If you’ve been following celebrity business scandals, you might have heard Lou Taylor’s name popping up alongside the Kardashians. Lou Taylor, best known as Britney Spears’ controversial business manager, has long been associated with high-profile conservatorships, but new findings connect her to the Kardashians in a major way. One of those businesses was Abracadabra Holdings, an asset management company with Taylor listed as the agent for service of process. However, what shocked many was seeing Kris Jenner named as a manager. This discovery raised eyebrows back in 2020, but it’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Lou Taylor’s connections to Kris Jenner weren’t confined to one business. She had ties to Kim and Kylie Jenner’s companies as well. The connections became especially important in the investigation into Kylie Jenner’s Kylie Cosmetics empire.
The Rise of Kylie Cosmetics
When Kylie was still a teenager, she approached her mother, Kris Jenner, with an idea. Inspired by her insecurities about her lips, Kylie wanted to sell lip kits—a combo of lipstick and lip liner to replicate her signature overlined look. At the time, Kylie was denying the use of lip fillers, despite the visible difference in her appearance. But it didn’t matter—Kylie’s fans were loyal, and her lip kits became an instant success. She started with just 15,000 kits, which sold out in under a minute.
From there, Kylie and Kris expanded into a full-scale cosmetics brand, launching Kylie Cosmetics. The brand grew rapidly, adding more products like eyeshadows and makeup brushes. In 2018, Forbes Magazine declared Kylie the youngest self-made billionaire. At just 21, she graced the magazine’s cover with a caption boasting her massive success.
However, many in the beauty industry began questioning Kylie Cosmetics’ meteoric rise. Was it truly worth $1 billion? To put things into perspective, it took beauty giants like L’Oreal nearly 80 years to reach the billion-dollar mark, while Kylie managed to do it in less than five.
The Cody Buyout & Controversial Valuations
In 2019, five years after launching her brand, Kylie sold 51% of Kylie Cosmetics to the French conglomerate Coty Inc. for a jaw-dropping $600 million. The deal valued Kylie Cosmetics at $1.2 billion—a figure that would soon face intense scrutiny.
Coty, a publicly traded company, had to disclose certain details about the deal through the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Documents from that time revealed that the transaction involved King Kylie LLC, Kylie’s business entity. Interestingly, Lou Taylor was listed as the agent for service of process for King Kylie LLC, sparking more questions about Taylor’s involvement in the deal.
The Forbes Exposé & Accusations of Inflating Valuations
In 2020, Forbes published a bombshell article titled “Inside Kylie Jenner’s Web of Lies and Why She’s No Longer a Billionaire.” The piece accused Kylie and Kris of exaggerating the success and value of Kylie Cosmetics to boost her status as a billionaire. According to Forbes, the Kardashian-Jenner family went to extreme lengths, including allegedly showing forged tax documents, to inflate Kylie’s wealth.
While Forbes initially bought into the idea that Kylie’s company was worth over a billion—after all, Coty had paid $600 million for 51% of it—new evidence suggested that Kylie’s numbers didn’t add up. Forbes went so far as to strip her of her billionaire status, accusing the family of “white lies, omissions, and outright fabrications” in their attempt to climb the ranks of the rich and famous.
Coty’s Lawsuit & Stock Plummet
The drama didn’t end with Forbes. Coty’s shareholders soon filed a lawsuit against the company, alleging they had overpaid for Kylie Cosmetics due to inflated valuations. After the Forbes article was published, Coty’s stock price plummeted, falling over 130%. The lawsuit accused Coty of failing to thoroughly investigate the true value of Kylie’s business before paying out $600 million.
Lou Taylor’s Shadow Over the Deal
The fact that Lou Taylor was listed as an agent for King Kylie LLC in 2020 raises some significant questions. While it’s unclear if Taylor was involved in negotiating the sale to Coty, her presence looms over the deal. Lou Taylor, after all, had been responsible for managing Britney Spears’ finances and was at the center of numerous controversies surrounding Britney’s conservatorship.
Adding to the intrigue, financial records show that Lou Taylor’s firm, Stonebridge, received a mysterious windfall of $600 million around the same time as Kylie’s sale to Coty. By 2021, that money was gone. Could the $600 million from the Coty deal have flowed through Stonebridge? While there’s no definitive proof yet, the circumstantial evidence suggests a connection.
A Web of Wealth and Lies?
This scandal surrounding Kylie Jenner, her billion-dollar cosmetics brand, and Lou Taylor continues to raise eyebrows. Was Kylie’s company ever truly worth a billion dollars? Did Lou Taylor play a bigger role behind the scenes than previously thought? As investigations into these business dealings continue, one thing is clear: the Kardashians, Lou Taylor, and Kylie Cosmetics are far from done making headlines.
As more information comes to light, this could turn out to be one of the biggest celebrity business scandals of the decade. Stay tuned—there’s undoubtedly more to uncover.
