Kylie Jenner insists she didn't lie about finances after Forbes dramatically strips her of billionaire status

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Forbes magazine, which branded Kylie Jenner the “youngest-ever self-made billionaire,” is stripping her of the title in a dramatic fashion.

In a blistering story titled Inside Kylie Jenner’s web of lies — and why she’s no longer a billionaire, the magazine now claims the youngest member of the Kardashian-Jenner crew was “inflating the size and success of her business” and has been “for years.” The magazine slams the reality star turned makeup mogul throughout the story — and the rest of the family, including momager Kris Jenner, who they said perpetuated the lie — leading Jenner to respond on Twitter, saying, “’I’ve never asked for any title or tried to lie my way there EVER” and there are “100 things more important right now than fixating on how much money I have.”

BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 09:  Kylie Jenner attends the 2020 Vanity Fair Oscar Party at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on February 09, 2020 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Toni Anne Barson/WireImage)
Kylie Jenner responds to Forbes's claim she lied about being a billionaire. (Photo: Toni Anne Barson/WireImage)

The 22-year-old’s full response:

According to the financial news outlet, Jenner selling just over half of her Kylie Cosmetics to Coty earlier this year — in a deal valued at $1.2 billion (she pocketed an estimated $340 million after taxes) — led to the alleged discovery that the company wasn’t worth as much as it claimed. Fine print in the deal allegedly exposed that the business “is significantly smaller, and less profitable than the family has spent years leading the cosmetics industry and media outlets, including Forbes, to believe.” (It compared the alleged lie to Donald Trump’s overinflation of his assets.)

The report claims that Team KarJenner went to great lengths to spin the web of lies, “including inviting Forbes into their mansions and CPA’s offices, and even creating tax returns,” for the period between 2016 and 2018 “that were likely forged.” And “While we can’t prove that those documents were fake (though it’s likely), it’s clear that Kylie’s camp has been lying.” (That was why Jenner wrote in her tweets: “‘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.”)

The purported fake documents — which the outlet did not say were actually filed with the IRS, just shown to their reporters — showed Jenner’s business made in the $307 million (in 2016) to $330 (in 2017) million range. However, Forbes says real numbers put it at $125 million for 2018, $177 million for 2017 and no exact number for 2016 but less than what was stated. Even the $340 million from the Coty deal wouldn’t have boosted her to billionaire status.

Further, it said that Jenner’s rep claimed her skincare line, launched in 2019, made $100 million in its first month-plus, but filings seen by Forbes have the number at $25 million in sales for the year.

And while Jenner said she didn’t want the title in the first place, the news outlet claims Jenner’s publicists campaigned to “get a Forbes cover for Kylie,” beginning in 2016. And she certainly celebrated it when it was bestowed on her.

Her Instagram post showed the cover and she wrote, “Wow. i can’t believe I’m posting my very own @forbes cover,” she wrote at the time. “Thank you for this article and the recognition. I’m so blessed to do what i love everyday. i couldn’t have dreamt this up!”

Forbes says with the new information, Jenner is not a billionaire. Though she’s far from broke with a recalculated net worth of just under $900 million.

And it remains unknown if she’ll ever get to the billionaire mark having sold 51 percent of her business to Coty, which Forbes notes has seen a 60 percent drop in stock since its deal with Jenner was first stuck.

The KarJenners didn’t comment to Forbes for the story. Yahoo has made multiple attempts to get a comment from Jenner, Kris and their teams and will update this story if one is eventually provided.

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