FORM 3

UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 INITIAL STATEMENT OF BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP OF SECURITIES Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Section 17(a) of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 or Section 30(h) of the Investment Company Act of 1940

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(Print or Type Responses)

1. Name and Address of Reporting Person *   Aerin Lauder Zinterhofer 2008 Grantor Retain Annuity Trust 2. Date of Event Requiring Statement (Month/Day/Year) 01/05/2009 3. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol ESTEE LAUDER COMPANIES INC [EL] (Last) (First) (Middle) THE ESTEE LAUDER COMPANIES INC., 767 FIFTH AVE. 4. Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer (Check all applicable) _____ Director __X__ 10% Owner _____ Officer (give title below) _____ Other (specify below) 5. If Amendment, Date Original Filed(Month/Day/Year) (Street) NEW YORK, NY 10153 6. Individual or Joint/Group Filing(Check Applicable Line) _X_ Form filed by One Reporting Person ___ Form filed by More than One Reporting Person (City) (State) (Zip) Table I - Non-Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned

1.Title of Security (Instr. 4) 2. Amount of Securities Beneficially Owned (Instr. 4) 3. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 5) 4. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 5)

Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially owned directly or indirectly.			SEC 1473 (7-02)
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Table II - Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned (e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities)

1. Title of Derivative Security (Instr. 4)	2. Date Exercisable and Expiration Date (Month/Day/Year)		3. Title and Amount of Securities Underlying Derivative Security (Instr. 4)		4. Conversion or Exercise Price of Derivative Security	5. Ownership Form of Derivative Security: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 5)	6. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 5)
	Date Exercisable	Expiration Date	Title	Amount or Number of Shares
Class B Common Stock	  (1)	  (1)	Class A Common Stock	5,152,545	$ (1)	D (2)	Â

Reporting Owners

Reporting Owner Name / Address	Relationships
	Director	10% Owner	Officer	Other
Aerin Lauder Zinterhofer 2008 Grantor Retain Annuity Trust THE ESTEE LAUDER COMPANIES INC. 767 FIFTH AVE. NEW YORK, NY 10153	Â	  X	Â	Â

Signatures

Aerin Lauder Zinterhofer, Trustee, by Spencer G. Smul, Attorney-in-fact		01/07/2009
**Signature of Reporting Person		Date

Explanation of Responses:

*	If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, see Instruction 5(b)(v).
**	Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal Violations. See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a).
(1)	Shares of Class B Common Stock may be converted immediately into Class A Common Stock on a one-for-one basis by the holder and are automatically converted into Class A Common Stock on a one-for-one basis upon transfer to a person or entity that is not a "Permitted Transferee" or soon after a record date for a meeting of stockholders where the outstanding Class B Common Stock constitutes less than 10% of the outstanding shares of Common Stock of the Issuer.
(2)	The Reporting Person acquired the shares of Class B Common Stock as a distribution from the Aerin Lauder Zinterhofer 2000 Revocable Trust u/a/d April 24, 2000, Aerin Lauder Zinterhofer, as Grantor.
  Remarks: The full name of the Reporting Trust is:  Aerin Lauder Zinterhofer 2008 Grantor Retained Annuity Trust, u/a/d December 24, 2008, by Aerin Lauder Zinterhofer, as Grantor ("2008 GRAT").

Note: File three copies of this Form, one of which must be manually signed. If space is insufficient, See Instruction 6 for procedure.

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