Lauder family pledges $200M to its Alzheimer's research work

The sons of cosmetics giant Estée Lauder, along with her four grandchildren, pledged $200 million Tuesday to the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation. Leonard and Ronald Lauder founded the organization in 1998 in honor of their mother, who had Alzheimer’s as did other members of her family. Mark Roithmayr, the organization's CEO, said the gift is meant to accelerate the timeframe for when research will yield treatments for the disease. More than 50 million worldwide have Alzheimer’s, which gradually attacks areas of the brain needed for memory, reasoning, communication and daily tasks.