Forbes, the publication that crowned Kylie the world’s youngest self-made billionaire two years in a row, has cast doubt on the claim by taking a look at her business ventures. The magazine had access to the accountant behind “Kylie Cosmetics”. Shown tax returns, they saw that 2016 revenues were an impressive $307 million, with Kylie’s personal income being $110 million.
Forbes wasn’t convinced claiming a rise for Kylie Cosmetics from nothing to $300 million in one year seemed a bit of a stretch. In November 2019 Coty announced it would be purchasing 51% of Kylie Cosmetics, at the price of $600 million – this would value the business at around $1.2 billion. This seemed to put Kylie on the billionaire’s map.
The question remains: Why would Coty spend so much money on the business that could be a one-time phenomenon?
Coty’s presentation revealed Kylie’s income for 2019 as $177 million, which they said was up 40% from 2018, placing that year’s financials around $125 million. Forbes alleges that this was “nowhere near the $360 million the Jenners had led Forbes to believe”.
There are only two possible scenarios here: the business fell by more than 50% in a year, meaning Coty had splashed out on a “high-growth brand”, or Kylie hasn’t been telling the truth about the businesses since 2016.
Forbes stated: “More likely: the business was never that big to begin with, and the Jenners have lied about it every year since 2016 – including having their accountant draft tax returns with false numbers – to help juice Forbes’ estimates of Kylie’s earnings and net worth. While we can’t prove that those documents were fake (though it’s likely), it’s clear Kylie’s camp has been lying”.
