Bethenny's Biz Sale About $112 Million Less Than First Reported

Bravo reality TV star Bethenny Frankel may not be the entrepreneurial empress we have been lead to believe.

The former "Real Housewife of New York City" sold her low-calorie cocktail franchise Skinnygirl earlier this year for an alleged $120 million. But the recently-released U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's quarterly report doesn't seem to agree with the nine-digit figure that industry indsiders and Frankel's friends have reported as fact (via The Hollywood Reporter).

The official federal report says Beam Global (as in Jim Beam) acquired Frankel's ready-made cocktail brand for a far more reasonable $8.1 million. The company concedes that if the Skinnygirl franchise meets certain high sales expectations they may have to claim additional profit, but "in an amount not in excess of $25 million." Business jargon aside: Even if Bethenny's brand is flying off the shelves, it's still not worth even a quarter of the previously accepted value.

Still, it should be noted that Frankel herself never confirmed or denied the sales figure, so she hasn't as much mislead anyone as she's allowed a wild exaggeration to pass unchallenged. And $8.1 million is hardly a number to dismiss in this economy, especially since profit was Frankel's primary motivation for joining "The Real Housewives" show in the first place. She has openly stated (via the aforementioned Hollywood Reporter article): "I went on the show single-handedly and exclusively for business."

This report revealing Skinnygirl's comparatively lean net worth comes hot on the high heels of a lawsuit filed last week in Chicago's federal court that targets Frankel for false advertising. The Illinois complainant notes that her allegedly all-natural cocktail mixture actually contains an unlisted artificial preservative. Frankel has admitted but downplayed the synthetic ingredient -- but that didn't stop Whole Foods from pulling her brand from their shelves in August.

It's been a crazy week for the former Real Housewife, to say the least: this news follows this week's allegations she lied about being "lost at sea" -- allegations she has vehemently denied.