Hailey’s Rhode to $1B

💰 Money Moves

Hailey Bieber is exploring a $1B sale of Rhode

Rhode tapped into the viral “glazed donut skin” aesthetic and quickly built a skincare empire.

With clean branding, consistent product drops, and Hailey Bieber’s reach, the brand hit nearly $200M in annual revenue within two years.

In 2023, Rhode brought in Nick Vlahos, former CEO of The Honest Company, to help scale operations.

Now, Bieber is reportedly looking to sell, working with JPMorgan and Moelis to explore strategic options at a $1B+ valuation.

📈 Brand Breakdown

Lesser Evil

Hershey’s just acquired LesserEvil.

But the story didn’t start on a snack shelf — it started with a turnaround.

In 2011, LesserEvil was barely a business. A sleepy natural food brand, best known for vague health claims and forgettable packaging.

That’s when Charles Coristine, a former investment banker turned wellness convert, stepped in as CEO.

At the time, the brand was doing $800,000 a year in revenue and losing money.

But he wasn’t just trying to fix a snack brand — he wanted to flip its identity entirely.

So he moved the company to Danbury, Connecticut, bought a manufacturing facility, and started rebuilding everything from scratch.

New brand. New products. New philosophy.

LesserEvil stopped trying to be better than junk food — and started being different.

They went all in on:

🥥 Clean ingredients – coconut oil instead of seed oils

🎯 Minimal processing – no filler, no weird additives

🧘 A spiritual twist – playful mindfulness in every bag

And it worked.

Their pink Himalayan salt popcorn and “Power Curls” stood out in a sea of generic wellness packaging. They weren’t trying to be cool — they were trying to be clear.

LesserEvil scaled fast. First Whole Foods. Then Thrive. Then Costco.

They turned ingredient transparency and quirky energy into shelf space and serious revenue.

Then came the exit.

In March 2025, Hershey’s acquired LesserEvil in a deal reportedly worth $~750M.

It’s part of Hershey’s broader shift into the better-for-you category, alongside previous acquisitions like SkinnyPop and ONE Brands.

But here’s the real takeaway:

LesserEvil didn’t build hype.

They built trust.

A decade of brand clarity, ops control, and values-driven scale.

💡 Insight of the Week

How LTT Makes Money

Thanks for reading, see you next week!

Alex Mostafavi