From $1B to broke: How private equity killed Beautycounter, the beloved clean beauty brand

When Julia took a job on Beautycounter’s product development team last year, she believed she’d get a chance to work at a company driven by purpose, not just profit.  Beautycounter was a fast-growing beauty startup, which had been fueled by $100 million in venture capital. In April 2021, after eight years in business, it was acquired by private equity firm the Carlyle Group in a deal that valued the company at $1 billion.  Beautycounter was also a leader in the clean beauty...