Her son, Leonard Lauder, Chairman of The Estee Lauder Companies Inc., told The New York Times newspaper that his mother had died of cardiopulmonary arrest.
Lauder, who retired in 1995, died Saturday at her home on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, NYT said in its online edition.
In 1998, Lauder was the only woman on Time magazine's listing of the 20 most influential geniuses of business of the century.
The company's Web site says it has annual sales of $5 billion and it employees about 20,000 worldwide.
The company product line, including women's makeup, fragrance and skin care products, and men's care products, is sold in more than 130 countries.
Lauder started the company in New York in 1946 with her husband, Joseph Lauder, expanded over the years with the addition of several cosmetic brands, including Donna Karan Cosmetics, Tommy Hilfiger Toiletries and Aramis. Her husband died in 1982.
The Fortune magazine ranked her company at 349 in 2003 in the Fortune 500 list of America's largest companies, with revenue at $4.744 billion.
In explaining her success, Lauder once said: "I have never worked a day in my life without selling. If I believe in something, I sell it, and I sell it hard," said Ireland Online.
Lauder sold her products primarily through department stores - Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdale's, Marshall Field, Neiman-Marcus, Harrods in London, Galeries Lafayette in Paris, said Ireland Online.