Mary Kay Inc. Is Bleeding Money
We’ve been discussing the poor financial condition of Mary Kay Inc., as evidenced by the low commission checks of the national sales directors, the reduction of perks for the sales force, and general cutback of events and opportunities in the company. We knew money was tight, and then Mary Kay Ash’s family started suing each other and more information came out.
Specifically, Richard Rogers (Mary Kay’s son and former executive at MK) alleges that his son Ryan Rogers has mismanaged the company to the brink of collapse, and at the same time has lined his own pockets.
Ryan became CEO of Mary Kay Inc. in 2023, and it has been nothing short of a disaster.
Will Maddox at D Magazine wrote a very detailed article about the family fight. (PDF here if you prefer.) There are two lawsuits ongoing: the main lawsuit in Dallas and a related lawsuit in Delaware. There is a very enlightening letter included one of the filings in the Delaware litigation. Richard wrote to the board of directors of Mary Kay to expose Ryan’s complete failure as the CEO of the company and to beg them to do something before Mary Kay goes under. Here are the pertinent details from the letter Richard wrote to the board of directors:
- Sales in the first half of 2025 were 30% lower than the same period in 2021 (annual sales in 2021 were $2.08 billion)
- Mary Kay recorded operating losses of $15.9 million in the first half of 2025
- Operating income for the full year 2021 was $26.8 million
- Overall net profit in 2021 (including both operating and other activities like investing) totaled $51 million
- 2025 numbers were on pace for an estimated $46 million in LOSSES (That’s a swing of $97 million compared to 2021!!!!)
- The company’s assets dropped 24% between 2021 and 2025, down to $1.11 billion
Mary Kay Inc. is basically owned by trusts, and the beneficiaries of the trusts are family members. Every year, the company would distribute profits to the trusts, and then the trusts would invest a lot of money and make distributions to the family members from the investment earnings. The distributions from Mary Kay to the trusts last happened in 2021. So from 2022 to the present, Mary Kay has not had any money available to distribute. (It’s interesting that in late 2023, Ryan told The Dallas Morning News that MK would record over $3 billion of revenue and would be profitable for 2023. If you believe the numbers in Richard’s letter to the board, Ryan’s numbers are questionable at best. Forbes reported that 2023 sales were $2.5 billion, nowhere near Ryan’s predicted $3 billion. You decide if he was deliberately lying in that interview.)
Richard says Ryan never should have been the CEO, because he didn’t possess the experience or the work ethic needed. He is correct that Ryan is completely unqualified to be CEO. Literally, his only qualification is being a family member of the founder. Mary Kay says the following about Ryan’s work experience:
Ryan joined Mary Kay Inc. in 2000 as a Financial Analyst and held several positions including Project Manager, Director of Strategic Initiatives, and Vice President of Strategic Initiatives. In 2013, he assumed the title of Chief Investment Officer.
None of this qualifies him to run a billion dollar company. Not even close. He is in so far over his head, but I’m sure he’d never admit it.
And this is where it gets even more interesting. In addition to Richard saying his son never should have been appointed as CEO, he says that Ryan created a process by which he can take money from the trusts and do whatever he wants with it. Richard says that in 2023 alone, Ryan decided to take $37 million from the trusts.
Naturally, Ryan disputes what his dad says. After all, Ryan has a vision for growth and innovation! Furthermore, Ryan says that Richard is no longer competent and it is his gold digging wife Nancy who is pushing all of this. (Richard says no, he has medical issues that are physical only, and that he is completely mentally competent and is making his own choices.)
Ryan’s biggest problem with his dad is that Richard asked for large distributions from the trusts over the last several years. It doesn’t matter to Ryan that between 2012 and 2020, Richard took NOTHING from the trusts (even though he could have) and instead allowed his descendants to take all the trust distributions for themselves. During that period $200 million was distributed from the trusts, with Ryan himself receiving $70 million of it.
Now that dad has decided he’s going to take what he is legally and morally entitled to (instead of just allowing it all to go to his children and grandchildren), Ryan is crying foul and making hurtful allegations about his dad.
Richard says that Ryan is incapable of stopping Mary Kay’s free fall, so the company either needs to be restructured or sold. He says that the company could still be saved, but the board must act quickly.
Visit the 
“Richard say that Ryan is incapable of stopping Mary Kay’s free fall, so the company either needs to be restructured or sold.”
From your lips to God’s ears, Richard!
The bigger the estate, the bigger the family fight!
One has to wonder how much of Ryan’s decision-making is related to the company’s ability to fund the family trusts. At least he has one incentive to make the company profitable. But it would not be a stretch to assume he would prioritize tactical (short-term) needs over the strategic (long-term) health of the business. Just look how he allegedly took $37M from the trusts in a year when MKC was unable to contribute anything. This is unsustainable, short term thinking.
Any buyer would be wise to disentangle the company from those trusts and create distance from the family ASAP. The family would be wise to live off the interest income alone from the trusts without touching the principle, so that the nest-egg lasts indefinitely. Any requirement to keep funding of the family trust as part of a company purchase will be unattractive to prospective buyers.
Greed has a way of corrupting such decision-making. Based on events of the last few years, greed is likely to win out over wise counsel.
The way I read the lawsuit filing, not the “D” article, was that the trusts were set up way back when Mary Kay Inc was making money … big chunks of money invested conservatively for long term family benefit.
And a separate source of income to family members was the distribution of MK profits … and that’s not happening.
The “investment” in Mary Kay Inc. is the single largest investment the trusts has. The trust money (overall) is invested in a way to preserve capital, grow the assets, and allow distributions of funds to trust beneficiaries. The trust’s biggest source of new money is dividends from MK Inc. The new money funds trust distributions. (The amount available to be distributed to beneficiaries is calculated based on the current income from investments.) Beneficiaries are still getting distributions because other investments are making money. But if the single biggest investment is no longer generating any cash, that’s a problem.
I’d be curious to see a pie chart of the diversity of investments. When you have one giant chunk for one company, it’s a setup for failure.
Also, playboy Richard, his trophy wife who runs around with Kris Jenner, and the fake adopted daughter aren’t the types that would mend tears in sheets and make other thrifty repairs to keep the principal intact. Ryan is grabby too? They’re all raiding the trust.
I don’t believe what Richard is doing is “raiding the trust.” He chose not to take distributions for years upon years. Now he wants distributions. It’s his money before his children and grandchildren. He let his children and grandchildren take ALL the distributions for years. Now when he wants the money that rightfully belongs to him, those punks are saying he’s not of sound mind.
His wife has been with him for 20+ years. He loves her and if he wants to take what is his and make sure she gets it once he’s gone, that’s his choice.
I think the adoption of Olivia is weird and a way to game the system. But I don’t know. Maybe she really was essentially raised by them? I have no way of knowing this. I wish that aspect wasn’t part of it because it makes it look weird.
But most important to me is the facts that Richard has decided he wants to stop giving all of his money to his children, and instead wants to take it himself and decide what happens to it. He has every right.
Also, they all got rich by running a scam that steals money from ordinary women. So I don’t care about any of them and I would be thrilled if the attorneys got rich and they fought until every penny was gone.
As for the wife, whatever feelings he may have for her, she loooooooves going on extravagant private jet vacations with her tabloid celebrity friends. A trophy will stay with their paypig as long as the money keeps rolling in or they find a bigger pig.
The adult adoption thing, totally a money grab. It’s more common outside the US, but it’s done by rich people to secure a larger piece of an inheritance. Partly raised by them? She already has living parents that are rich and in her life, she ain’t Lil’ Orphan Annie.
If he’s competent and that’s what he wants to throw his money at, that’s fair. But without proof of competence I’ll continue to give the whole thing a side-eye.
I do agree, the best case scenario is if the lawyers drain all of them dry.
The interesting thing about the competency…. Lots of papers were filed and all Ryan can say is “he’s old and doesn’t talk to me.” The judge said no to forcing Richard to take a competency exam.
See, Richard doesn’t have to prove he’s competent just because he’s old. Ryan would have to bring forth some sort of evidence that he’s not competent.
“He’s sick” doesn’t work either. Because his body may be unwell, but his mind could be just fine. If he was truly believed to be incompetent by Ryan, you think he’d be able to point to something concrete.
There is a distinction between capacity and competency.
Capacity must be determined by a mental health provider (usually a psychiatrist). Social work, primary care, and other providers are usually involved in capacity determinations. Patients can be found to lack capacity to make medical, financial, or other decisions. In many situations like this that involve medical care, APS will be involved, but not always.
Competency must be determined by a judge, usually after a provider has said the patient does not have capacity. This often results in a guardian ad litem for the patient, who can be a family member or someone appointed by the court.
In Richard’s case, I would *suspect* there is a diminishing capacity due to several of his health issues. (Can someone please remind me if he’s had a stroke or not?) Many health issues (stroke/CVA, hearing loss, etc.) are directly related to vascular dementias that CAN lead to diminished capacity. I have never met Richard or his family, so I cannot say anything definitive. I’m only going with what I’ve read in the court documents.
My MIL is a perfect example of diminished capacity. A TIA and a stroke, hearing loss, and aging (she’s 85) have led to significantly reduced capacity, especially for medical and financial decision-making. Her situational awareness is almost nonexistent because she has no higher-level thinking. (Doesn’t help that we’ve been dealing with a Grade A narcissist for decades with her.). Fortunately, as a family, we have all the necessary POAs to prevent the need for guardianship.
Another interesting issue regarding this that Richard’s attorney made is that Ryan seems to want to go back in time to see if he was competent a few years ago. It’s impossible.
There’s also Terri, Ryan’s sister and Richard’s daughter. Per the lawsuit she also expressed alarm about Richard’s wife Nancy having undue influence and ramming through the adult adoption so Olivia (Nancy) can get her fingers into the trust.
Richard and Ryan are the primary names but not the only ones actively involved.
But what if RICHARD wants Olivia as part of all of it and wants her to be part of the trust? It’s weird, but I maintain that it’s his money, and if he wants there to be another heir, then why can’t he do that? The idea that Ryan, Terri, etc don’t want to split the money with another person is understandable, but it’s not their decision. Mind you, I think that adopting an adult is weird and it’s complicated with all the money involved. But what if it happened exactly like they said it did: they’ve been essentially raising Olivia since she was in middle school, and they feel like they’re her parents and want to make it official? It’s not unheard of.
Suck-cession.
Wait until something new that I have next week about the MLM model and the where the company’s revenue comes from. This is going to be great.
I cannot wait! This is my Super Bowl.
OMG the amount of popcorn I am consuming is unreal!
I love checking the new information on this each morning! Burn, baby, burn!
For 20 years, I have been accused of wanting to “take Mary Kay down.” Nope. All I ever wanted was to make the TRUTH available to potential recruits.
But it looks like Ryan Rogers himself is single-handedly taking down Mary Kay, and i am here for it.
Ironically, it’s the family taking the Company down.
Now, let’s get back to something more important: the skirt vs pants issue…
Tracy you sneaky little tease… if I eat any more popcorn I’m going to have tassels sprouting out my ears.
“…about the MLM model and the where the company’s revenue comes from.”
Let me guess…directly from the pockets of the sales force!
Well yes, but specifically NEW RECRUITS.
Get ‘em in fast, drain them of their finances before they have time to think, dump them when they’re no longer useful.
There are blood vampires, energy vampires, and there are financial vampires.
Incredible and fascinating article- thank you Tracy.
Let’s see how those in the Fog ignore and/or spin this as they focus on silly posters and matching pajamas.
I LOVE THAT PICTURE!
Now to read the undoubtedly excellent article.
I wonder how Kristin feels about Ryan now that she is not in good standing !
She’ll be one of the first sacrifices to distract the MKBots.
I can’t wait for the “quitting to spend more time with my family” announcements. Brittani just gave birth to her convenient excuse.
It’s amazing how a company can go down so fast with the wrong person at the helm. It’s getting more and more obvious that Mary Kay Cosmetics is not doing well. Lack of innovative new products, decreasing sales tools for consultants, events have been scaled way back, shrinkage of Seminar areas, decrease in the car program, and of course the new myshop website- these are just a few signs of a failing company. I see the affiliate model coming sooner than later. Also, once a company is sold, things never remain the same. Stay tuned.
Ryan considers his My Shop idea to be innovation in the e-commerce space!
Eek I accidentally skipped the details about where this info came from but I added it! Always want to give credit to the source!
I get DMag and DCEO every month. I was actually surprised to see this article because this is more jarring than their usual positive highlights. But I’m so glad they did.
Isn’t it amazing!!!!!!?????
D Magazine used to be so snarky, this felt like a return to the good old days!
This drama gets better and better every day. The back and forth with the lawsuits if almost as good as “Dynasty.”
I’m standing by with more popcorn…
It’s not lost on me that this is happening in “Dallas” (I also live 3 mins from Southfork Ranch so it’s hard to miss)
What’s so funny to me is that the Facebook groups are so so quiet about this! They are monitored and posts require admin approval!
I was looking in our archives and found this article in 2020 about changes the company was making. That’s when Sean Key and his whole team were fired.
https://www.pinktruth.com/2020/03/12/changes-at-mary-kay-inc/
I’m picking up my jaw from this line:
Mary Kay recorded operating losses of $15.9 million in the first half of 2025
STAGGERING
I wonder how much of the losses are due to 1) the Covid MLM bubble popping, 2) the natural failure of MLMs when more and more people want instant hassle-free shopping Amazon-style and the anti-MLM message is getting out, and 3) directly caused by Ryan’s decision-making. With 1) and 2) even a good CEO may struggle to prevent losses.
I would also add MK’s brand and products being super meh.
Mary Kay Corp dropping the Aus/NZ markets just as C19 hit followed by the rabid and desperate MLM recruitment was an amazing stroke of luck , well not for MKC!
The anti-MLM internet movement while not as old as Pink Truth is steadily marching on. The number of anti-MLM YouTubers is currently stable but reaching larger audiences.
These lawsuits along with the MacMillan vs Monat/Urdaneta'(sp??)s and the Von Schout vs Urdaneta’s (sp??)is a nice soothing balm to our anti-MLMM souls.
I wonder what we’d be seeing if 10-15 years ago, MKC had made the decision to go from MLM/direct sales model to retail? They would have missed the big MLM backlash and by now the stigma of having started as an MLM would be far behind them. They probably wouldn’t be a Nordstrom/Sephora type of brand, more of a Walgreens/Target/Walmart brand but with a lot less overhead and drama.
Could have actually used the “legend of Mary Kay Ash” as a marketing strategy, not as “you should always wear dresses” and all the MLM drama crap but just as a pioneering woman who developed her own skincare and cosmetics line or something.
It might be too late now, but I guess we get out the popcorn and see what happens over the next year or so once their advertising with Gray gets underway.
The company would have just failed sooner. MK will never make it as a retail company because consumers don’t want their products. Try as they may, consultants can’t retail large amounts of product. Changing to it to go direct to consumer won’t change that.