Huda Kattan to forgo salary until the end of the year due to Covid-19 crisis

Huda Kattan, founder and CEO of billion-dollar cosmetics empire Huda Beauty, has become the latest high profile CEO to forgo wages in response to the coronavirus crisis.

In a statement to Arabian Business, Kattan announced that she and her family members are to forgo their salaries until the end of the year.

“With everything happening in the world right now – people are fighting for their lives, concerned about their health, trying to keep their loved ones safe, all while trying to put food on the table – the pandemic that we’re experiencing has, without a doubt, had a dramatic effect on the global economy and businesses of all sizes, including Huda Beauty.

“Our teams are, and always have been, at the heart of everything we do at Huda Beauty. We’re a family business and we consider each and every member of our team to be a part of our family.”

The family members include her sisters Mona (Huda Beauty co-founder and global president) and Alya (chief Instagram officer), her husband Chris (COO) and her father Ibrahim (senior advisor supply chain). They employ 267 people.

Named one of the 25 Most Influential People on the Internet by TIME Magazine and Digital Innovator of the Year 2018 by Women’s Wear Daily, Kattan found fame with a beauty blog she launched in 2010.

Three short years later came her own cosmetics line, Huda Beauty, a business which has seen staggering commercial success, and was valued at $1.2 billion as of 2019.