Last July, Kylie Jenner scored the cover of Forbes Magazine for a cover story called āAmericaās Women Billionaires.ā The article didnāt actually claim that Jenner was a billionaire at that very moment (July 2018) but they did say she was on track to becoming a billionaire very soon, and that on paper, she was already worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Well, seven months later and guess what? Kylie is now a billionaire. Forbes details the trajectory of Kylieās lip kit and makeup empire, and how she grew her business drastically over the past year. You can read the full piece here. Some highlights:
Last fall, Kylie signed a deal with Ulta: After signing an exclusive distribution deal with Ulta, the beauty retailer, Kylie Cosmetics was rolling its $29 lip kitsāa matte liquid lipstick and matching lip linerāinto Ultaās 1,000-plus stores. And Jenner showed up to the Richmond Avenue Ulta in Houston in November to greet customers, sign autographs on lip kits and, of course, pose for selfies with her fans. Over the next six weeks, Kylie Cosmetics sold $54.5 million worth of products in Ulta, according to estimates from Oppenheimer. āI popped up at a few stores, I did my usual social mediaāI did what I usually do, and it just worked,ā she says.
The growth of Kylie Cosmetics: Fueled in part by the Ulta expansion, Kylie Cosmeticsā revenue climbed 9% last year to an estimated $360 million. With that kind of growth, and even using a conservative multiple from the booming makeup industry, Forbes estimates Jennerās company is worth at least $900 million. She owns all of it. Add in the cash Jenner has already pulled from the profitable business, and the 21-year-old is now a billionaire, with an estimated fortune of $1 billion. Sheās the youngest-ever self-made billionaire, reaching a ten-figure fortune at a younger age than even Mark Zuckerberg (who was 23 when he hit that mark).
Kylie never thought this would happen: āI didnāt expect anything. I did not foresee the future,ā says Jenner, who is the youngest billionaire in the world. āBut [the recognition] feels really good. Thatās a nice pat on the back.ā
Her small overhead: Her empire consists of just seven full-time and five part-time employees. Manufacturing and packaging is outsourced to Seed Beauty, a private-label producer in nearby Oxnard, California. Sales and fulfillment are handled by online merchant Shopify. Her shrewd mother, Kris, takes care of finance and PR in exchange for the 10% management fee she siphons from all of her kids. Marketing is done mostly through social media, where Jenner has a massive following. She announces product launches, previews new items and announces the Kylie Cosmetics shades sheās wearing directly to the 175 million-plus who follow her across Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. āItās the power of social media,ā Jenner says. āI had such a strong reach before I was able to start anything.ā
Why she wanted to sell her line in brick-and-mortar stores: Selling in physical stores gives Jenner a chance to reach āpeople that would never buy my products online,ā she says. The ones who want to āsee, touch and feel before they buy.ā
I went into this article rolling my eyes and I came out with some kind of hate-respect for Kylie and Kris Jenner too. Iāll never say that Kylie is a self-made woman or that sheās a self-made billionaire. But she was able to organically target a ripe demographic of consumers who were hungry for her products, and sheās been able to keep that low-key feel, like sheās making her products for herself and her friends and young women her age. There are huge corporations and beauty conglomerates who spend tens of millions of dollars on youth consultants, media experts, statisticians and glossy advertising who havenāt managed to capture the ālightning in a bottleā that Kylie just came up with at her momās kitchen table. I donāt knowā¦ yes, the fact that Kylie is now the youngest billionaire ever is disturbing, but alsoā¦ (whispers)… good for her?
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Instagram.
I need to see the receipts.
It says that it’s a valuation on paper taking into account projected future sales. I would say that someone wasn’t a billionaire until they actually were, but Forbes needs to sell magazines I guess?
Props to the family for spotting the obviously lucrative “teens who want to look twice their age” gap in the market though!
I need to see her taxes….amassing that much wealth over that short of time isnt done by paying your fair share. Good for her for making money but she isnt self made. She has a money making machine backing her every step of the way.
Yeah I’m curious as to what’s going on here. Is she just licensing her name? Every few years we hear how Jessica Simpson or Bethenny Frankel are moguls when it’s more likely they just have a very lucrative (but not billion-dollar) licensing arrangements.
Iām curious about the valuation too. Iāve heard the product is actually pretty good. Did she create the formulations? Or just the kits? Everything is outsourced contracts so arenāt all those companies getting a piece of that $350 mil in revenue? Can she sell it for $900mil? Wouldnāt that involve selling her name & image? Iām not being snarky. Iām truly curious. (Also, Forbes is known for their creative counting. Read Tim OāBrienās New Yorker(I think) piece about how the magazine inflated DTrumpās wealth.) Self Made is a bit much though. And didnāt she lie about her full lips being only from makeup rather than injections?
@Lisa
Eggactly, receipts indeed.
And I’d like to see their definition of “self-made”. A la Dunce-ald Trump, it’s easier to become successful when you have family money behind you.
Iām with you, Lisa, but Iām a straight-up kind of woman. My house is āworthā $1.3 million, but thereās no way I call mysel a millionaire. Itās my home, for starters, and even if I was looking to sell, itās only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. Taking into account the fact she doesnāt own the company that produces her products, sheād only be getting a percentage of sales, wouldnāt she? And counting projections might be an acceptable economic strategy in counting wealth, but like they say, itās all on paper, an all these figures can be dodgied up, as they so often are. We had good friends who lived the high life: Husband made a lot of money, with 4 huge pharmacies in affluent areas, 3 absolutely stunning properties, expensive private schools, really flash cars (his son was riding a Ferrari at age 17), frequent first-class travel, designer clothes…you name it. Then he had a fatal heart attack. His wife and children were left homeless and penniless. Everything, and I mean everything, was on tick – houses, cars, furniture…and the money heād borrowed to keep up appearances would make your eyes water. So, yeah, Iām always sceptical when I hear about this sort of stuff.
contract manufacturing, which Kylie does, can be done in two ways. 1. You use the ārecipesā that the manufacturing business has developed over a number of years. 2. You bring your formulations for them to manufacture. Either way you must order a minimum volume and the take responsibility for selling them (which is the difficult bit.) The cost of manufacturing the product is no different to the cost associated with producing any product – from fruit and veg through to computers – within every product based business on the planet. Very few businesses own the company that manufactures their products.
“It says that itās a valuation on paper taking into account projected future sales.” – That’s one of the standard ways of valuing companies as projected future sales is a big part of the formula sales price when negotiating sale of a company. Forbes uses like 2 or 3 years. That’s conservative.
Colourpop makes her lip kits. Itās all over the internet but no mainstream media picks up on it. The exact same ingredients are used, and they are not that good if you put that against colourpop. She stole the idea from kaerruche Tran, who had the first collaboration with them. They are no longer friends.
Actually Seed Beauty makes her cosmetics, and they also have contracts with Colorpop, Kim Kardashian and others. They were founded to formulate and produce make up with a short turn around time to capitalize on trends, the fast fashion equivalent in beauty. So it’s not one or the other…Seed is looking for all the lucrative partnerships they can find.
It’s not a licensee relationship or an endorsement. Kylie owns her company outright. *But* no one knows how much she pays Seed for manufacturing, packaging and consulting on her business plan.
It’s a shame all this wealth doesn’t seem to be employing a lot of people?!
Kylie is like 3x wealthier than Kim, and way ahead of Kourtney, Khloe and Kendall who have 20-40 million each. So it’s not like $ is all shared evenly in some collective money making machine. It’s each sister, launched from the shared platform of the show, out for herself with different business partnerships and endorsements. Steered by Kris. I really don’t understand why Kylie caught fire, she seems like the silliest of them all sometimes…but from the point of converting fame into dollars, she is the most successful.
Being a billionaire is not something to be celebrated, in my eyes. That means hoarding money and resources in a world where so many people have nothing.
I hope you have just enough to eat lunch today and you give the rest of your money to those who have nothing.
Good on you for immediately trying to shut that conversation down. We need more celebration of capitalists!
Great example too because no one ever NEEDS more than for food on one day because nothing else costs money.
I’m with you girl. Its so easy to point the finger at others when we are literally in the top 10% of the wealthiest no matter how poor we think we are.
Right…. because a billionaire and someone making 30k pre-tax trying to get by in America are exactly the same scenario.
@velourazure
Ok so we can compare 1 billion to 30,000 on a scale of 2,208 billionaires in the world but we can’t compare the majority of 1st world people who make at least 30,000 against the vast majority of the world’s population that make literal peanuts per day doing back breaking labour?
The change starts with you, don’t pass the buck unless that’s what you’re literally doing.
‘The change starts with you’
BS. Some issues like tackling climate change and inequality require mass mobilization. If I decide to ride to work instead of drive that isn’t going to do squat to lower carbon emissions.
We don’t know how much she donates to charity. I agree that no one person should have that much money, but I’d like to think Kylie and other wealthy celebrities give back privately.
Flint still doesn’t have clean water.
That family “donates” to PMK’s “church”. Again, let’s see those tax returns.
Yes to seeing tax returns because even if they “donate” to charity, the big trend amongst the billionaire set are Donor Advised Funds where they receive huge tax breaks but there is no requirement that the money actually be distributed to charities.
https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2019/2/4/zombie-philanthropy-what-i-learned-about-donor-advised-funds-as-a-foundation-insider
With Kris Jenner’s stable, I would guess they might make charitable donations to their own charity (with them on the board…) if it’s beneficial for tax purposes but not beyond that point. Kim’s behavior on ebay, for example, is rather stingy – she uses the minimum percentage of her sales earmarked for charity (often selling stuff she got free) to qualify as charitable by ebay’s rules, since that category is beneficial for her fees and marketing.
Kim on eBay is what I remember, but I’ve heard other things periodically about the rest of them and charity donations which seem a bit on the shady side.
There are rich people who do give way beyond the tax deductible amounts to charity, but I would be surprised if the Kardashian/Jenner crew is one of them. They also have ripped off too many lower income people with schemes like that prepaid credit card with outrageous terms (which attracted the attention of authorities, it was so nuts). With the exception of Kris, they may be mostly just clueless and selfish rather than deliberately malicious. They just haven’t been raised otherwise.
Yes Kit! And Ifeoma the idea that existing in a transactional society that requires consumption to live means one can not criticize ott capitalism is a tired trope that needs to die.
Thank you, Kit.
Oh shit, you said it. Be prepared for loads of strawman’s arguments about your own financial contributions from people who actually have no concept of how much a billion dollars really is.
I do relate to Kit’s post and also Ifeoma response. I’m so critical of people who don’t do what they can to help in the refugee crisis but I also have a large bedroom over the garage that could easily and cheaply be converted to add more amenities, and I can thus easily host a refugee or small family. But I don’t, and I don’t really want to. I make excuses like “I live too far out of town, how would they get anywhere?” And I feel guilty and hypocritical because I know I’m not going to do it.
No, you do not relate because most of us cannot legitimately conceive of that worth. A family in your house is utilizing your resources to an extent that would impact available income in ways that are not approximate to anything a billionaire would suffer.
You have an extra room, eh? A billionaire could house every homeless family in America and still have money left. Jeff Bezos alone could literally solve world poverty and STILL have billions left over. Thatās the difference weāre talking about. (The other difference is that youāre likely paying your fair share of taxes and not hoarding it in offshore accounts.)
honestly, while I wouldn’t consider her entirely self made for sure, her products are really good. at least the lip kits. I have a ton and love them all. they really do last, the colors are great, etc.
and for anyone who claims that colour-pop sells the same thing for $7, that’s not true at all. that stuff does not stay on. I can eat and drink in Kylie’s matte stuff and it barely fades for hours. š(I’ve heard Kat Von D’s is good too but I don’t really want to support her and her crazy theories.)
Colourpop is okay, especially for the price, but the thing that makes Kylie’s line really special is that she sells actual kits so the liners match the lipsticks. Colourpop doesn’t do that. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve struggled to find the right liner to match my lipstick, only to find that it doesn’t go together at all. I haven’t see her eyeshadow palettes in person, but the burgundy one was pretty. Only negative is that the lipsticks are a little drying, but that is kind of just the situation when something has the extreme staying power her lipsticks do.
They can get a little drying, but I just slather on a bunch of chapstick and then do the liner and lipstick, and that seems to work quite well. I’m also a lip chewer and my lips are constantly dry anyway, so part of the problem is me haha.
I bought the Colourpop ones after the Kylie ones because everyone kept telling me they were the same, and I rarely wear the Colourpop ones because they are a pretty significant difference to me. I haven’t used any of Kylie’s products aside from the lip kits, though.
Except she’s not though.
Exactly. A billion dollars in accrued sales or a paper valuation of a privately held company does not make a person a billionaire.
Dear Forbes, “self-made” does not mean what you seem to think it means.
Well they do clarify and define the way they are using āself-madeā – someone who hasnāt inherited their business and/or wealth that pushes them into the 10figure wealth bracket. And by that definition – whether we agree with the definition or not – Kylie fits.
Tbh I donāt mind it so much now that theyāve clearly explained how they are using the term, and I kind of like that thereās a woman at the top of the pile.
They can choose to define it in whatever twisted way they want, doesn’t make it true.
They define it as it is because it allows them to put Kylie on another cover and get us all talking about Forbes again.
The woman at the top of the pile is Kris, not Kylie. But Kylie herself doesn’t seem to realize that.
Kylie, Kendall, Khloe, and Kim simply do not have the smarts or the skills to handle their businesses and would flounder if Kris dropped dead tomorrow. Kourtney seems more self-sufficient and could probably handle her own endeavors. But she couldn’t substitute for Kris for the others. Even Kim, who has been driven since her teens by a thirst to be famous (with vague notions about what exactly to be famous for), is very dependent on Kris.
Self Made is a neoliberal term anyway. No one is self made. Even a republican like Arnold will tell you.
Kylie certainly wouldnt be there without the money and fame of her family.
I mean, she only started with multimillionaires parents (one who is an Olympic gold medalist), appearances in her family’s reality TV show since she was a child and a momager willing to sell all her daughters for a hefty sum, isn’t that your typical “from rags to riches” storyline?
Just like the “billionaire” who started with a small loan from his father: totally self-made
I would be interested in hearing from the actual people behind this, the designers, beauty people, business consultants and those in the lab. It would be interesting to learn what they do at all stages to develop a brand.
The brand was almost established already though. If she worked with the exact same people withouth the gigantic platform she has because of the Kardashians it would be not as succesful.
Theyāre the ones who created the products, not Kylie. She and her mother just put her name on it.
Kylie never seems happy. Maybe one day she can take her money and leave her mother in the dust.
In general I cant stand the Kardashians but you cant deny they have hustle.
This. Say what you will about them having to talent/skill – but Kris, at least, is one hell of a manager.
+1, one hell of a momager lol
100% the momager and the hustle is real.
I’m pleased for Kylie and Kris
I hate to say this, but I actually do think they work hard. They pick projects that fit their lifestyle and interests and run with it, and it really seems to work.
Their Mom, and the people who actually put these projects together work hard. The rest of the K Klan know enough to show up on time and do what their told. Without their Mom they would be nothing and they know it so they do what she says. If that’s your definition of working hard then ok. My best friend who is running her own business worked a full time professional job, and her business to get her finances to a point where she could leave her full time job. THAT is what I consider working hard.
They really don’t strike me as hard working, not even Kim. They keep reasonably busy under their mother’s direction. Khloe is especially maddening, because she keeps wasting opportunities by not getting the skills needed to actually do the stuff that drops in her lap. Kendall is like that also, she doesn’t seem to have grown as a model despite all her opportunities. They all seem to think that they just have to be themselves and not grow in any way, and that will always be sufficient.
They’ve built 80% of their brand by APPROPRIATING black culture. It’s not hustle, it’s theft.
Thatās the real thing that irks my soul about all of this. For decadessssssssssss minorities were looked down upon and treated as ghetto for having the same exact features and stylistic choices naturally. But all of a sudden when itās placed on a fake copy who is white itās fashion and hustle?Āæ People really are terrible
Who woulda thought Kim Kardashian’s little sister would become the youngest billionaire in the world, what a time to be alive!
honestly tho I do respect her for this
I donāt. She allowed her name to be used. I doubt she did any work to develop the product. She probably didnāt even decide which company would use her nameāshe has consultants associated with her family who say ādo thisā.
Well, her name was used successfully. I respect her for that. Many other celebrities with even bigger names haven’t been able to capture value.
@ifeoma, maybe other celebs don’t want to use their names to “capture value”. It’s the Kardashian way of doing things and is not for everyone.
Kim must be pissed she isn’t a billionaire and Kylie, young and plastic Kylie, is. Well, it makes Jordyn even more stupid to lose this friend.
Sticking with the Kardashian/Jenner Krew doesn’t seem like a route to career growth to me. If Jordyn has the talent and the willingness to grow and learn, she will do better without them. Hanging out with the Krew seems like a career killer, actually. They seem like such a dull lot. They use people but don’t inspire them to grow.
So glad the Smith-Pinkett powerhouse backed her up big time. That was probably unexpected by the Krew.
It really bothers me. More than I want to admit. I am happy the youngest billionaire bow is a female but also…it will go down in history as someone who made billions off of cultivating the vanity of her family, looking plastic and being narcissistic…. such an example for young girls.
And what bothers me even more, is that not the sharpest tool on the box that Kylie is, with zero interest in the real world is someone who has such a large following. If I was to buy beauty products, Kylie a.k.a.my original face was replaced by plastic, is the last person I would beauty/make up tips from. well, I guess I am old.
It’s a sad reflection of our times and our priorities
ITA. It’s weird seeing this story paired with the other one painting her as an insecure adolescent.
It’s a fortune made off of telling young, vulnerable women that they’re inadequate in their own skin and with their natural looks. I already disagree with hoarding millions upon millions of dollars, but it’s especially disturbing that her and her sisters’ money was made in such an exploitative way.
Sorry, no.
She’s incredibly fortunate to have been born into an already wealthy family with name recognition thanks to her sister’s pee tape and her mother’s fame at all costs mindset. If any deserves any bit credit, it is PMK for knowing who to hire to push all this. All Kylie did was be assigned to be the face of it and the only reason she was picked was because her mother finally found her to be profitable after she joined the family tradition of plastic surgery and attention getting. She’s good at playing her mother’s PR game, I’ll give her that.
I mean, she basically admits in the interview that her biggest contribution is social media. That is NOT actual work and it is not the same as being self made. This is such an insult to people who do actual work and create on their own.
thank you. exactly how I feel.
it’s (kinda) like Paris Hilton saying she’s “self-made”. no, hon, you would have what you have if were just some fake blond/blue contact wearing person named Smith. “HILTON” is what got you where you are.
yet another person born on third who thinks they hit a triple.
Please, āself-madeā?? Yeah, no. Made on a pee-tape, a reality show paycheck (that she wouldnāt have if not for her sisterās pee-tape and motherās marketing), and finally āmadeā on licensing her name onto a product for that built-in audience. This girl doesnāt have the education to do much of anything but put plastic in her body and pose.
Like said above, letās see the tax returns/receipts.
jan90067, I agree completely. trading on the name recognition, not the hard work. and no, “marketing”, the way they do it, is NOT hard work.
take a few pics with the product and put them on your IG? That’s like a hour of each day.
Marketing is work, though. There is a whole industry based on marketing and PR and advertising. It’s work. Her using her social media platform to advertise her stuff is actual work, whether we think it’s stupid or not. She may have gotten people interested because she was a Kardashian-Jenner, but she’s increased her following and kept it going for years, and that is work. Even if it’s done with consultants.
Busy Phillips straight up says she makes more money getting paid for Instagram posts than working as an actress, and no one accuses her of not working when she does it.
Self-made, my ass. Letās never forget that she was stealing someone elseās work to promote her tacky lipkits. And Iām just going to say itāliquid lipsticks look good on NO ONE. At least not when you see a person up close, in real life.
I use liquid lipstick for special occasions. It looks amazing. Maybe you should invest in quality products.
I use quality products but nice insinuation there. I dislike something so I must be using cheap stuff, right? Liquid lipstick doesnāt look good on anyone *in my opinion*. Brand or price isnāt going to change that.
I guess I’m curious as to why you think no brand of liquid lipstick looks good on ANYONE. That seems really broad.
You seem to be struggling with concept of personal preference. I do not care for it. I do not like the appearance, especially matte but including any type of opaque or glossy liquid lipstick as well. And while Iām at it, I donāt care for full coverage foundation, contouring, or heavily drawn-in brows. To me, these are not flattering ways of applying makeup and they look like a mask.
I wasn’t struggling with the concept of personal preference. I was asking WHY that was your personal preference. My goodness!
Liquid lipstick does look great, depending on the kind you use I would say its better than regular
Liquid lipstick looks a million times better on me than regular lipstick, especially since it stays. When I use non-liquid lipstick it fades and cracks and looks terrible, no matter what brand I use.
I have a lot of thoughts about Kylie and the Kardashians in general, but I will defend her lipkit products forever because they’ve worked so well for me. Shrug.
What a weird hill to die on. On ANYONE!!! Sure, Jan.
@Alissa I am not trying to pick a fight here but I am genuinely curious about a statement you made upthread (that I cannot reply to for some reason) that you will not buy Kay Von D products because of moral objections to her, but do you not find a problem with the Kardashian-Jenners? They seem to be morally reprehensible to me as well, just for different reasons. I will not purchase from either of them.
Liquid lipstick is the only lipstick that really works for me. And it looks fantabulous on me.
Has anyone ever seen that Baroness von Sketch skit about the successful under 40 and they basically all agreed “have rich parents”
https://www.ifc.com/shows/baroness-von-sketch-show/video-extras/season-03/episode-09/40-under-40
Kylie the billionaire mogul. Kylie effing Jenner, whose life has been seen as her mother wants to be seen as a paid participant in the families “reality” for ten years or so. Well good for her. I wonder what the rich folk who didn’t come from wealth or start as teenagers in a young world with a recognizable name to sell makeup think of this young lady whose face is frozen in the same expression for all of eternity. It gives Kim something to strive for since she said she made them all famous….Ha!
@ Nancy the rich folk you speak of are probably jealous they didn’t think of it! Why do people continue to idolize wealth? As if wealthy doctors, lawyers,CEOs, athletes, etc didn’t ALL get to the top through schemes and manipulations. The talent pool in all fields is large, and those that “make it” aren’t always the best and brightest. They’re the ones who are the most clever and cutthroat. The fact that society continues to bash women in any way for their success shows we still hate women. As of other millionaires and billionaires are such altruistic people who worked so hard.
I honestly don’t get the hate being thrown at Kylie. She built a whole business from social media. She’s not the only “privileged” person in the world. The fact that she did this commands respect whether you believe she’s self-made or not.
@Ifeoma Lying does not command respect. It should never command respect. Kris should have just stuck to the truth on how Kylie earns her money and not create this persona of a self-made billionaire. The problem with the Kardashian-Jenners is that they always have to lie and make everything a stunt.
“built a whole business from social media.”
not at ALL accurate, but OK, if you say so.
Iām content knowing that my profession will net me maybe a million dollars during my lifetime, which is small potatoes in the grand scheme of things.
Iām more content knowing that my work will have impacted a greater number of people and change the course of the relatively few lives Iāve touched but will drastically change the lives of the people THEY touch.
Service, devotion, care, and love is much more important than cash.
Interested in hearing from my peeps about their legacy. And donāt underestimate how well youāve done. Your impact is far greater than you can imagine (and far greater still than Kylie Jennerās).
Lol. Far greater than Kylie? Really? Whatever makes you sleep at night.
Indeed
As much-maligned as they are, teachers have a far greater impact and cast a far-wider net in doing so than celebs.
Wasnāt there an important teacher in your life?
Shame if there wasnāt. Pity really.
Depends on what you want your impact to be. Superficiality is not something I would ever strive for and to me that is what Kylie’s brand is all about.
Eric, I was a 3rd grade teacher. Definitely not a profession to go into to become a billionaire. I DO know I made a difference/impact in my students’ lives, at least from the ones that’ve kept in contact (one is an environmental lawyer, one is doing Doctors W/Out Borders, one is a public defender, another went into teaching). I’ve heard from parents through the years about how I’ve made a difference in their kids’ lives. Will that pay the rent, or fund my retirement? Nope, not monetarily. But it does give me good, warm memories, and the end of the day, I know I’ve done my part to “give back” to the world.
Eric…they really do!! My sixth grade teacher will never know how much he means and meant to me!!! Teachers are a gift ā¤ļø
Eric, I completely agree. Iām not necessarily saving lives in my job, but itās a little more than peddling non-essential, overpriced superficial products.
Quality of oneās life and their legacy is not necessarily gauged by quantity of money.
I taught for 30 years. I could have moved on into the business sector (my major was math and eventually got 2 masters on computer science – one in business and one in education) but was not worth it. I have 3 daughters and being able to be off at the same time they were was more important than all the money in the world. I loved teaching. I still get to use my teaching skills as I umpire softball/baseball, referee soccer and help my grandchildren with their homework. The best moments in teaching were when I would see a student have an “Aha” moment – that moment when they finally understood the concept.
Not to sound entirely rude or out of place but I couldnāt put a face to any of my teachers whatsoever. I remember two teachers that impacted my life and not for the better. Any field whether itās make up or education can change ppls lives forever. What about ppl with scarring on their face and prefer Kylieās makeup to use to cover scars they are insecure about? That can be impactful. To throw out this entire industry cause you donāt admire her doesnāt make you any better than her sorry
For over two decades I have worked as an immigration lawyer. The money is decent, but it is not an area of the law that will necessarily make one rich – especially if one litigates and handles a lot of asylum and refugee cases, as I have.
Although I never sleep a full night (I have heard too many horror stories and this administration is soul-destroying), when I do sleep I can rest easy because many people have achieved their dreams thanks to me. I know my work has saved lives and given people the second chances they and their families deserved.
In my free time I have volunteered to help rescue and rehome Cavalier King Charles Spaniels. I gave many dogs successful second acts in their lives and made lots of families very happy.
I will never make a billion dollars nor run a cosmetics company nor have millions of followers on social media, but I like to think I have made my corner of the earth a bit better.
@bearcatlawyer…is there an organization that you work with for rescuing the Cavaliers? My parents would desperately love to adopt an adult Cavalier. They lost theirs a couple of years ago and would love another but they are retired and puppies arenāt their jam. My brother who is homebound due to chronic illness lost his best and only friend when Bandit died. I would love to be able to send them in the direction of an org that re-homes Cavaliers
@Beckysuz, the three big Cavalier rescue groups are the ACKCS Rescue Trust, Cavalier Rescue USA, and Lucky Star. However, it is not unusual for adoptive families to wait weeks or months for the right dog. I usually suggest that people also contact breeders listed on the two main Cavalier breed club referral lists, http://www.ackcsc.org and http://www.ckcsc.org. Many times breeders are happy to sell adult dogs who are being retired from breeding or showing for far less than a puppy. Good luck!
Not to be that person, but even if Kylie is paying the bare minimum in taxes, she’s funding the salaries of about 10 of you. You have more of a direct impact, but unless you’re working for free, someone has to fund that impact.
99.9% of the comments on here will be hate comments. Why do yāall hate other people success? Anybody who makes it is self made and itās just happen if you got money itās easier š¤·š¾āāļø stop complaining lol
It’s disappointing. We let our sentiments about the family cloud every single thing we hear about them. I’m happy for Kylie, she worked for it and was also very lucky.
We don’t hate her success as much as we want to speak plain truth. Do you think any other 17 year old living at home could come up with the idea for lip kits and then have the resources to put it into motion? Her mother has contacts and business savvy that puts the devil to shame. She used connections and her family name to a) make those contacts, because Kylie wasn’t in the basement experimenting with formulas and b) build a following based on the fact that people already knew who she was.
This is not a rags to riches story. I know a lot of women who are entrepreneurs and sleep 4 hours a night. They HUSTLE and no one is handing them startup cash or a reality show platform.
This is a “riches to more riches” story. Far better than a “riches to drug abuse and eventual bankruptcy” story. You’re hating, sis. Own it.
That Part!
See? Riches to more riches, thus: not self- made.
I agree. Obviously she’s making money and the products are successful, but I just don’t like the “self made” claim.
I believe that the Kardashians are hooked up with the mob in some fashion. I’ve said before that I think the robbery that happened to Kim in Paris was a threat that she and Kanye needed to fall in line. Just look at how they both dance like puppets when Trump needs them–and who is more mob than the Trumps?
She doesn’t own the manufacturing companies that makes her beauty products…she doesn’t own the raw materials that makes the products…she doesn’t own the patents on the makeups she’s pushing….she’s the face of the products while the corporation OWNS everything…that’s a BRANDING contract
Appearance fees…internet sponsorships…branding contracts….THAT’S how she makes her money…and that hasn’t HARDLY approached billionaire status….
The lies…
The disgusting…ridiculous…lies
Agree. Claiming a company is āworthā a certain amount assumes it is sold. Example ā A certain major politician who claims his ābrandā is worth billions.
My guess is that this narrative is pushed by the mother (a/k/a manager/finance person -how convenient).
Give it a few minutes, Lala. You’ll be called a hater for speaking the whole truth. š
Lol. I really don’t enjoy being put in the unfortunate position of having to defend a Kardashian.
Ifeoma and yet, you’re doing it so very aggressively !
OriginalLala, I’m home alone with a minor cold. What can I say?
OriginalLala: ššššš lol. @Ifeoma: Not one drop of Kardashian blood in Kylie Jenner, fyi.
Nancy, are you serious? Kylie is not a Kardashian????? I had no idea. Thanks for the valuable information.
No problem at all Ifeoma. Glad to help you out since I read ur post about not enjoying defending a Kardashian. Feel better now.
Lala 11_7 is COMPLETELY right! Ain’t that the TRUTH!
Truth.
But that doesn’t get headlines, does it?
Exactly. She just needs to be honest about what her actual role in the business is about. But she seems to go along with the idea that she is a business prodigy when she simply isn’t. Her mother is a natural at this stuff, but Kylie just does what she is told. That’s a role, but she needs to be honest about it. Her mother should have been the one on the Forbes cover both times.
@Kaiser ‘yes, the fact that Kylie is now the youngest billionaire ever is disturbing, but alsoā¦ (whispers)ā¦ good for her?’ — this is exactly how I feel too.
Am troubled that this is the way things work nowdays, but then again, it’s one hell of a hustle by her & her mom. Hate the game not the player?
No, actually, we should not be saying “good for her” even in a whisper. Don’t people realise this is the same con job that made Drump the current US president. All PR. He was never a good businessman but he conned the public into thinking he was so – that parlayed into book authorship, a TV career to president. Didn’t Trump say he was a billionaire? The people should be asking for receipts and asking Kylie the nitty gritty of growing a business. Of course, she won’t be able to answer that and no self-respecting investigative journalist would want to waste their time disproving Kris’ press releases. People will not be criticizing Kylie if they were only honest about how she earns her money. Nothing wrong with that. But people need to point out the lies. Remember, Kris sold them as YA authors before (along with the model daughter) – nobody bought it. Now she’s selling Kylie as an astute businesswomen when we all know that it is Kris who is the astute businesswoman. Even she is using her daughter as dummies. Kris is Trump, through her daughters she is building the image of the family as most, bigliest, stablest, richest, business genuises.
Thank you. They really are just vulgar con men.
If sheās self made then so is Ivanka Trump. Yuck.
It is kind of ridiculous for FORBES to say that Kylie is a billionaire because her company is approaching the billion dollars in sales. Like some have said above she doesnāt own or manufacture the formulas. Manufacturing, testing, packaging, shipping, etc., are just some cost in getting the product out there. Then even though she uses social media there is still photos and videos being produced. Then her Moms 10%, then employees and taxes. So while yes she is rich she is not a billionaire. This is not me hating as some above are saying, it is how a business works. My businesses Gross Profit before operating cost is no where near what I actually make in salary and dividends on a personal level.
Good for Kylie. I remember when her older siblings were branching out into modeling and the reality show, she experimented with cooking because it was something she enjoyed. By her own admission she admits her success is due to her huge social media following. People like looking into the lives of those with beauty and youth and she captures that perfectly. My big issue is the valuation – the price someone will pay today at an arms length transaction – which is completely suspect. Itās impossible for her to liquidate her company today for that price. Her company has fewer than 15 employees and her brand is all her. Without hard figures itās all conjecture.
She lied about her lips and got young girls to spend money on those damn lip kits. She later admitted her lips were bigger due to injections. Also, there was already a market for those lip kits…same formula…different name. Since she was already famous it was easy to just slap her name on something and have it sell. How much “work” did she do to actually earn that billion? Her mom was the brains, others did the work. Kylie took selfies and lied. That’s it. I can not respect that. This is more of a right time, right place, right lie scenario.
It’s just appalling people buy their crap.
It’s a great product. Shrug. I stopped being embarrassed about buying her lip kits when I kept getting tons of compliments on my lipstick.
And everyone says that the Colourpop products are the same formula – I can tell you I’ve bought both, and the Colourpop stuff is wayyyy inferior to the Kylie products. It doesn’t last. It comes off easily and smudges. So it’s not the same formula. And that’s probably why it’s only $7 for one.
@Harry G Appalling is right. I look at the products they offer, the amount of product, the price, the fact they offer no returns, and to me itās clear as day that they donāt respect their fans/customers at alllllllllllllllllll. Especially when you start comparison shopping and see all of the other stuff out there thatās the same if not better and what their market price is. All of their product lines are just cash grabs to them.
Exactly. These dumb, vapid young girls who love her. It’s not like she has a degree in chemistry and created her own make up formulas. She doesn’t do anything. It’s all done for her by someone else.
ME – you are totally right. Was just telling my husband (who was wondering how she became a billionaire) about her lip filler scam …
These people are all a scam. And if Drumpf is a “billionaire”, then I put her in the same category.
I forgot about the whole pack of lies about her own lips and fillers. She’s lucky she hasn’t been sued.
If Kris Jennerās ring tone isnāt, EVERDAY IāM HUSTLINā EVERYDAY EVERYDAY EVERDAY IāM HUSTLINā, iāll be very annoyed!!! š I canāt even fathom that much money. Respect the hustle.
On the flip side, I feel bad for Kylie. Itās lonly at the top. You donāt know who to trust, who your friends are, hell its hard to trust family with that kind of money involved. That much money will ruin a life. I hope she lives peacefully. I would never want this level of fame. I donāt want fame at all! I would never want my kids to be famous in any way. Good thing Iām not famous because that life is NOT for me. You canāt even just go for a walk with guards and people taking your picture and freaking out. Nope, nope, nope. I hope Kylie has a great therapist that she has frequent appointments with.
Oh you mean by selling that wonderful lipstick that immediately gives you giant plump lips? Con artists, everyone in this family.
People are so dumb I can’t take it. Dumber and dumber every day.
Was anyone buying it because they actually thought it would give you giant plump lips? If so, that’s really stupid.
yes, because KYLIE TOLD THEM IT WOULD. that was part of all that “marketing” she did that people keep praising her for.
until she admitted that she got fillers and it wasn’t her OMG AMAZING LIP KIT!!!!
I mean look at the alternative, she could have done absolutely nothing with her platform…. like Rob. He has no career or income of his own. Heās tried to start a business with no success. So proof that money & a family name canāt always produce success & fortune. Plus heās actually has a college degree. He never wanted to work for it & it showed.
Aside from Kendall, Kylie is the only one who has not had a spin off, she actually prefers to not be on the show.
I agree she isnāt 100% self made but she definitely did her own thing her way!!! I remember the early days when she was just overlining her lips (we know how long that lasted). Ultimately, thatās how this business grew. She is doing things her way, not Krisās way. If that was the case, a whole season of KUWTK would have been focused on her pregnancy, etc.
She did have a one season spin off called Life of Kylie, though. It does seem like she’s not super invested in either show though, especially since she became pregnant.
All that money and still canāt buy a believable, moveable face. Sheās disgusting.
Her face scares the sh*t out of me. Her mom and Caitlyn Jenner look more natural.
and the (VERY photoshopped) face in the IG “ad” is NOT THE SAME as the face in the pap pics from the red carpet where she’s wearing that David Byrne circa mid-80s type suit. (the dichotomy is not as pronounced as Khloe’s IG pics vs. candid paparazzi shots, but it’s noticeable.)
Kylie messed with her face too early in her life; she’s now going to need constant “maintenance” to just keep up what she looks like now. eventually she’ll look like current-day Janice Dickinson. (google pics if you haven’t seen her lately – yikes.)
She is about as “self made” as Donald Trump and his kids. Give me a f*cking break. Bill Gates and Steve Jobs are self made. This shitty reality star banking off the stupidity of Americans not so much…Its all Kris.
Exactly.
Somewhere in her mansion, Kim is feverishly pacing to steal the spotlight back from her sister. “Should we send Kanye back to the White House”? “Do I release more nude selfies”? “Do we name the next baby Lip Kit”?
Nudes don’t work anymore. Kim will have to put out “Kanye is cheating” rumors or something.
Forbes also said Trump was a billionaire at one time. Trump also claimed to be self made. Neither he or Kylie and evidently forbes seems to understand what that means. Both came from money and connections to help their businesses. Self made is actually starting from scratch but I guess they like the smoke and mirrors and semantics.
It anything the Kardashian/Jenners prove what Elvis and Em and countless others have proven. Steal black culture and put a white face on it and white consumers will buy. Black creators also play their part as they will sell out our culture for nothing because as a collective we can’t seem to love ourselves after all this time.
I am bothered by all of the internalized misogyny that Iāve seen about this. Why the hell arenāt we celebrating the fact that a 21 year old woman has accomplished something like this?! Why the hell does everyone want to minimize her work? Is it because it doesnāt look like what we typically view as work? Seriously, Iām so bothered by this!! Yes, she absolutely had a huge head start to get to this status, but she hasnāt pissed away her opportunity, she turned it into an empire of her own! Why arenāt people this hypercritical of Mark Zuckerberg, who previously held this record? Is it because heās a man? Because he went to Harvard? Do you minimize his empire because he had lots of other people helping him? Where are the feminists? Why wouldnāt you think this is an amazing accomplishment for a young woman with no real education to achieve? Is it jealousy? She captured the cultural zeitgeist. Congratulations Kylie!!! Iām not even a fan of this family AT ALL, but the hate toward her over this is incredible.
Probably because she literally made a billion dollars off of internalized misogyny. Which of course fuels and is the point of the make-up and plastic surgery industry. This isn’t her fault of course and why should she not take advantage of that? It’s not her fault people are idiots who will pay thousands of dollars just so their outer appearance will fit in with the constructed Western standards of “beauty”. But you’re right, she definitely captured the sad, sad, sad cultural zeitgeist we live in. Though I think that’s nothing to celebrate. Just because she was born as a female does not mean she contributed in any meaningful way to anything. Same as Paris Hilton and others.
One of the last industries that should be described as feminist is the beauty industry. It literally runs on telling women we’re inadequate in our natural skin and have to drain our resources to be able to even step outside. Using ‘feminism’ to promote harmful industries, not only beauty but even the military industrial complex does this, is about the worst thing that can happen to our cause. Let’s not conflate a woman doing something with feminism.
And Zuckerberg et al get loads of criticism. Most billionaires, especially the tech ones selling our privacy, do these days.
Being ultra-wealthy has very little to do with feminism or advantaging social gains to womenās benefit as a whole. If anything, billionaires contribute more to the problem through exploitative practices that widen the economic gap, of which minorities and women are more likely to suffer the ills. Thatās faux white feminism if I ever heard it to conflate the two.
Thanks A.Key. People aren’t celebrating or giving a bit of reluctant kudos because she isn’t that special. Even Zuck had to have tech skills and some biz smarts to do what he did with FB – a trailblazing business in the social media space. All Kylie has done is really nothing new (contract out production, focus on marketing and branding) except she promotes on social media (the massive reach through which is something she definitely inherited through her family’s collective infamy so the self-made thing is BS), which 2 trillion other businesses do today to lesser degrees of success. And A.Key’s comments are worth repeating: “Probably because she literally made a billion dollars off of internalized misogyny. Which of course fuels and is the point of the make-up and plastic surgery industry.”
Zuckerberg is hardly self-made, either, though. He comes from a privileged background, went to Harvard and hired people who were able to work for stock options (had enough money saved not to worry about pesky liquid funds for the landlord). These lists are all mostly bullshit. He also did some shady things when getting facebook off the ground.
Zuckerberg and Kylie are basically the same thing, rich kids made richer. They remind me of Denholm Renholm’s “When I started this company I had just two things: a dream, and six million pounds.” If you have to pick who’s the least awful? I’d have to say at least Kylie isn’t as ethically challenged as Zuck.
“These lists are all mostly bullshit.” – Actually, they’re not. They’re estimates but business journalists and the named, professional consultants/analysts they typically interview know what they’re doing. The Forbes lists and figures are widely quoted by more elite publications like Bloomberg precisely because Forbes does do due diligence.
@GotDamn even saying Kylie isn’t ethically challenged as Zuck is dubious – she started of by lying her lips are plumper because of the magic of the lip kits & only admitted to having fillers last year, she (her family) enriches themselves by appropriating black culture. They’re both deeply ethically challenged.
Kim is probably SEETHING. Ever since kylie became remotely as successful as now, Kim has become so envious. You can tell by the way anytime people are talking about Kylie Kim posts some trashy pic on Instagram to get people talking about her again. I bet it kills her that her KKW crap hasnāt taken off like Kylieās and honestly it makes me a little happy??? And I love how Kim will post a thirsty naked pic and it will get half the likes that a clothed picture of kylie will get
You are so right, every word.
She just did a semi-nude leopard print outfit pap walk in France.
Not surprised at all by this. As the recent years have shown, there are literally hundreds of million people out there who are plain stupid. This world is run by stupidity.
Kudos to her for cashing in on it, no hate here.
I am a bit surprised they called her self-made though? I thought you had to start from nothing to be self made? Guess not.
Next they’ll be calling William and Harry self-made princes….
It seems to me that plastic surgery and photoshop are the keys to her success, not the make-up.
Fraud and illusion is what made those girls buy those lipkits. It was all smoke and mirrors. Yes, lots of injections, face tune, fillers, filters, and photoshop.
“No it’s just lip liner I swearrr !!”
OK, first of all, the valuation of a company is not the same as the liquid cash the company has in the bank. It’s usually based on projections, not actuals.
Second, Kylie may not be the sole owner of the company, so it’s not HER money, even if it is her name and face all over it.
Third, Forbes is the magazine that put Donald Trump on their list of richest people, because he literally called them, impersonating his own (fictional) VP of finance “John Barron,” and said he was a billionaire. Forbes isn’t a journalistic magazine, they’re a yearbook for the rich.
The self-madeā term is very inexact ,she have the money to hire people who are qualified to financially manage her business and a famous name to attract investors. But I think they will celebrate the fact that she had the seriousness to maintain her business. (
not like James Middleton who does not take his business seriously)
Hate to say it
But aside from a little Drying her lip kits are great. Matching liner and color, great pigment stays on!
I had an $10 ulta coupon so I bought a kit
Then got a first time shopper $10 off on her site
Now I own four
This is the interesting anecdotal evidence I’m reading everywhere. People are refusing to believe the Forbes estimate but they’re using the same (conservative) valuation approach as they do with any other privately owned business. Apparently her products last/work and people are return customers.
She looks like Michael Jackson
Lol. She is 21 years old and I seriously think she can’t fully move her facial muscles. She will need her billions to try to undo what she’s been doing to herself over the years. She’s 21, geez. I love when people post her before and after pics side by side. Teens and fans need to be reminded this isn’t a natural beauty, she probably needs to be reminded herself.
I was watching some celebrity news show last night and they showed the Kardashian/Jenner family at a roller rink. I really thought the one skating in black was Kim until they showed it was Kylie. She has Kim’s butt now no lie.
me: You probably won’t see this. Years ago on the show, she said Kendall was tall and lanky like a Jenner and she was curvy like a Kardashian. Watch out Kim, she’s coming after you and catching up quick…lol. Kim is Armenian and has a look about her (before surgery more so), that is or was a bit unique. She shouldn’t have messed with it. Kylie is plain old white USA. She can’t change that no matter how hard she tries – but she wants to keep the privileges that come with the look she has so desperately tried and succeeded to change.
Does she really work for the company, though? She posts a few things on social media and may say she prefers this or over that but its seems like everything is managed for her and she just agreed to let a make-up company use her very famous name.
She owns everything. PMK is pretty smart that way. I’ve read the Forbes articles on her and she contracts out certain functions (packaging and manufacturing), not licenses out her name to someone else. I’d believe she’s involved in the actual product development stage as she’s so into makeup. Only a handful of employees for staggering revenue and no manufacturing to worry about / manage. This family is repulsive but who wouldn’t want those returns.
You arenāt āself madeā if you were born in the privileged 1% of the population lmao but props to Kris for being smart
This is a sign of the end of the world. When the globe’s resources are sitting in the control of this emotionally stunted monster, there is no justice.
It won’t last much longer. Our fossil fuel and coal driven consumerist societies were always unsustainable. Enjoy the binge while it lasts.
The world’s youngest selfie made billionaire.
I can’t be bother as long as she pays her taxes and miss me with that ambiguous “fair share” mess. The world doesn’t need individuals with the ability to generate such money off of their names becoming teachers. police officers, etc. We need them to generate the funds so that we can tax them and give out scholarships/salaries to those that can’t.
I’m probably going to get some hate for this rant, but I really don’t care. This pisses me off to no-end. I am a teacher and work so very hard all year long. Even if I get summer off, I am still preparing for next year, spending close to $3000.00 of MY OWN MONEY to help my students and prepare my classroom to meet goals. I am stressed literally every day of the school year because of the horrible things endured. Just last week we had a lock down and a few weeks earlier we had to evacuate the building. My point in this rant is I get take home pay of $25,000,00 year (Once taxes, teacher retirement and insurance are taken out) for working myself to my early grave and this little something-something is a freaking billionaire? ?????????? for doing practically little in comparison???????? There is no, I repeat NO justice in this world.
Have you looked into starting an ecommerce company? I’ve read about teachers making 10X what they usually do by selling LESSON PLANS, for example. Other teachers subscribe to these as it saves them time and if you get, say, 10,000 subscribers for $50 a year, you’ve doubled your salary. Just one example. Opportunities are out there. No need to be a slave to the system but, yes, we need more income equality. Social democratic countries like those in Scandinavia and Northern Europe have high taxes for example.
A toxic plastic product made w slave labor endorsed by a dilletante. Self made billionaire story??
Yeah, if you like her lip kits, use them in moderation. Stick to the natural stuff from health food stores and organic/natural shopping sites = reduce exposure to toxic chemicals.
@Fenix. Thank you. With asbestos found in Claireās makeup, and years Of known carcinogens in cosmetics…doesnāt this BS spin ANNOY?? I mean, the fiscal resources EXIST to heal the world…but the money goes to a young dilletante w plastic surgery??!? For toxic waste?!??? What the holy hell I hate this era of confused vacuity…
Meh. She’s one of the members of that family that annoys me the least. She actually strikes me as kind of sweet, so good for her I guess. With that kind of money, at least she has financial independence to NOT play PMK’s games if she doesn’t want to.
You just know that on some level Zuckerberg is PISSED about this, which makes it all worthwhile IMO.
Good for her is right. If she can make something up that millions of people want to buy and it is as simple and innocent as lip stick, go for it. That is American entrepreneurship. I hope Kylie and PMK are carefully investing and sheltering the money so she and her generations to follow can live a nice life. Not sure how long sheāll be able to keep raking it in so she should squirrel the money away now. Letās be honest she didnāt invent anything, it is the magic of marketing through social media and using her family fame. I imagine there is a fairly specific age group that buys most of her products. Be interesting to see if she can grow with them, branch out, or if her base will slowly move on and her business will fade away. In any case if sheās smart she and Stormi are set for life.
I say good for her & even her mom. She’s always been generous to her friends ie she gifted Jordyn that bmw years ago & loves animals.
I’m not saying she’s perfect but ppl should seperate her from her much more toxic half sisters.
& also ppl should to really get to grips with the fact that the billionaire facebook guy got rich by showing abuse & beheading videos on the site & Kylie’s happily a world away from that.
Umm, no the billionaire facebook guy did not get rich by showing abuse & beheading videos – you can see these all over the internet, before – even on youtube. This is an exaggeration. Facebook got popular because it provided ordinary people a platform to present images of themselves they wanted to present the world, regardless of the truth. Thereby encouraging materialism, vacuity, etc. Is Kylie really happily a world away from that? It doesn’t seem so. In fact, they’re very similar. Morever, she got rich based on lies and appropriating black culture, and this is no exaggeration.
Itās clear even from the anecdotal
Evidence on this thread that she sells a quality product at a price people are willing to pay. Regardless of how she received her fame, this business is very successful. The Kās have had many businesses over the years and none of them hit like this one did. The truth is Kris should have been on the Forbes cover. Most people probably couldnāt exploit their daughters they way she does but there is no denying she is an effective manager.