The speculation has been confirmed. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has announced the appointment of Tracey T. Travis as executive vice president and chief financial officer. She will jointly report to William P. Lauder, executive chairman and Fabrizio Freda, president and chief executive officer. Travis will assume her new position on August 20, 2012.

Travis brings a wealth of global financial experience, having worked for a number of Fortune 500 consumer product companies in a variety of industries during her career. Since 2005, she has been senior vice president and chief financial officer of Ralph Lauren Corporation, responsible for global finance, internal audit, treasury, tax, business development, investor relations and global information technology.

Previously, Travis was senior vice president, finance and chief financial officer of Intimate Brands for Limited Brands, Inc. from 2001 to 2004. She also spent a decade at PepsiCo Inc. and the Pepsi Bottling Group, where she held operations management and finance roles. She began her career as an engineer and a senior financial analyst at General Motors Co.

She succeeds Richard W. Kunes, a 26-year veteran of The Estee Lauder Companies, who is retiring, and will remain as an advisor during the transitioning period.

“We are thrilled that Tracey is joining The Estée Lauder Companies’ leadership team. Her broad background in all facets of global finance will be a tremendous asset to our growing organization,” said William Lauder. “I also want to thank Rick for his immeasurable contributions as CFO for the last 12 years. He’s served as a terrific advisor to me and under his tenure, the company has achieved record financial results. Among his many accomplishments, he has helped implement greater financial discipline and developed a strong team that has positioned us as the leader in global prestige beauty.”

“I am looking forward to working closely with Tracey as we continue to implement the company’s successful long-term growth and profitability improvement strategy and strive for even greater global financial successes in the years ahead,” said Freda. “Tracey has valuable business experience in consumer products, luxury brands, operations and finance and we believe her skills and background will be a terrific fit with our company and will help us continue to drive value creation for our stockholders.”

Freda added, “Rick has been an invaluable partner and his financial talents and business acumen have been instrumental in driving our strategy and performance. He has been an important member of the company’s senior leadership team and his innumerable contributions over more than two decades have helped drive our strong financial results and position the company for a solid future.”