Forbes drops Kylie Jenner from billionaire list, saying she inflated value of her cosmetics company

The magazine said Jenner’s company Kylie Cosmetics is smaller and less profitable than she led them to believe, even after she sold a stake to Coty

But the Keeping Up With the Kardashians star and her attorney denied lying and forging tax returns

Reading Time:3 minutes

Kylie Jenner is seen at the Vanity Fair Oscar party in February. Forbes magazine, which once declared the reality TV star a billionaire on its cover, says she no longer deserves the title. Photo: AP

Published: 1:45pm, 30 May 2020Updated: 7:31pm, 30 May 2020

Forbes magazine, which once declared Kylie Jenner a billionaire on its cover, says she no longer deserves the title, but Jenner is pushing back.

Forbes said in a story posted on Friday that an examination of financial filings after the reality star and beauty mogul sold a majority share in her cosmetics company revealed that Jenner’s worth was inflated. Jenner sold 51 per cent of her Kylie Cosmetics company to Coty in a deal valued at US$1.2 billion early this year.

“Kylie’s business is significantly smaller, and less profitable, than the family has spent years leading the cosmetics industry and media outlets, including Forbes, to believe,” the magazine said in the story. “Forbes now thinks that Kylie Jenner, even after pocketing an estimated US$340 million after taxes from the sale, is not a billionaire.”

Jenner, 22, responded in a series of tweets, saying “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”.

She later tweeted, “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”.

Jenner’s business and social media prominence have made her stand out even in the famous family behind Keeping Up With the Kardashians. She is the younger daughter of Kris and Caitlyn Jenner, sister to Kendall Jenner and half-sister to Kim, Khloe and Kourtney Kardashian.

In March 2019, Forbes featured Jenner along with the headline, “At 21, Kylie Jenner Becomes The Youngest Self-Made Billionaire Ever”.

On Friday, Forbes offered a starkly different headline: “Inside Kylie Jenner’s Web of Lies – And Why She’s No Longer a Billionaire.”