Brandon Truaxe was born Ali Roshan in Tehran on 19 June 1978. His family arrived in Toronto as refugees in 1995. He graduated in computer science from the University of Waterloo in 2001.
An internship at a cosmetics manufacturer in New York showed him how much beauty products were marked up. He founded two small companies, then launched the skincare brands Euoko in 2003 and Indeed Labs in 2009, leaving both.
He founded DECIEM in 2012. The Ordinary launched in August 2016 and sold out repeatedly. In June 2017 Estee Lauder took a 28% stake for $50 million.
In October 2018 Truaxe ordered operations closed and was removed as CEO. He died in Toronto on 20 January 2019, aged 40. In February 2021 Estee Lauder agreed to raise its stake to 76% in a deal valuing DECIEM at $2.2 billion, and in May 2024 it bought the remaining interests.