2000 Onwards
Following the establishment of the company, Blakely's then-boyfriend eventually became Spanx's chief operating officer (COO) and met Laurie Ann Goldman at the Saks Fifth Avenue in Atlanta in 2001, while she was on maternity leave from her employer at the time, Coca-Cola. Goldman was specifically looking for a Spanx product, and the pair exchanged contact details—Goldman became the CEO of Spanx in 2002.[20]
Writing for Fortune magazine in February 2014, Colleen Leahey identified Goldman as a key aspect of the company's successful growth:
Goldman crafted a business model for the company based on lessons she learned during her 10-year stint at Coke: thinking big, starting small, and scaling fast. She advised her team at SPANX to focus on product quality over profit margins. “Every time somebody puts on a SPANX product, one of two things can happen: Our brand can get stronger, or our brand can get weaker. We gain leverage or we lose leverage.”[20]
In the first half of 2014, Blakely worked on building the company's first standalone retail stores in shopping malls along the East Coast of the U.S., and also introduced denim to an expanding Spanx product line for the "Fall" range in March.[21]
Goldman resigned from the company in February 2014, after over 10 years at the head of the Spanx.[20] Gregg Ribatt, who had previously worked as an executive for Bennett Footwear, Stuart Weitzman Holdings and Collective Brands' Performance & Lifestyle Group, was appointed as interim chief executive officer. Ribatt's appointment generated discussions about a potential footwear expansion by Spanx according to a statement Blakely made in October 2013 explaining her ambition to design the world's most comfortable high-heel shoe prior to retirement.[22]
In Blakely's June 2014 Forbes profile, the publication claims that the company generates "over $250 million in annual revenues and net profit margins estimated at 20%", while Blakely is very strongly committed to maintaining the private status of Spanx.[21] However, speculation arose about a possible IPO following Goldman's resignation.[22]
Spanx appointed Jan Singer, previously with Nike, as CEO in 2014.[23]
It was announced on October 20, 2021, that Blakely had sold a majority stake in the business to Blackstone.[24][25] The company was valued at $1.2 billion.[26] The deal was prepared by an all-female investment team from Blackstone, and it was announced that the Board of Directors would be all-female, including Blakely as the Executive Chairwoman.
In 2025, Spanx and Blakely were included in Pirouette: Turning Points in Design, an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) featuring "widely recognized design icons [...] highlighting pivotal moments in design history."[27][28][29] The company's "OnCore" high-waisted mid-thigh short has been in the MoMA design collection since 2017.[30]
