The Kardashian-Jenners have been called American royalty, so perhaps it's fitting that the new CEO of their cosmetic brands is a princess.
In 2020, Princess Anna of Bavaria, known professionally as Anna von Bayern, joined the global beauty behemoth Coty Inc., a majority stakeholder in Kylie Jenner's Kylie Cosmetics and a minority shareholder in Kim Kardashian's KKW Beauty, as its chief corporate affairs officer.
Her compensation last year totaled $3.6 million, consisting mostly of performance-based stock options. Coty's stock has tripled in value since CEO Sue Y. Nabi joined the company in August 2020. Nabi is largely credited by analysts with helping reverse the company's pandemic slump.
In January, von Bayern was named CEO of Kylie Cosmetics and KKW Beauty, following the previous CEO's departure. Coty confirmed to Insider that von Bayern would remain in her chief corporate affairs role alongside her new position.
During Coty's recent earnings call, one analyst questioned Nabi about the unusual choice to lead the brands. Nabi emphasized the strong relationship von Bayern had developed with the Kardashian-Jenners since joining the company.
People close to Coty told Insider that though von Bayern's CEO appointment might seem atypical, her background as a wealthy, royal socialite made her well positioned to play celebrity wrangler for the public company.
"The Princess of Bavaria has an audience with Kris Jenner," a person close to the company said.
Insider spoke with five people who worked with von Bayern or had inside knowledge of Coty's business. Insider granted anonymity to these people in order to allow them to speak freely and not jeopardize professional relationships. Their identities are known to Insider.
Coty declined to make von Bayern available for an interview or to offer comment on this story.
"She'd never say, 'Hi, I'm Princess Anna"'
Von Bayern was born into royalty. Her father, Prince Ludwig Ferdinand, is a member of the House of Sayn-Wittgenstein, a German dynasty dating back to the Holy Roman Empire. Her mother is a Swedish countess.
In 2005, von Bayern married Prince Manuel of Bavaria, becoming Princess Anna of Bavaria. Queen Silvia of Sweden and her daughters Princess Madeleine and Princess Victoria were on the guest list, a German society magazine reported.
Prior to joining Coty, von Bayern spent her entire career as a journalist in Germany, except for a nine-month stint in 2001 at Publicis Groupe, a French advertising agency. For over a decade, von Bayern, a Stanford grad, covered politics for the Axel Springer-owned publications Bild and Die Welt. Insider is also owned by Axel Springer.
From 2016 to 2020, she was an anchor on a popular online German political show, "Die Richtigen Fragen" — "The Right Questions" — on which she asked pointed, hard-hitting questions of German politicians. She has also written two political biographies.
Coty insiders and former Axel Springer colleagues described von Bayern as a private person who preferred to keep a low profile and not draw attention to her royal lineage and socialite status.
One person who knew von Bayern professionally added, "She'd never say, "Hi, I'm Princess Anna."
"She did some really tough reporting, but never on beauty or entertainment," one of von Bayern's former Bild colleagues said. "I was surprised she was going into beauty. I didn't see the professional connection."
Royal connections
In Coty's news release touting its new hire, the company didn't shy away from von Bayern's royal connections. In it, she was referred to as Princess Anna of Bavaria.
But the release didn't mention von Bayern's prior connections to the company.
Coty, which reported $4.6 billion in revenue in 2021, is owned by JAB Holding Company, a German conglomerate that owns Krispy Kreme, Jimmy Choo, Peet's Coffee, Panera Bread, and other consumer businesses. For decades, JAB's owners, Germany's notoriously elusive and wealthy Reimann family, have relied on Peter Harf, the conglomerate's chair, to be its public face.
Harf's daughter Viktoria is von Bayern's connection to Coty, as originally reported in 2021 in a German business magazine. She is married to the cohead of JAB Consumer Fund, Philip von Wulffen, a longtime friend of von Bayern's. People with knowledge of Coty confirmed to Insider that Harf and von Bayern had a close personal relationship.
(Another thread in this web of connections: In 2020, Peter Harf's daughter Katharina bought Kris Jenner's Hidden Hills, California, home for $15 million in cash. The house is across the street from one of Kim Kardashian's homes.)
Von Bayern is now tasked with looking after two of the biggest bets Harf's made at Coty.
In November 2019, Harf engineered Coty's 51% majority investment in Kylie Cosmetics. The $600 million price tag later sparked concern from shareholders after a Forbes report in May 2020 suggested Kylie Cosmetics wasn't as big as it initially presented itself to be. In June 2020, Harf led Coty's $200 million deal for a 20% minority stake in KKW Beauty.
While the Kylie and KKW deals received outsize media attention, the brands make up a small part of Coty's overall business, which includes Cover Girl. While Coty doesn't break down sales by brand, during a November 2019 investor presentation, the company estimated Kylie Cosmetics revenue as $177 million for the previous 12 months. For comparison, Coty's total revenue for fiscal 2019 was $6.3 billion.
Like many beauty companies, Coty's sales dropped significantly in 2020 because of the global pandemic. In June, one month before von Bayern started as Coty's chief corporate affairs officer, Harf stepped in as interim CEO — the fourth person in the role in five years.
With von Bayern at the helm of both businesses, company insiders and people close to Coty said, her role would function primarily as a liaison between the Kardashian-Jenner camps and the Kylie Cosmetics and KKW Beauty boards.
Vanessa Reggiardo, the general manager of Kylie Cosmetics and KKW Beauty and a beauty-industry veteran, would oversee day-to-day operations, which she did under the previous CEO.
"People at Coty know the day-to-day will be picked up by Vanessa," a company insider said. "Anna will manage the relationship with Kris and the board, and she's probably the best-placed in the organization to do that."
Got a tip for this reporter? Contact Ellen Thomas via email at ethomas@insider.com
