The Kylie Cosmetics Coty Deal: $600 Million for 51%, and What Followed

In 2019 Coty agreed to pay $600 million for 51% of Kylie Jenner's beauty business. Here is what Coty's own releases disclosed, what went right and wrong after closing, and what founders can learn from it.

The Kylie Cosmetics Coty deal is a case study in selling control of a creator brand while keeping the creative job. On November 18, 2019, Coty said it would “acquire a 51% ownership in the partnership for $600M,” and Kylie Jenner stayed on to lead product and marketing. Nearly seven years later, Coty still owns the majority, Jenner still fronts the brand, and the relationship has been through a public valuation fight and reported buyback talks.

What were the Kylie Cosmetics Coty deal terms?

Coty paid $600 million for 51% of a business that, by its own disclosure, had about $177 million in trailing-twelve-month net revenue. By Fortune’s account, that put the whole business at about $1.2 billion. Think of valuation as the whole-company price implied by what a buyer pays for a slice; it is not cash in the founder’s pocket.

Term Disclosed figure
Stake bought 51%
Price $600 million (Coty)
Implied value About $1.2 billion (Fortune)
Trailing revenue About $177 million (Coty)
Closed January 6, 2020 (Coty)

Coty also gave investors three financial promises in the announcement. It said the deal would add “more than 1% p.a.” to net revenue growth of its core portfolio over three years, would be “neutral to Coty’s earnings per share (EPS) in year one, and accretive thereafter,” and that its return on invested capital would “exceed Coty’s cost of capital by Fiscal 2023.” Coty also became the licensee for skincare, fragrance and nail products. Fortune reported investors initially welcomed the news, with Coty shares up 4% before the opening bell.

Why did Coty want Kylie Cosmetics?

Coty was buying growth and a young audience it was struggling to reach with its older brands. Fortune noted that earlier in 2019 Coty “took a $3 billion write down on the P&G deal,” its 2016 purchase of dozens of Procter & Gamble brands. A social-first brand with its own direct-to-consumer site offered a different engine. Fortune later described Coty’s Kylie and Kim Kardashian investments together as “an $800 million bet” on the family’s following.

How the partnership was set up to run

The model split the work cleanly. Jenner and her team kept product creation and communications, while Coty took over research, manufacturing, distribution and retail. At closing, Coty named Christoph Honnefelder, a former Douglas executive, as chief executive of Kylie Cosmetics and Kylie Skin. A later Coty release named Andrew Stanleick to run both the Kylie and Kim Kardashian beauty businesses, noting that Kris Jenner had served as interim CEO and would stay involved as a board member.

In July 2021, Coty relaunched the line with reformulated clean and vegan products, a new direct-to-consumer website and, in Coty’s words, “global availability of Kylie Cosmetics for the first time ever” through selected stores. By the brand’s October 2025 anniversary release, Kylie Cosmetics said it was sold in over 65 countries and carried over 400 products.

What went wrong: the 2020 valuation dispute

Being bought by a listed company meant the brand’s numbers became public. In May 2020, Forbes said the Coty disclosures showed the business was smaller than the family had represented, and withdrew Jenner’s billionaire label. Jenner disputed the article, and her attorney called it “filled with outright lies,” according to the Associated Press. The AP reported that Coty shares fell more than 13% on the day the story ran. Forbes stood by its reporting. For founders, the point is simpler: once a public company buys in, its filings become the reference numbers for your brand.

The buyback talk

In August 2023, Fortune published Bloomberg’s report that Jenner “has had informal discussions about trying to buy back the 51% stake,” citing unnamed people, and that “there have been disagreements over price and valuation.” Coty declined to comment, and representatives for Jenner and Kim Kardashian did not respond. The report added: “Coty’s majority stake in Kylie Cosmetics means Jenner faces a much bigger financial hurdle to buy back her business than Kardashian does.”

The Kardashian side of that bet did unwind. Forbes reports that Coty divested its SKKN stake to Skims in March 2025, a step covered in our Skims valuation story. As of October 2026, neither Coty nor Jenner had announced any repurchase of the Kylie stake.

Is the brand still working for Coty?

Coty does not report sales for individual brands, as Fortune noted, so outsiders cannot see Kylie Cosmetics’ revenue or profit after the deal, or whether Coty has written down its value. What Coty does say is directional. In its February 5, 2026 quarterly release, it said prestige makeup growth was “led by Burberry and Kylie Cosmetics,” and it called the new Cosmic Kylie Jenner Intense fragrance a launch “performing well ahead of expectations.” The same release said Coty was pursuing a strategic review of its separate Consumer Beauty business, which does not include the Kylie brands.

Founder lessons from the Kylie Cosmetics Coty deal

  • Selling 51% buys cash and scale, not a guarantee of control. Jenner kept the creative role, but Coty now sets distribution and runs the company; reversing that requires buying a majority back.
  • A listed buyer exposes your numbers. Coty’s revenue disclosure became the basis for public scrutiny of earlier claims about the brand’s size.
  • A partial sale can still leave a large stake. Jenner took home some $540 million pretax, Forbes estimates, yet she keeps roughly 44% by its count, which keeps her exposed to how well Coty runs the brand.
  • Distribution was the buyer’s main contribution. Before the deal, Fortune reported, the brand’s main store presence was Ulta Beauty in the U.S.; Coty’s 2021 relaunch aimed for global store availability.

Two comparable founder exits make useful contrasts: Hailey Bieber’s sale of rhode, covered in the rhode and e.l.f. acquisition story, and Huda Kattan’s 2025 move in the other direction, in why Huda Beauty bought back its private-equity stake.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much did Coty pay for Kylie Cosmetics?

Coty paid $600 million for a 51% stake in Kylie Jenner’s beauty business, according to its November 2019 release. Fortune put the implied value of the whole business at about $1.2 billion.

When did the Kylie Cosmetics Coty deal close?

Coty announced the transaction was complete on January 6, 2020.

Does Kylie Jenner still own part of Kylie Cosmetics?

Yes. Forbes estimates she still owns about 44% of Kylie Cosmetics, with Coty holding the majority.

Did Kylie Jenner try to buy her company back?

Bloomberg reported in August 2023, via Fortune, that she had held informal talks about buying back Coty’s stake, with disagreements over price. Neither side had announced a repurchase by October 2026.

Has Coty sold its other Kardashian beauty stake?

Yes. Forbes reports that Coty divested its stake in Kim Kardashian’s SKKN business to Skims in March 2025. Coty still held its Kylie Cosmetics stake in its February 2026 results.

Sources

This article is general information for founders and is not accounting, legal or investment advice. Net worth figures are estimates published by the outlets named, on the dates shown. They are not disclosed by the people profiled, they move with markets and private valuations, and different publications reach different numbers. Found Founders is not affiliated with anyone profiled here.