Ex-Deciem CFO Stephen Kaplan Rejoins the Company

Stephen Kaplan, the former chief financial officer of Deciem, has rejoined the company as chief operating officer, WWD has learned.
Kaplan left Deciem in February when Nicola Kilner — who at that point was co-chief executive officer — was fired. Kilner rejoined the company in July. Kaplan returned to the company in November, sources told WWD. He did not immediately respond to a WWD request for comment.
Kilner took over as Deciem's sole ceo in October, when founder Brandon Truaxe was ousted from the company via Canadian court order. At that time, Kaplan told WWD that he hoped the Estée Lauder Cos. Inc. could "install a competent management team" and that with that, "Deciem can continue to be a very successful company."
Truaxe founded Deciem in 2013 as a vertically integrated business with multiple brands. It's most popular, The Ordinary, sells products like Granactive Retinoid 2% in Squalane for $9.60 and Vitamin C Suspension 23% + HA Spheres 2% for $5.80. Deciem is also behind Niod, Hylamide, the Chemistry Brand, Fountain, Abnomoly and other brands.
The business sold a minority stake in the company to the Estée Lauder Cos. in 2017, and set up a plan for U.S. expansion that included launching at Sephora and opened a series of stores. But in October, Truaxe took to Instagram to say that the business would cease operations for two months and stores would close — and briefly, they did. During that same week, Lauder filed for an injunction in Canada seeking for a judge to remove Trauxe from the business, and to appoint Kilner as sole ceo. That injunction was granted within a few days, and today, Deciem is back up and running.
For more from WWD.com, see:
Deciem Founder Brandon Truaxe Has Been Ousted
What's Happening at Deciem?
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