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Bad news for Kylie Jenner and her beauty business

It comes days after Forbes accused Kylie of inflating the value of her cosmetics brand

Gemma Strong
Online Digital News Director
June 4, 2020
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Kylie Jenner's beauty business has suffered a set-back. It has been revealed that the entrepreneur set to take the position of CEO at Kylie Jenner Cosmetics has stepped down just six months after taking on the role. According to beauty company Coty, Christoph Honnefelder decided to leave before he had even started work. Coty had completed a $600million partnership with 22-year-old Kylie in January, with Christopher announced as CEO, set to assume the role "in the near future". However, it has now been confirmed he decided to quit for "personal reasons".

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He has been replaced by Simona Cattaneo, President Luxury Brands, who will now oversee the expansion of the Kylie Beauty business. "She assumes these responsibilities from Christoph Honnefelder, who announced to the senior team internally a number of weeks ago that he would not be assuming the role of CEO of Kylie Beauty for personal reasons. Under Simona's leadership we are excited by the opportunities for the Kylie Beauty business, as indicated by the very successful recent launch of Kylie Skin in Europe," Coty said in the statement.

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kylie jenner stormi

The 22-year-old with her daughter Stormi

The news comes just days after Forbes published an explosive report accusing Kylie of inflating the value of her cosmetics business. The magazine struck the reality star from its list of billionaires starting that her family had gone to "unusual lengths" to present its youngest member as richer than she was. In response, Kylie dismissed the article as "inaccurate statements and unproven assumptions". "I've never asked for any title or tried to lie my way there," she tweeted. "I can name a list of 100 things more important right now than fixating on how much money I have," she added.

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kardashians

Kylie is the youngest of the Kardashian/Jenner siblings

In 2019, Forbes had conferred the status of "self-made billionaire" on Kylie. It proved to be a controversial title, with a number of critics pointing to her upbringing as a reality TV star. Forbes credited her status to the success of her cosmetics company which she founded in 2015.

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Last year, Kylie announced she was selling a 51 per cent stake in the company to beauty giant Coty for $600m. Forbes said the family's accountant had provided it with tax returns that suggested the firm had done more than $300m in sales in 2016 and that publicists claimed sales of $330m the following year.

But information shared by Coty, which is publicly traded, showed Kylie's firm is "significantly smaller and less profitable than the family has spent years leading the cosmetics industry and media outlets, including Forbes, to believe", Forbes said.

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