Coty, the company behind CoverGirl, Rimmel, and Max Factor, opened 2026 under new leadership. On December 22, 2025, Coty announced that Markus Strobel, a longtime Procter & Gamble executive, would take over as chairman and interim CEO on January 1, 2026, succeeding Sue Nabi, per Reuters. For anyone who buys mass makeup or prestige fragrance, the move matters because it arrives while the company is actively weighing the future of its entire consumer beauty business.
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Who is Markus Strobel?
Strobel is a Procter & Gamble veteran, per Reuters, which announced his appointment on December 22, 2025. He takes the combined roles of chairman and interim CEO, a structure that signals the board wanted an experienced operator rather than a long search process. His P&G background is relevant to beauty readers because P&G's consumer divisions have long managed mass personal-care brands at the kind of scale Coty competes at.
Why did Sue Nabi leave Coty?
Nabi's exit was announced on December 22, 2025, per Reuters, which described Coty as struggling at the time of the change. She had led the company since September 1, 2020, making her one of the most prominent chief executives in beauty. Reuters' reporting did not frame the move as a surprise resignation; it grouped Coty with a string of leadership changes across the beauty industry in late 2025.
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What happens to CoverGirl and Max Factor?
The mass brands are formally under review. Reuters reported on September 30, 2025, citing a Wall Street Journal report, that Coty was considering a sale, spinoff, or partnership for its consumer beauty unit, a segment built around CoverGirl, Rimmel, and Max Factor that generates roughly $1.2 billion in annual revenue. The logic, per that reporting, was to focus the company on its more profitable prestige fragrance business. As of mid-January 2026, no transaction for the makeup brands had been announced.
Why should a makeup reader care who runs Coty?
Because ownership decisions eventually reach the shelf. A company prioritizing fragrance typically shifts marketing spending, retail space, and product-development budgets toward scent and away from color cosmetics, which can mean fewer shade extensions, quieter launches, or a new owner with different priorities for brands you already use. None of that is settled: the strategic review announced in September 2025 had not produced a deal by January 2026. What is settled is that the person steering those decisions changed on January 1, 2026, and his first public moves, including whether Coty keeps or divests its makeup brands, will be the detail to watch this year.