According to Bloomberg, Kylie Jenner has begun negotiations to buy a 51% stake in Kylie Cosmetics, acquired in 2020 by Coty for $600 million.
In July, Kim Kardashian also started negotiating with Coty, aiming to take back total control of her Skkn by Kim skincare brand, an act which leads many to speculate was the impetus for Jenner following suit. In 2020, Coty bought just a 20% stake in Kardashian’s beauty brand, then called KKW Beauty, for $200 million. An operation that valued the brand at $1 billion.
Why the buybacks? Well, rumors are circulating that Jenner is not happy with how Coty is promoting (or not) the beauty brand, at least not in the way Kylie had done when she was in total control. Since Jenner sold the majority stake, Coty currently owns 51%, which means she has no say in how her products are being marketed.
The proof is in the pudding. The once sought-after Kylie Cosmetics line, where followers would tune in to her socials to see how Kylie would throw her arm, putting out the swatches, showing how to wear her lip colors, has cooled considerably. Perhaps Jenner feels that if she can regain control, she can amp up the desire for her brand (and start reaping the rewards) yet again.
Although, reports of Kylie’s original success with her company were apparently highly inflated. In 2019, Forbes magazine declared Jenner to be one of the “youngest self-made billionaire ever.” Hot on the heels of this press, it was reported that she sold that 51% interest in her company for a reported $1.2 billion (it was later discovered to be less than half of that sum).
Then in 2020, Forbes, apparently smarting from feeling betrayed by the inflated reports, printed a scathing article entitled, “Inside Kylie Jenner’s Web Of Lies,” in which they wrote, “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.”
Still, no one is better at promoting or marketing their merch than the Kardashians themselves. So if anyone can raise their popularity to previous frenzied heights, it’s the Kardashian/Jenner clan.
—
Photo Credit: DFree / Shutterstock.com