Kylie Jenner stripped of billionaire status as Forbes makes major U-turn

Forbes has backtracked on Kylie Jenner’s billionaire status, alleging she isn’t quite as rich as she made herself out to be.

The publication previously branded the Keeping Up With The Kardashians star the ‘youngest self-made billionaire’ at 21, thanks to her insanely successful Kylie Cosmetics business.

In an editorial last year, she was heralded for having turned her lip kit line into a massive empire – which Coty purchased a 51% stake in just a few months ago for $600million (£485m).

She also blessed fans with Kylie Skin, a line of skincare products boasting sunscreen oil, face washes and scrubs.

However, they have now sensationally accused the mum-of-one, and those around her, of lying about her sizeable wealth and successful business, and ‘creating tax returns that were likely forged’.

In a scathing new piece, Forbes states they were presented with a 2016 tax return which showed her $307million (£248m) revenue, as well as Ky’s personal income for $110million (£88m) – placing her at the number two spot in their annual Celebrity 100 list.

Analysts and industry experts cast doubt on this at the time and were not convinced that Kylie Cosmetics could have grown ‘from nothing to $300million (£242m) in sales’ in just 12months, instead valuing her overall earnings at $41million (£33m) in an article published in 2017.

This figure jumped to a whopping $900million (£728m) the following year, with an executive at Shopify telling the magazine at the time: ‘No other influencer has ever gotten to the volume or had the rabid fans and consistency that Kylie has had for the last two and a half years.’

Kylie was named the youngest self-made billionaire by 2019 and, despite causing controversy with the title, seemed to only be going up.

But Forbes quoted ecommerce firm Rakuten, who suggested ‘there was a 62% decline in Kylie’s online sales between 2016 and 2018’.

And it was her deal with Coty that raised eyebrows among financial experts, who claimed the beauty conglomerate was ‘paying too much’ for such a new brand.

Sales figures released by the brand imply that Kylie Skin had only generated $25million (£20m) in sales in one year since the 2019 launch – much less than the $100million (£80m) in sales Kylie’s rep allegedly told Forbes they had earned in revenue in the first month-and-a-half.

‘I think everybody was surprised,’ analyst Stephanie Wissink, said about the drop in figures. 

‘The negative that came out of that announcement was that the business was a lot smaller than everybody had expected.’

‘More likely: The business was never that big to begin with, and the Jenners have lied about it every year since 2016—including draft tax returns with false numbers—to help juice Forbes’ estimates of Kylie’s earnings and net worth,’ they wrote. 

‘While we can’t prove that those documents were fake (though it’s likely), it’s clear that Kylie’s camp has been lying.’

They add that her ‘realistic’ wealth is just under $900million – citing the pandemic could be partly responsible for her narrowly missing out on the billionaire mark – which is still not too shabby.

Kylie later branded Forbes’ report ‘inaccurate’ in a string of tweets.

‘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.

‘“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.

‘But okay I am blessed beyond my years, I have a beautiful daughter, and a successful business and I’m doing perfectly fine.

‘I can name a list of 100 things more important right now than fixating on how much money I have.’

Sources close to Kylie have said that valuations of private companies are not always accurate, and point out that the Coty valuation supports a billion dollar valuation.

There is no denying her business has been successful, with Lip Kit collections selling out just as soon as they are dropped.

She has launched a string of makeup collaborations with sisters Kourtney, Khloe and Kim Kardashian – as well as one released to celebrate daughter Stormi.

During the coronavirus pandemic, she also used Kylie Skin facilities to give ‘6,000 pounds’ of hand sanitiser to those on the frontline, and donated $1million of her personal money to relief efforts.

Reps for Kylie and Coty refused to comment when approached by Metro.co.uk.

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