MAM
Adrienne O’Hara appointed chief communications and public affairs officer at Discovery Global
CALIFORNIA: Discovery Global has named Adrienne O’Hara as executive vice president and chief communications and public affairs officer, effective 7 January 2026. In the newly created role, O’Hara will report to Gunnar Wiedenfels, president and CEO, and oversee all global communications and public affairs as the company readies itself to operate independently following the planned spin-off from Warner Bros. Discovery.
O’Hara brings 20 years of experience leading communications strategy for Fortune 500 companies, most recently serving as senior vice president of global communications and engagement at Gap Inc., where she guided enterprise communications, stakeholder engagement and brand reinvigoration across a $15 billion portfolio. She has previously led communications for Old Navy and spent over a decade at Toys“R”Us, navigating restructuring, acquisitions and rebranding initiatives.
At Discovery Global, O’Hara will drive corporate, financial, employee, executive, brand and crisis communications, alongside public affairs and stakeholder engagement. Her remit is central to shaping the company’s narrative, elevating employee experience and enhancing brand impact across a portfolio reaching 1.1 billion viewers in 68 languages across 200 countries.
“Adrienne is a proven leader with deep experience guiding iconic branded portfolios through transformation and change,” said Gunnar Wiedenfels. O’Hara added, “Discovery Global has an extraordinary portfolio and a clear opportunity to redefine its market positioning. I look forward to partnering with Gunnar and the global team to shape the company’s story and drive growth.”
With O’Hara on board, Discovery Global moves closer to its next chapter, a standalone global media powerhouse with unmatched reach in live television, sports, news and streaming, poised to scale its digital offerings and international footprint aggressively.
Brands
Estée Lauder to shed 10,000 jobs as new boss bets on digital shift
The cosmetics giant raises its profit outlook but stays silent on a possible merger with Spain’s Puig, as job cuts deepen and a three-year sales slump weighs on the turnaround
NEW YORK: Stéphane de La Faverie is not done cutting. Estée Lauder announced on Friday that it plans to eliminate as many as 3,000 additional jobs, taking its total redundancy programme to as many as 10,000 roles, up from a previous target of 7,000 announced a year ago. The company, which owns La Mer, The Ordinary, Tom Ford, and Aveda, employs roughly 57,000 people worldwide. The mathematics of what is now being contemplated is stark.
The fresh round of cuts is expected to generate a further $200 million in savings, bringing the total annual savings from the programme to as much as $1.2 billion before taxes. That money, De La Faverie has made clear, will be ploughed back into the turnaround.
A CEO in a hurry
De La Faverie, who took the helm in January 2025, inherited a company that had endured three consecutive years of annual sales declines. His response has been to move fast and cut deep. A significant portion of the latest redundancies reflects his push to reduce headcount at US department stores, long a cornerstone of Estée Lauder’s distribution model but now a channel in structural decline. In their place, he is accelerating the shift toward faster-growing online platforms, including Amazon.com and TikTok Shop, a pivot that is reshaping not just where Estée Lauder sells but how it thinks about its customers.
The numbers are moving in the right direction
Despite the pain, there are signs the medicine is working. Estée Lauder raised its profit outlook for the remainder of the fiscal year, guiding for adjusted earnings per share in the range of $2.35 to $2.45, above analyst estimates and a notable step up from the $2.05 to $2.25 range it had guided for in February. Organic net sales growth is expected to come in at 3 per cent, the company said, at the high end of the range it set out in February.
The share price tells a mixed story. After De La Faverie took charge, the stock surged nearly 60 per cent, buoyed by investor optimism that a longtime company insider could finally arrest the decline. But 2026 has been rougher: the shares have fallen 27 per cent this year, weighed down by disappointing February results and the overhang of unresolved merger talks with Spanish beauty giant Puig Brands SA. The company gave no additional details about those discussions on Friday, leaving the market to guess.
Silence on Puig
The proposed tie-up with Puig remains the most consequential unknown hanging over Estée Lauder. A deal with the Barcelona-based group, which owns brands including Carolina Herrera and Rabanne, would reshape the global luxury beauty landscape. But with nothing new to say and a turnaround still very much in progress, De La Faverie is asking investors to trust the process.
Three years of sales declines, 10,000 job cuts, and a merger that may or may not happen. At Estée Lauder, the overhaul has barely started.
