Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Bluesky CEO Jay Graber announced that the social media platform is now open to the public, a Haitian prosecutor reportedly wants to charge Haiti’s former first lady with involvement in her husband’s assassination, and Beautycounter founder Gregg Renfrew comes back to the brand she founded—after she was asked to step down. Have a great Wednesday!
– Back to beauty. In 2013, Gregg Renfrew launched the brand Beautycounter. After almost a decade building the business with a focus on “clean beauty,” Renfrew sold the brand to private equity firm Carlyle in 2021 in a deal that valued it at $1 billion. Several months after the sale, she was asked to step down as CEO.
But Renfrew is now returning as CEO, Beautycounter’s parent company Counter Brands announced last month. It’s an unusual boomerang for a founder whose company is still majority-owned by the same firm that asked her to give up the job not so long ago.
“This has been a very humbling experience,” Renfrew admits. But she decided to take Carlyle up on its offer to return as CEO to address “unfinished business” at the brand she founded.
This wasn’t the first time Renfrew navigated a tricky situation with a boss. In the mid-2000s, she was CEO of Best & Company, then owned by Susie Hilfiger—until she was fired in front of her team via messenger. She also previously built the weddings platform the Wedding List, which she sold to Martha Stewart Living—and left “after a turbulent stretch” working with Stewart.
This time around, Renfrew initially stayed on in another capacity after stepping down as CEO; she later took some time away from the business entirely. The transition was “incredibly difficult,” she says, but the hiatus gave her the opportunity to reflect on her leadership and her goals. “I was able to look in the mirror in a calm, safe space and figure out if I want to lead again,” she says.
“Everyone’s replaceable, even a founder,” Renfrew says she concluded. “I realized the business was able to continue on—maybe I could have done a better job, maybe not, but it was able to go on.”
In Renfrew’s time away from Beautycounter, the company has cycled through two CEOs. With her return, she wants to make sure the brand is in a sustainable place—and work in a more sustainable way, with a new focus on work-life balance for herself and her team.
Renfrew advises other founders considering selling their businesses to be clear and honest with themselves about why they’re doing so and what it will mean.
“Are you wanting to monetize the asset because you want the financial windfall? Are you doing it because you feel that particular sponsor is going to be accretive to the business at large? Understand why you’re doing it,” Renfrew says. “And don’t be naive thinking that once you sold it, you have control anymore, because you don’t. It’s neither good or bad—it just changes everything.”
Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com
@_emmahinchliffe
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- Bluesky's ahead. Bluesky CEO Jay Graber announced that the X- and Threads-like platform officially opened to the public on Tuesday after a year in invite-only mode. Bluesky’s biggest differentiator is that it’s decentralized, which means users can customize their feeds in more unique ways and build their own social platforms out of the Bluesky model. Washington Post
- Fully charged. A Haitian prosecutor wants to charge Haiti's former First Lady Matine Moïse for apparent complicity in the 2021 assassination of her husband, according to files obtained by the New York Times. The files in question include testimony describing Moïse’s ambition for her husband's position as well as reports that her testimony about the assassination contradicts that of other witnesses. Marine Moïse’s lawyer denied the claims. New York Times
- Independence reviewed. Allegations of sexual abuse are often followed by "independent investigations." But one case at the nonprofit Mercy Corps sheds light on the suspicious nature of such investigations, which have become a big business. Mother Jones
- Generational wealth. South Korea's Booyoung Group construction firm is paying employees 100 million Korean won ($75,000) for each baby they have and 300 million Korean won ($225,000) to those who have three. The CEO said that the incentives are intended to make child rearing less financially onerous as South Korea struggles with the worst fertility rate in the world. CNN
- Higher-ups. Some women who juggle long hours and hefty responsibilities at the highest ranks of the corporate world are turning to small doses of "magic mushrooms" to stay enthusiastic and engaged. Medical experts say more research is needed to make sure the habit is safe, but women who partake tout its positive effect on focus, the management of menopause symptoms, and after-work relaxation. Wall Street Journal
MOVERS AND SHAKERS: Trintech appointed Mekaela Davis to chief partner officer. Delinea hired Kate Reed as chief marketing officer. MassMutual announced Cindy Ryan as head of human resources. Netlify promoted Dana Lawson to chief technology officer. Thumbtack named Gretchen Howard to its board of directors.
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