Mary Kay Inc.’s first year sales totaled USD$ 198,000, and it reached US$ 1.3 million in 1996. At this time, Mary Kay and her son began to expand their business into other countries around the world. By 1999, Mary Kay Inc. had 500,000 beauty consultants in 29 countries and territories around the world, with the sales surpassed US$2 billion, and it was debuted on the list of “Fortune 500” and “The 100 Best Companies to Work for in America”, the only direct sales and cosmetics company on the list.
令人驚奇的是，作為壹家在紐約證交所上市的上市公司，今天玫琳凱公司的股票，卻並不在證交所交易。 玫琳凱公司1968年開始發行股票，在完成利用股市籌資擴展之後，經歷了股市潮起潮落的玫琳凱作出壹個驚人之舉：回購所有在股市上流通的股票。 這是1985年，玫琳凱和她的兒子理查德決定采用日漸普及的杠桿收購財務技術回購股票，杠桿收購的原理很簡單，就是公司管理者大量借款，買回所有上市股票，再以現金收入或出賣資產所得償付貸款。
Surprisingly, as a New York Stock Exchange public listed company, Mary Kay’s shares are not traded in the Stock Exchange as of today. Mary Kay Inc. started issuing shares in 1968, after the completion of the stock financing for its expansion, being sailed through the rises and falls of the stock market, Mary Kay made a surprise move: bought back all the shares in circulation in the stock market. This was in 1985, Mary Kay and her son, Richard decided to use the increasingly popular LBO (leveraged buyouts) finance technology for the buybacks of the shares, the principle of the leveraged buyouts is very simple, the company's management will have to borrow a large sum of money to buy back all the listed stocks, and then to repay the loans by the cash income or by selling of the assets.
1985年5月，當玫琳凱公司股價在10美元左右徘徊時，玫琳凱和理查德提議以3.15億美元收購流通在外的70%股票。她說：“我們認為，玫琳凱下市符合我們及顧客的最大利益。”董事會拒絕這項提議後，玫琳凱母子在當年10月提高價格，董事會終於在兩個月後同意。玫琳凱母子的收購行動耗資3.04億美元。 此舉使玫琳凱和理查能獨立自主地管理公司，也使他們握有的股票價值不受市場波動的影響
May 1985, when Mary Kay Inc.'s share prices was hovered at around USD$ 10, Mary Kay and Richard proposed acquisition of 70% of the outstanding shares at USD$315 million. She said: "We believe that Mary Kay became private will meet the customers’ and our greatest interest." The Board of directors rejected the proposal, Mary Kay and her son raised the prices in October at the same year, two months later, the board of directors finally agreed with that. Mary Kay and her son spent US$ 304 million for the acquisition. This move enabled Mary Kay and Richard to manage the company independently, and also, the market fluctuations will no longer affect the value of the shares that they hold.
Mary Kay, Inc. / Mary Kay Cosmetics / Mary Kay Cosmetic, Inc
Chairwoman / founder = Mary Kay Ash