Forbes magazine has struck reality TV star and entrepreneur Kylie Jenner from its list of billionaires, and accused her family of inflating the value of her cosmetics business. Kylie refuted the accusation, calling them ‘inaccurate statements and unproven assumptions‘. The move reverses the status Forbes conferred on Jenner in 2019, when it declared her a self-made billionaire.
Forbes credited the success of her cosmetics company, which Jenner last year announced she was selling a 51% stake of, to beauty giant Coty for $600m. According to Forbes, the family’s accountant had provided it with tax returns that suggested the firm had done more than $300m in sales in 2016 and that publicists claimed sales of $330m the following year.
But information shared by Coty, which is publicly traded, showed Jenner’s firm is “significantly smaller and less profitable than the family has spent years leading the cosmetics industry and media outlets, including Forbes, to believe”, Forbes said. The firm did only $125m in sales in 2018. Forbes said she pocketed $340m from the sale of her business. It now estimates her net worth at “just under $900m”.
