Brandon Truaxe

Brandon Truaxe (19 June 1978 - 21 January 2019), was a Persian-Canadian computer scientist known as the founder of Deciem, the Toronto-based skincare and cosmetics company.

Early life

Truaxe was born Ali Roshan in Tehran on 19 June 1978 during a lull in the unrest that would explode in revolution a few weeks later. His family left Iran and came to Toronto in 1995 as permanent residents. His mother died of breast cancer when he was young and his estranged father returned to Iran. He studied computer science at the University of Waterloo. After graduating in 2001, he sold the software company he had founded as a university student. His formative professional experience happened around this time, when he had an internship on analysis software for ″one of the big cosmetic manufacturers — a big brand that owns many things″ in New York, and was shocked at the mark-ups it charged.

In 2002, Truaxe founded his first skin care brand Euoko with partner Julio Torres and invested $400,000 from his sold software company. Truaxe’s mentor and investor in Euoko Inc. was Pasquale Cusano, a Vancouver jeweler.

In 2012 he launched Indeed Labs, which then became best known for its Nanoblur collection. Truaxe left Indeed Labs with two non-compete clauses that disallowed him from creating any facial skincare products for three years.

Deciem

In 2013, Truaxe founded Deciem, the Abnormal Beauty Company, while still under the non-compete agreement with Indeed Labs. Deciem functioned as an umbrella company for more than 10 other brands. Deciem′s debut product, the Hyaluronic Molecule for Fountain, was an ingestible. During the period of his non-compete clauses, he created the anti-aging hand cream for The Chemistry Brand. It was an instant bestseller when it launched, partly because people were using it on their faces - Truaxe had "thrown down the gauntlet".

Deciem's multi-brand strategy was driven by a vertically integrated structure: it had its own laboratory, in-house manufacturing, in-house e-commerce, in-store stores, and proprietary marketing infrastructure.

In August of 2016, Truaxe launched Deciem's, The Ordinary product line with twenty-seven products, combining cutting-edge science with modest price points. He was realising his mission to "democratise serious skincare". It first sold exclusively online, then in various department stores, and about 30 company-owned stores it opened in Canada, the US, the UK, Mexico, South Korea and the Netherlands.

In June 2017 Truaxe's success attracted the attention of leading beauty conglomerate Estée Lauder Companies (ELC), which acquiered a equity ownership of 28% (one-third equal partner) in Deciem for $50 milion. At the time, Truaxe released a statement praising ELC for embracing ″our margins, our pricing strategy, our future plans (and) our disruptiveness″. His decision was driven by the fact that the company simply could not keep up with the consumer demand for their products. In late 2018 Deciem was in 42 stores worldwide and sold more than one product every second.

Under his leadership, annual revenue was headed to $300 milion in sales, with plans to quickly quintuple in size in 2019.

Controversy

In early 2018, Trauxe's was accused of erratic behavior. His employee, Nicola Kilner Reddington stated that "Before 2018, he barely even drank alcohol,” responding to reports that he was ingesting psychedelic mushrooms in front of employees, convinced of their creative and spiritual benefits. According to an interview with the Financial Post, Truaxe took crystal meth in Britain, leading to an arrest and treatment.

In October 2018, ECL sought legal action after Truaxe ordered all of Deciem’s operations to close with immediate effect due to “financial crimes”. Truaxe was ousted as CEO, and Nicola Kilner Reddington was appointed as the sole CEO. A few days later, a restraining order was issued against Truaxe after he had sent emails to ELC chair emeritus Leonard Lauder and other executives. Andrew Ross, executive vice president of strategy and new business development at ELC, and Pasquale Cusano, the Vancuver jeweller, were now the company’s only board members. ELC’s injunction also led to the appointment of Pricewaterhouse Coopers to investigate, and report to the board, the alleged financial crimes.

Only a few months later, Truaxe died at age 40. His death took place early on morning, 21 January 2019, reportedly after falling from his Toronto apartment in the Distillery District. A spokesperson for Estée Lauder Companies stated: “Brandon Truaxe was a true genius, and we are incredibly saddened by the news of his passing. As the visionary behind Deciem, he positively impacted millions of people around the world with his creativity, brilliance and innovation.”