Kylie Jenner, Responding To Forbes Report, Says She Never ‘Tried To Lie’

TOPLINE

Forbes’ revelation that 22-year-old cosmetics mogul Kylie Jenner had exaggerated her wealth in the tax documents she provided to Forbes—with new calculations showing she isn’t a billionaire—sparked a fiery response from Jenner.

KEY FACTS

Forbes—having previously named Jenner the world’s youngest self-made billionaire—released its findings on Friday after a months-long investigation into her finances. 

Public filings from Coty, which acquired a 51% stake in Kylie Cosmetics earlier this year, revealed that Jenner’s business was significantly smaller and less profitable than she had led Forbes to believe. 

Jenner quickly responded on Twitter, denying that she had misrepresented her business’ financials: “i’ve never asked for any title or tried to lie my way there EVER. period,” she wrote. 

Jenner minimized the story, writing, “i can name a list of 100 things more important right now” after blowback from fans about her defensive tweets. 

Others pointed out that, with a new calculated worth of $900 million—“Chump change,” Vulture quipped—Jenner was doing just fine. 

"Forbes’ accusation that Kylie and her accountants 'forged tax returns' is unequivocally false and we are demanding that Forbes immediately and publicly retract that and other statements," Jenner’s attorney Michael Kump told People in a statement.

Forbes responded to Jenner’s comments with this statement from chief communications officer Matt Hutchison: “Today’s extensively-reported investigation was triggered by newly-filed documents that revealed glaring discrepancies between information privately supplied to journalists and information publicly supplied to shareholders. Our reporters spotted the inaccuracies and spent months uncovering the facts. We encourage the attorney to re-read the article.”

Key background

In November 2019, Jenner announced she would sell 51% of Kylie Cosmetics, the makeup brand she founded and built up via Instagram and social media, to beauty giant Coty. That deal valued Kylie Cosmetics at nearly $1.2 billion, and seemed to back up Forbes’ calculations that she was a billionaire. But public filings from Coty since then revealed discrepancies between the business’ real performance and what the Jenners had previously shared with Forbes and other publications. Coty’s filings showed that the company generated $125 million in sales in 2018, for example, despite the Jenner family leading Forbes to believe it had generated $360 million. Her business is also likely worth less than it was in November, when Coty agreed to pay what Wall Streeters tend to think was a high price for its 51% stake, before the coronavirus crisis decimated beauty and retail stocks.

Further reading

Inside Kylie Jenner's Web Of Lies—And Why She's No Longer A Billionaire (Forbes)

Turns Out Kylie Jenner Might Not Be a Billionaire After All (Harper’s Bazaar)