Estée Lauder $210 Million Securities Class Action Settlement

William C. Gendron

Editor in Chief

Published

June 12, 2026 3:24 PM

Updated

June 12, 2026

Who can file a claim?

The settlement includes all persons and entities that purchased or otherwise acquired publicly traded common stock of The Estée Lauder Cos. Inc. (NYSE: EL) between Feb. 3, 2022, and Feb. 3, 2025, inclusive, and allegedly suffered damages as a result.

Additional details

Both individuals and entities can be class members.
The actual beneficial owner or a legal representative must submit the claim.
All joint owners must sign the claim form.
Executors, administrators, guardians, conservators and trustees may submit claims on behalf of others and must provide proof of their authority.
Class members filing for multiple accounts must submit a separate claim form for each account.

How much can class members get?

The total settlement fund is $210,000,000. The amount each class member receives depends on several factors:

The number of valid claims submitted
The number of shares purchased or otherwise acquired during the class period
The timing of each purchase and sale
The total recognized losses of all claimants

The settlement administrator will distribute payments on a pro rata basis according to the court-approved plan of allocation:

The estimated average recovery is approximately $0.68 per allegedly damaged share before deductions for attorneys' fees and expenses.
The estimated average recovery is approximately $0.46 per allegedly damaged share after deductions for attorneys' fees and expenses.
Actual payments may be higher or lower depending on individual claims and the total number of valid claims.
To have a compensable loss, class members must have purchased shares during the class period and held them through at least one corrective disclosure date.
The settlement administrator will calculate each class member's recognized loss for each transaction using the court-approved plan of allocation and the artificial inflation values in Table 1 (Page 13 of the class notice).

For shares sold before Nov. 2, 2022, the recognized loss is $0.
For shares sold from Nov. 2, 2022, through Feb. 3, 2025, the recognized loss is the lesser of the artificial inflation at purchase minus the artificial inflation at sale or the out-of-pocket loss (the purchase price minus the sale price).
For shares sold from Feb. 4, 2025, through May 2, 2025, the recognized loss is the least of the artificial inflation at purchase, the purchase price minus the average closing price from Feb. 4, 2025, through the sale date (Table 2 on Page 14 of the class notice) or the out-of-pocket loss.
For shares held as of the close of trading on May 2, 2025, the recognized loss is the lesser of the artificial inflation at purchase or the purchase price minus $64.73, the average closing price during the 90-day lookback period.

The settlement administrator will set any recognized loss that calculates to a negative number to $0.
If total recognized losses exceed the net settlement fund, the settlement administrator will reduce payments on a pro rata basis.
Class members whose payment would be less than $10 will not receive a payout but will still be bound by the settlement.

How to claim an Estée Lauder securities class action settlement payment

Class members may file a claim online or download, print and complete the PDF claim form and mail it to the settlement administrator. The deadline to file a claim is Aug. 5, 2026.

Settlement administrator's mailing address: Estée Lauder Securities Settlement, c/o Epiq, P.O. Box 5983, Portland, OR 97228-5983

Proof or documentation required to submit a claim

All class members must provide the last four digits of their Social Security number or taxpayer identification number. They must also provide holdings and transaction information, including:

Number of shares held at the opening of trading on Feb. 3, 2022, and at the close of trading on May 2, 2025
Trade dates for all purchases and sales from Feb. 3, 2022, through the close of trading on May 2, 2025
Number of shares purchased, acquired or sold, the price per share and the total transaction price

Class members must also provide documentation to support their transactions in Estée Lauder publicly traded common stock. Acceptable proof includes:

Broker confirmation slips
Broker account statements
Authorized statements from a broker containing the transactional information found in a confirmation slip

Payout options

Physical check

$210 Million settlement fund

The $210,000,000 settlement fund includes:

Settlement administration costs: To be determined
Attorneys' fees: Up to $67,200,000
Attorneys' expenses: Up to $875,000
Payments to eligible class members: Remainder of the fund

Important dates

Opt-out deadline: July 30, 2026
Deadline to file a claim: Aug. 5, 2026
Fairness hearing: Aug. 20, 2026

When is the Estée Lauder securities class action settlement payout date?

The settlement administrator will distribute payments to eligible class members after it processes all claims and the court resolves any appeals and grants final approval of the settlement.

Why did this class action settlement happen?

The class action lawsuit alleged The Estée Lauder Cos. and certain executives made materially false and misleading statements and omitted material facts about the sustainability of its travel retail business and its undisclosed reliance on daigou sales in certain Asian markets. The plaintiffs claimed these statements artificially inflated Estée Lauder's stock price and caused investor losses when the company issued corrective information to the market.

The defendants denied all allegations of wrongdoing but agreed to settle to avoid the costs, risks and delays of continued litigation.