Kylie Jenner Sells Major Chunk of Kylie Cosmetics for $600 Million
Kylie has maintained full ownership of her business since 2015, but Coty now holds a majority stake.
Kylie Jenner has maintained full ownership of her wildly successful open office-free makeup company, Kylie Cosmetics, since founding the business in 2015. But that’s about to change. As Business of Fashion reports, Kylie has sold a 51% majority stake to Coty for $600 million; the multinational beauty company has valued Kylie Cosmetics at about $1.2 billion.
According to a press release, Kylie and co. will continue to lead the company’s communications and product development. “I’m excited to partner with Coty to continue to reach even more fans of Kylie Cosmetics and Kylie Skin around the world. I look forward to continuing the creativity and ingenuity for each collection that consumers have come to expect and engaging with my fans across social media,” Jenner said in the release.
“This partnership will allow me and my team to stay focused on the creation and development of each product while building the brand into an international beauty powerhouse,” she added.
Coty is looking to expand Kylie Cosmetics (which also incorporates the mogul’s newer skincare line, Kylie Skin) into more retailers, both in the United States and internationally. “We don’t see any weaknesses. We see strength everywhere. We see strength in cosmetics. We see strength in skincare both digitally and in the launch in Ulta,” said Coty’s Chief Financial Officer Pierre-André Terisse.
Kylie Cosmetics has been a massive hit since its launch. Who doesn’t remember those early Lip Kits? When Kylie released her first products in November 2015 (when she was just 18), they sold out immediately, and her company did $420 million in revenue in just its first eighteen months of existence. After expanding into Ulta, Kylie Cosmetics’ revenue added up to $360 million last year, and Kylie Skin has already done $25 million in sales since it debuted in May. Forbes (questionably) declared Kylie the youngest “self-made” billionaire back in March.
Jenner attributed a good deal of the success of her brand to her social media prowess. “It’s the power of social media,” she told Forbes. “I had such a strong reach before I was able to start anything.”
