At 19, Daniella Pierson launched The Newsette, a pop culture and style newsletter she would later describe as the cornerstone of a multimillion-dollar media empire. By 2020, she was on Forbes’ “30 Under 30” list. Today, she owns a $9 million SoHo condo, counts fashion icon Diane von Furstenberg as a collaborator, and claims more than a million subscribers across her company’s three newsletters.
But according to new investigations by Business Insider and Forbes—the latter of which once celebrated her as a rising star—much of Pierson’s public narrative appears to rest on inflated numbers and overstated valuations.
The reports, published just a day apart and without reference to each other, detail a pattern of embellishment around Newsette Media Group’s worth and reach. At the center is Pierson’s oft-repeated claim that the company is valued at $200 million. That figure, Forbes found, was accurate only briefly, following an undisclosed investment from RXBar founder Peter Rahal in 2021 or 2022. Internal documents reviewed by the outlet suggest the company’s value has since plummeted, with media valuation expert Kevin Kamen estimating it at “no more than $12.2 million”—if that.
Subscriber numbers tell a similar story. Pierson has variously claimed that her newsletters—The Newsette, the Weekly Wrap, and the All Access Pass—have drawn 500,000 to 1.3 million subscribers. But leaked documents show that when she first touted the half-million mark, the real figure was closer to 400,000. Today, the subscriber count is closer to 500,000, but a pitch deck circulated this year still claimed “1.3 million+.” A spokesperson told Business Insider that the company’s email list includes about 1.2 million names—counting people who have opted out of receiving the newsletters entirely.
Behind the branding, Pierson’s ventures have reportedly struggled. In 2021, she co-founded Wondermind, a mental health startup, with actress Selena Gomez and Gomez’s mother. Former staffers told Forbes that by January 2023, Pierson was pushed out after clashing with Gomez—an account Pierson’s spokesperson disputes.
The allegations, drawn from interviews with former employees and internal records, paint a portrait of a leader more invested in image than operations. “I don’t know that she actually cares about building a successful business as much as she cares about being able to say she’s a badass CEO,” one ex-employee told Forbes. “It’s all smoke and mirrors.”
Pierson has denied the claims, posting a statement to Instagram just before the articles were published. In it, she dismissed the reporting as false and stood by her version of events.
For those who have followed her rise, the investigations are a stark counterpoint to the self-made success story Pierson has cultivated over the last decade. They also arrive at a moment when public trust in entrepreneurs—especially high-profile women who have built brands around empowerment—is increasingly tested by revelations of behind-the-scenes instability.
Whether Pierson’s carefully constructed narrative can withstand this level of scrutiny remains to be seen. What’s clear is that the image of The Newsette as a $200 million juggernaut has, for now, been replaced by something far less polished: a company with real reach and visibility, but one whose numbers don’t match the hype.
