanna’s CEO tenure ended with a professional operator taking over. Gaga is moving in the opposite direction, from creative founder to commercial chief. That reversal carries risk. A creative founder who owns the P&L has no buffer when a product misses. It also carries opportunity: no outside executive can override her vision, and no boardroom layer can dilute the brand’s artistic identity.
Fan Reactions: “CEO of My Heart Since 2009”
Pop Base broke the news on X, and the replies mixed celebration with jokes about corporate hierarchy. One user wrote “CEO of my heart since 2009,” a line that ties Gaga’s tenure as a pop cultural figure to her new corporate title. Another user pointed out that the arrangement is not as strange as it looks: “It’s not uncommon for CEO and owner to be two different people, especially in huge companies”. A third framed the speed of the change: “Co-founder leaves and the pop star takes the CEO job, effective immediately. Most of us need three months’ notice just to change desks”. One reply captured the structural inversion: “Most celebrity brands hire a CEO to manage the face. This one flips it: the face now runs the company”. Another simply said the promotion “was long overdue”.
The fan response matters commercially. Gaga’s audience treats her business moves as extensions of her artistic identity, not separate ventures. That loyalty drove the Sephora relaunch’s TikTok momentum, where a single foundation challenge generated 9.4 billion views and a campaign ran through 1,700 creators before any paid media. A founder-CEO can activate that audience faster than a hired executive. She can also damage it faster if the next product decision repeats the bronzer mistake.
What Gaga’s CEO Role Means for Haus Labs’ Next Phase
The immediate priorities are clear. Haus Labs must ship the expanded Sun Dipped Bronzing Veil without another public misstep. It must fill the chief marketing officer vacancy left by Simpson’s August departure. It must sustain growth in a beauty market where Fenty and Rare Beauty have already crossed into billion-dollar territory and Rhode has proven the exit route. And it must do all of this while Gaga balances a recording and touring career that remains the brand’s most powerful marketing engine. Every arena night is a two-hour product demonstration, and the stage makeup is the product line.
The larger question is whether founder-led commercial control becomes a durable model for celebrity beauty or a cautionary tale. Gaga has already run one version of this experiment. In 2012, her Fame fragrance moved millions of bottles through a Coty license, but licensors kept the upside. Haus Labs was built on equity from day one precisely because of that lesson. Now she controls the equity and the executive suite. The next twelve months will show whether artistry and operating discipline can sit in the same chair.
Also Read: Lady Gaga and Michael Polansky Name Baby Girl Rose Bean, a Musical Tribute
VVIPTimes will keep tracking Haus Labs’ leadership changes, the Sun Dipped Bronzing Veil relaunch, and the business performance behind Gaga’s first year as CEO.
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