Deciem founder Brandon Truaxe, whose erratic behavior ultimately stripped his CEO role of the popular skin-care company, died on January 20, 2019. Officials at Toronto-based Deciem notified staff and others of his death in emails on Monday, though no cause of death was released.
According to Toronto police, they recovered a body on Sunday afternoon after they received a call of someone falling from a condominium tower, which the 40-year-old recently identified on Instagram as his new home. A police spokeswoman says it’s against policy to provide any details, including identity, when it comes to an apparent suicide. She also stated there is no ongoing investigation.
“Brandon Truaxe was a true genius, and we are incredibly saddened by the news of his passing,” said a spokeswoman at Estée Lauder Co., which acquired shares of Deciem in 2017. “As the visionary behind Deciem, he positively impacted millions of people around the world with his creativity, brilliance and innovation. This is a profound loss for us all.”
Truaxe’s death comes just three months after an Ontario judged issued an order, citing his “increasingly aberrant and irrational behavior,” to remove him as CEO of the company he founded in 2013. Some of his actions included firing the company’s top executive and even closing most of its roughly 30 stores – though after he was replaced, the stores were reopened. Truaxe was hospitalized in mental-health facilities within London and Toronto last year, according to court documents.
The judge also restricted Mr. Truaxe from visiting Deciem stores or communicating with officials at Estée Lauder after an email was sent by him, threatening harm to Leonard Lauder, chairman emeritus of the cosmetics giant.
