Kylie Jenner Sells Majority Stake in Kylie Cosmetics to Coty
Plus, Estée Lauder acquires its first Asia-based beauty brand, Have & Be Co. Ltd.
Kylie Jenner has sold a 51% stake in her beauty brand, Kylie Cosmetics, to global beauty conglomerate Coty, which valued the company at nearly $1.2 billion.
In an announcement this morning, Coty said it would head up the strategic expansion of the brand into new markets as well as beauty categories, while Jenner will continue to lead product and communications initiatives.
“I’m excited to partner with Coty to continue to reach even more fans of Kylie Cosmetics and Kylie Skin around the world,” Jenner said in a statement. “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.”
Calling Jenner a “modern-day icon,” Coty’s board chairman, Peter Harf, said his company “believes in the high potential of building a global beauty brand together.”
Jenner launched Kylie Cosmetics in 2015, using her influencer status to market her products through social media. Her now 270 million followers across all platforms gives her an enormous audience—but it’s the way she engages with it that ensures her success.
As other influencer-backed brands have flopped, she has been building the foundation for a beauty empire by consistently donning the products herself in videos and promotional photos on Instagram. The skincare line she launched in May of this year, Kylie Skin, sold out in 10 hours. In September, Ulta started carrying Jenner’s products, pulling her largely Gen Z customer base into stores.
The partnership with Coty solidifies 22-year-old Jenner’s position as one of the youngest billionaires in the world. When Forbes called her the youngest self-made billionaire ever earlier this year, it noted that her net worth surpassed the billion-dollar mark two years earlier than Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who passed the threshold at 23 years old.
Also this morning, Estée Lauder announced that it would be buying up the remaining shares of Have & Be Co. Ltd., parent company to Dr. Jart+ and men’s grooming brand Do The Right Thing. The merger marks Estée Lauder’s first Asia-based beauty brand and gives it full control of the company.
