The financial publication giveth and the financial publication taketh away. Following a controversial Forbes article in January 2019 trumpeting Kylie Jenner‘s official status as a billionaire, the magazine today (May 29, 2020) let it be known it was stripping the 22-year-old beauty mogul of her title. While she may have been taken down a peg, there’s no need to cry for Kylie, who, according to Forbes, is still worth of $900 million.
In a scathing article titled “Kylie Jenner’s Web of Lies and Why She’s No Longer a Billionaire,” the publication detailed ways in which she and her mother, Kris Jenner, inflated the success and size of Kylie Cosmetics, which catapulted her worth when a 51 percent stake was sold to beauty giant Coty in a deal valued at $1.2 billion.
However, filings released by publicly-traded Coty over the past six months have revealed the business is significantly smaller and less profitable than the family led Forbes to believe.
On the topic of Kylie Cosmetics profits, the Jenners and their accountants claimed Kylie Cosmetics was posting up a healthy 44 percent margin, but according to Coty’s filings, it appears profit margins are only around 25%.
As well, while Kylie long claimed she owned 100 percent of Kylie Cosmetics, public documents show that KMJ 2018 Irrevocable Trust, a company controlled by Kristen M. Jenner, owns a profit interest in the company, all of which means Kylie owns an estimated 44.1% of Kylie Cosmetics not the 49% stake it was believed she retained when it was sold to Coty.
what am i even waking up to. i thought this was a reputable site.. all i see are a number of inaccurate statements and unproven assumptions lol. i’ve never asked for any title or tried to lie my way there EVER. period
— Kylie Jenner (@KylieJenner) May 29, 2020
Kylie pushed back on the trending story on Twitter, where she wrote, “what am i even waking up to. i thought this was a reputable site.. all i see are a number of inaccurate statements and unproven assumptions lol. i’ve never asked for any title or tried to lie my way there EVER. period.”
Commenting on the family’s deceptive practices, Forbes wrote, “Of course white lies, omissions and outright fabrications are to be expected from the family that perfected, then monetized, the concept of ‘famous for being famous.’ But, similar to Donald Trump’s decades-long obsession with his net worth, the unusual lengths to which the Jenners have been willing to go, including inviting Forbes into their mansions and CPA’s offices, and even creating tax returns that were likely forged, reveals just how desperate some of the ultra-rich are to look even richer.”
“even creating tax returns that were likely forged” that’s your proof? so you just THOUGHT they were forged? like actually what am i reading.
— Kylie Jenner (@KylieJenner) May 29, 2020
On Twitter, Kylie pushed back on the claim her tax returns were forged with a tweet that read, “‘even creating tax returns that were likely forged’ that’s your proof? so you just THOUGHT they were forged? like actually what am i reading.”
While Forbes reached out to the Jenners for comment, according to the publication, “We asked the Jenners for input on our numbers. But pressed for answers on the many discrepancies, the typically chatty family did something out of character: They stopped answering our questions.”
