In the past year, Ronald Lauder’s brother Leonard died, his hometown of New York rejected his preferred mayoral candidate and antisemitic incidents rose around the world.
Still, the 81-year-old billionaire cosmetics heir says he’s optimistic about 2026.
“We have a lot of problems, and I believe they can be solved,” Lauder said in a recent interview in his office at New York’s General Motors Building. “We have a great president. He’s controversial at times, but he’s doing some…

