Kim Kardashian Finally Joins The Billionaire's Club (Photos)

 

When Kim Kardashian West was first mentioned in the pages of Forbes in 2011, it was simply a tally of her Twitter followers: 6.6 million, just below Barack Obama and just above Ashton Kutcher. Five years later, she graced the cover of Forbes thanks to her booming mobile game, which helped her earn $51 million that year. Now, she officially joins the World’s Billionaires list for the first time.

Forbes estimates that Kardashian West is now worth $1 billion, up from $780 million in October, thanks to two lucrative businesses—KKW Beauty and Skims—as well as cash from reality television and endorsement deals, and a number of smaller investments.

Kardashian West founded KKW Beauty in 2017, following the achievement of her 1/2-sister Kylie Jenner’s Kylie Cosmetics. She borrowed from Kylie’s playbook, the usage of a similar direct-to-purchaser version that relies heavily on social media advertising. Her first launch, 300,000 contour kits, bought out inside two hours. By 2018, the business had extended into eyeshadows, concealers, lipsticks and fragrances, and was bringing in about $a hundred million in revenue.

"It’s the first time I've moved faraway from having licensing offers and transitioned into being an owner," Kardashian West informed Forbes in 2017, while she introduced her cosmetics line.

She cashed in on that ownership final year whilst she sold 20% of KKW Beauty to cosmetics conglomerate Coty for $two hundred million, a deal that valued the company at $1 billion. While Forbes estimates that determine is a little bloated—Coty, which additionally bought fifty one% of Kylie Cosmetics in 2020, is understood for overpaying—her remaining seventy two% stake is still well worth approximately $500 million, by means of our matter.

Then there’s Skims, the shapewear line Kardashian West released in 2019. She raised money from fashion insiders like Net-a-Porter’s Natalie Massane and Theory’s Andrew Rosen, and capitalized on her massive social media following to shill the emblem. (She now has 69.6 million Twitter followers and 213 million fans on Instagram.) Skims has been quick on its ft: During the pandemic, when clients became more inquisitive about at ease garments for the sofa than in smoothing their stomachs below night robes, she unexpectedly started turning the point of interest to loungewear.

Kardashian West owns a majority stake in intently-held Skims, which hasn’t disclosed its sales. A source acquainted with Skims informed Forbes about a transaction that values the shapewear corporation north of $500 million. As a end result, Forbes estimates her Skims stake is well worth a conservative $225 million, enough to boost her fortune to $1 billion.

The relaxation of Kardashian West’s fortune sits in cash and investments, which include real estate. Every yr for the reason that 2012, she has earned as a minimum $10 million pretax, by means of Forbes’ matter, way to paychecks from Keeping Up With the Kardashians, endorsement offers and endeavors like the aforementioned cell recreation and her now-defunct Kimoji app. She’s additionally were given 3 houses in Calabasas, northwest of Los Angeles, and a portfolio of blue-chip investments, which includes shares of Disney, Amazon, Netflix and Adidas that her soon-to-be ex-husband Kanye West proficient her for Christmas in 2017.

But it’s the agencies that she has released herself, and grown with the standard Kardashian flare for self-merchandising, that land her at the World’s Billionaires list. As she tweeted the day she made the quilt of Forbes, mocking the grievance she’s acquired for years: “Not horrific for a lady with out a talent.”