Kylie Jenner denies Forbes' claim she's no longer a billionaire and peddled a 'web of lies' about her net worth
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Kylie Jenner is speaking out after Forbes insisted she isn't really a billionaire after all and alleged she faked numbers about her net worth.
Forbes posted the bombshell story early Friday, titled "Kylie Jenners Web of Lies -- and Why She's No Longer a Billionaire." The outlet accused the Kylie Cosmetics founder of previously "inflating the size and success of her business" to the publication "for years" in order to appear richer than she really is.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The publication's claims come nearly one month after it released its annual World's Billionaires list, reporting that the 22-year-old's makeup empire was valued at $1.2 billion.
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An attorney for Kylie refuted Forbes' claims in a statement to Fox News on Friday.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"We have reviewed Forbes’ article accusing Kylie of engaging in deceit and a 'web of lies' to inflate her net worth. The article is filled with outright lies. 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," attorney Michael Kump said. "It is sad that, of all things, Forbes has devoted 3 reporters to investigate the effect of the coronavirus crisis on Kylie’s net worth. We would not expect that from a supermarket tabloid, much less from Forbes."
Kylie also took to her Twitter shortly after waking on Friday to respond to the jaw-dropping allegations.
"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," Jenner's first tweet reads.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The makeup mogul followed with another, writing: "'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."
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She went on to say that despite Forbes' article, she's "blessed beyond my years," adding that she has a "beautiful daughter, and a successful business." She insisted she's "doing perfectly fine."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}She also slammed Forbes for publishing the article when she could "name a list of 100 things more important right now than fixating on how much money i have."
In the piece, Forbes reported that when Kris Jenner's youngest child sold 51 percent of Kylie Cosmetics to beauty giant Coty, her numbers "seemed to confirm" that Jenner was, in fact, boasting a 10-figure net worth. But after reading the deal's "fine print," Forbes said it's learned Kylie's business fortune is "significantly smaller, and less profitable, than the family has spent years leading the cosmetics industry and media outlets, including Forbes, to believe."
Forbes accused the Jenners of "creating tax returns that were likely forged." The report quoted equity analyst Stephanie Wissink saying that the Kardashian-Jenner clan operates by oversizing "everything."
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"To stay on-brand, it needs to be bigger than it is," Wissink said.
Forbes said it "now" believes Jenner "is not a billionaire," claiming that Kylie and Kris provided documents from the family's accountant showing the 22-year-old's tax returns detailed revenues that were too good to be true.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Forbes concluded that "there's virtually no way the numbers the Jenners were peddling in earlier years could be true either."
It questioned: "If Kylie Cosmetics did $125 million in sales in 2018, how could it have done $307 million in 2016 (as the company's supposed tax returns state) or $330 million in 2017?"
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The publication continued: "While we can't prove that those documents were fake (though it's likely), it's clear that Kylie's camp has been lying."
After speaking with a number of analysts and reviewing numbers, Forbes said its recalculated Kris Jenner's youngest child's net worth.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"A more realistic accounting of her personal fortune puts it at just under $900 million, despite the headlines surrounding the Coty deal that seemed to confirm her billionaire status."
In a statement to Fox News on Friday, a Forbes spokesperson said: “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.”