In Brief: Thomas Bonoma
This article was originally published in The Rose Sheet
Executive Summary
Thomas Bonoma: Chairman, CEO and founder of Renaissance Cosmetics, Inc. died May 21. Bonoma, 50, started the mass market fragrance and cosmetic company in 1994 and was instrumental in the company's rapid rise to success. Renaissance reported approximately $300 mil. in sales for FY 1996 (ended March 31). As head of RCI, Bonoma made a practice of revitalizing underperforming brands. In the past several months, the company has embarked on an acquisition spree to strengthen its presence, buying most of P&G's mass fragrance portfolio, fragrance marketer MEM and Great American Cosmetics color brand Nat Robbins. Before establishing Renaissance, Bonoma served as Benckiser exec VP from 1987 to 1993. During that time, he headed up the acquisitions of Coty from Pfizer, Calgon bath products from SmithKline Beecham and fragrance marketer Quintessence Holdings (Jovan Musk, Aspen, Adidas and Dare). Prior to entering the personal care arena, Bonoma served as a professor of business administration at Harvard University for 14 years. Renaissance President and Chief Operating Officer Norbert Becker succeeds Bonoma in the CEO post, the company announced May 29...