Whatever you think of the Kardashians, the family have shown an impressive ability to make money. Through their reality television empire, and the doors to endorsement deals that this opened, most members of the clan have launched lucrative businesses. That includes Kylie Jenner, who has been previously heralded by Forbes as a billionaire (they added 'self-made', but we've always had an issue with that). Now, however, the publication has claimed that this status is false, and that they were misled into saying so in the first place.
In a piece titled Inside 'Kylie Jenner's Web Of Lies', Forbes lays out their allegations. Their understanding of Kylie's billionaire status stemmed partly from her sale of a 51% stake of Kylie Cosmetics to Coty. The deal was said to be worth $1.2 billion. The team have now dug deeper, but Kylie responded on Friday morning via Twitter...
She added that there were plenty of more important things for the world to be worrying about beyond her net worth. New reports, however, suggest that she is very much worried. According to The Sun, she has cut off her mum and manager Kris Jenner. 'Kylie won’t answer the phone to Kris and is at a loss over who to trust', the reports state. 'Kris is petrified Kylie could sack her or cut her off so tensions are at an all-time high.'
The newspaper adds that both Kylie and Kris are 'freaking out' and a concerned that the accusations 'hurt their brand, and even worse, they could be in trouble with the government'. Kylie has denied all suggestions of impropriety.
The piece states that 'in the deal’s fine print, a less flattering truth emerged. Filings released by publicly traded Coty over the past six months lay bare one of the family’s best-kept secrets: 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 piece lists issues with profitability margins and inconsistencies in financial documents to cast doubt over their previously accepted statistics, and propose that 'the Jenners have lied about it every year since 2016—including having their accountant draft tax returns with false numbers—to help juice Forbes’ estimates of Kylie’s earnings and net worth.' Forbes are careful to clarify that 'while [they] can’t prove that those documents were fake (though it’s likely), it’s clear that Kylie’s camp has been lying.'
Forbes has, therefore, proclaimed that Kylie can no longer be described as a billionaire. They do, however, concede that her net worth is estimated to stand at $900 million. Not too shabby, really.
READ MORE: Kim Kardashian West: ‘Life Becomes A Little Bit Less About You Than It Used To Be’
SEE: The World's Most Famous Supermodels' First Polaroids
1 of 20Rosie Huntington-Whiteley
The Insta #throwback Rosie shared of her first ever modelling Polaroids taken back in 2003 in London, when she was 16 years old and in the process of signing to Profile Model Management.
2 of 20Karlie Kloss
Proof Karlie has always been this cute. Here she is aged 15 in 2007, two years after she was spotted walking at a mall charity fashion show.
3 of 20Cara Delevingne
A very blonde Cara's first model card at Storm, aged 15 - five years after her first shoot for Vogue Italia aged just 10.
4 of 20Kendall Jenner
A baby-faced Kendall, 6 years ago when she was just 18, at an early casting.
5 of 20Lara Stone
A fresh-faced Lara Stone, aged 20 – five years after she signed to Elite and an unbelievable eight years after she was first scouted aged 12 in Paris, while on holiday with her family.
6 of 20Jourdan Dunn
British Super, Jourdan, was famously scouted in Primark aged 16 and went on to walk international catwalks within a year. Here she is in 2006, having recently signed to Storm.
7 of 20Kaia Gerber
Kaia was destined to be model material, being the daughter of original supermodel, Cindy Crawford, and began early, with a Young Versace gig at just 10 years old. Here she is in her late teens at a casting.
8 of 20Gisele Bundchen
Brazilian goddess, Gisele, aged 16, after being signed by Elite. She moved to NYC aged 17 in 1997 and rapidly became the world's highest paid supermodel, after being paid $25 million to join Victoria's Secret in 2000.
9 of 20Natalia Vodianova
Russian Natalia, aged 20 in 2002, three years after she moved to Paris and signed to Viva Models. Natalia aka 'Supernova' (for her meteoric rise) is now a mother of 5 and still modelling.
10 of 20Miranda Kerr
The first ever Australian Victoria's Secret 'Angel' won her first modelling competition aged 13, was flown to Sydney aged 14 and signed on the spot.
11 of 20Irina Shayk
Russian Irina, seen here in 2005, started her modelling career at a relatively late 20, when she was scouted locally and persuaded to move to Paris. Her break came two years later when she relocated from Paris to Barcelona.
12 of 20Hailey Baldwin Bieber
Hailey signed with Ford Models in 2014 and made her debut a year later, modelling for French Connection when she was 19.
13 of 20Coco Rocha Model Test shots polaroids digitals
Coco (born Mikhaila) back in 2004 aged 16, a year after she was scouted during an Irish dancing competition in Vancouver.
14 of 20Taylor Hill
Colorado-born Taylor was instantly signed and placed in the New Faces Division of Ford, after being scouted at aged 14 in 2011.
15 of 20Doutzen Kroe
18 year old Doutzen needed some extra cash so sent some photos of herself to Amsterdam-based agency, Paparazzi and was unsurprisingly signed on the spot.
16 of 20Stella Maxwell
Bilingual (she speaks fluent French and English) Stella was signed to agency, Ali McD, in 2008, aged 18, after being scouted whilst out shopping in New Zealand. She signed to US agency The Lions soon after – as seen here.
17 of 20Adriana Lima
Brazillian-born Adriana entered her first modelling competition aged 13 in 1994. After coming second in the Ford Supermodel of the World Contest aged 15, she was immediately signed and never looked back.
18 of 20Liu Wen
Back in 2005, a 17 year old Liu Wen entered a modelling competition in her native China. She didn't win, but enjoyed the experience so much she carried on modelling. Here she is three years later, aged 20 at an early casting call.
19 of 20Natasha Poly
Natasha began modelling aged 15, in her local Russian town. By age 19 she had made her runway debut for Emanuel Ungaro, and walked her first VS show a year later.
20 of 20Candice Swanepoel
South African Candice was scouted aged 15 in a local flea market. Here she is aged 17 in an early agency Polaroid, shortly after she had moved to Europe to pursue her career.