Forbes 30 under 30 mogul refused to pay employees...then flaunted her new Chanel rollerblades moments later

Daily Mail​

17 hours ago

A millennial business star is facing a host of accusations from former staff who say she denied them annual bonuses just minutes before boasting about her new $5,000 Chanel rollerblades and marble kitchen renovation.
The damning claims are part of a sweeping Forbes investigation into the rise and apparent unraveling of the 30-year-old entrepreneur Daniella Pierson's media and marketing empire.
'She denied people on our team their annual bonuses, people that had worked really hard,' one former employee told Forbes.
'And then like five minutes later she was on Instagram posting all these stories of her new Chanel rollerblades and of the new marble kitchen she's installing in her SoHo apartment.'
Once celebrated as a disruptor in women's media, Pierson launched her flagship newsletter from a Boston University dorm room in 2015.
The hustle paid off and in 2020 she landed on Forbes' '30 Under 30' list, networked with celebrities like Selena Gomez and designer Diane von Furstenberg, and drew a $200 million valuation for her business without investors even reviewing the books.
That valuation boosted Pierson's estimated personal net worth to $220 million.
That valuation, according to Forbes, rested largely on a single 1.25% stake purchase by RXBar founder Peter Rahal, who admitted he didn't even look at the company's finances before investing.
Former staff say she used the number relentlessly in pitches, claiming it proved she was running one of the fastest-growing media companies in America.
But behind the glossy covers and inspirational speeches in its reporting Forbes says former colleagues and business records paint a different picture - one of exaggerated claims, inflated subscriber counts, and revenue figures that rarely matched the hype.
'It's all smoke and mirrors,' said one ex-employee to Forbes, describing a workplace where the leader's public persona clashed sharply with her private management style.
In speaking with Forbes, four ex-staffers said no single sponsorship deal for the newsletter ever exceeded $1 million, despite her public claims that brands like Nike and Ulta were 'spending tens of millions on us per year.'
The Forbes report alleges Pierson inflated subscriber numbers by double-counting readers across multiple products, claiming 1.3 million subscribers when internal records showed about 500,000 unique addresses.
In a 2023 talk at Stanford posted online, Pierson even admitted creating fake email accounts in her early days to make the operation look bigger: 'I literally just faked it 'til I made it,' she said.
Her second high-profile venture, a mental health startup co-founded with Gomez and Gomez's mother, ended with Pierson's ouster last year following clashes with her co-CEO.
Meanwhile, revenue at her original company fell from a claimed $40 million in 2021 to under $4 million, according to four former employees, while the staff shrank to a quarter of the 15-person team at its peak.
Throughout it all Pierson's social media presence never faltered as she continued to project an image of unbroken success
Multiple ex-colleagues described Pierson as having an abrasive management style that clashed with her public image as a motivational champion of women, according to the Forbes report.
'There was definitely this culture of Danny having two personalities,' said one. 'One was online, and with us she was different.'
Another added: 'I have never before in my life worked with someone who knew so little, but thought that she knew everything.'
Even as major clients like Amazon and Mattel cut ties, Pierson continued to present the shuttered marketing arm as still being active in pitches, Forbes reported.
Pierson appeared on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2020
For now, Pierson has rejected the mounting criticism, posting on Instagram that 'people who represent everything that my gender equality initiatives have fought to change have launched a smear campaign against me and my companies.'
Pierson vowed: 'I will not allow anyone to get away with defiling the character of me and my companies with uninformed speculation and outright lies.'
The same instinct for image-building appeared in a failed bid to join the board of Forbes itself where, according to multiple fundraising participants, her polarizing presence prompted some investors to walk away.
Her mentor von Furstenberg told The New York Post she remains 'fond' of the young founder, but emphasized their relationship is 'more personal than business.'
Peter Rahal, the RXBar founder whose early investment helped inflate her paper net worth, offered a terse endorsement when contacted by Forbes.
'Danielle is a great entrepreneur,' he said - misspelling her name.
Months later, when she promoted her latest venture on LinkedIn, Rahal responded with nothing more than a clown emoji.
For now, Pierson rejects the mounting criticism, posting a lengthy statement on Instagram.
'In the last 24 hours, people who represent everything that my gender equality initiatives have fought to change, have launched a smear campaign against me and my companies.
'The result has been an eagerness to spread false statements and fabricated information intended to discredit me and eliminate my ability to continue to put millions of my own dollars into helping women. They messed with the wrong person.
'These false statements don't just affect me - they affect the thousands of women who we fund, spotlight, or promote via my companies.
'I have dedicated my life to ensuring these women do not face the cruelty, abuse, and false accusations that have led me into the depths of depression.
She vowed, 'I will not allow anyone to get away with defiling the character of me and my companies with uninformed speculation and outright lies.
'Those lies include claims about our revenue including that we did not make $40M in 2021, (which we absolutely did), lies meant to discredit my Chasm organization - that is on track to give away free resources and grants for female entrepreneurs worth millions in value, and absurd statements from a "named trusted source" who I have never even met in person or interacted with,' she continued.
'This has inspired me to take action to help others who find themselves under attack from false claims as I continue the important work of removing barriers for female founders.'