Biographical Summary

First exposed to the beauty business as a child, it seems only natural that Demsey would end up in the industry. His grandmother's first cousin founded Jovan, a brand of musk oils from the 1970s, and his parents knew Revlon founder Charles Revson. Following this early exposure, Demsey held positions at retail giants Bloomingdale's, Macy's and Saks Fifth Avenue before landing at Lauder as head of sales in Los Angeles. But it wasn't until 1998, when Leonard Lauder tapped him to oversee the then fledgling Toronto-based makeup line M.A.C. that Demsey really got his big break. "I had been in the cosmetics business for 12 years, but I didn't even know that a foundation was a base because I dealt with merchandising, numbers and promotions," he says. "All of a sudden I had to learn a new way to think." He grew the brand into a global makeup powerhouse and was promoted to Group President in 2006. He oversees Estée Lauder, M.A.C. Cosmetics, Tom Ford Beauty, Prescriptives, Bobbi Brown, Jo Malone, La Mer and Smashbox Cosmetics.