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 list of the World’s Billionaires 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—and paychecks from reality television and endorsement deals, and a number of smaller investments.
She cashed in on that ownership last year when she sold 20% of KKW Beauty to cosmetics conglomerate Coty for $200 million, a deal that valued the company at $1 billion. While Forbes estimates that figure is a little bloated—Coty, which also bought 51% of Kylie Cosmetics in 2020, is known for overpaying—her remaining 72% stake is still worth about $500 million, by our count. Kardashian West owns a majority stake in closely-held Skims, which hasn’t disclosed its revenues. Forbes estimates her Skims stake is worth a conservative $225 million.
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Kim Kardashian West has officially reached billionaire status with a net worth of $1 billion. Her financial ascent is driven by her strategic transition from a reality star to a business mogul, leveraging her massive social media presence to build a diversified empire centered on beauty, shapewear, and smart investments.
After many years of making Forbes' highest-paid celebrity list, Kim Kardashian West is officially
a billionaire this year. She made the Forbes billionaires list with a net worth of $1 billion.
Kim Kardashian West's name first appeared in the pages of Forbes in 2011,
and at the time it was just a simple tally of her Twitter followers. Five years later,
she graced the cover of Forbes thanks to her booming mobile game business,
which helped her earn $51 million that year. The first time she appeared on a Forbes self-made
women list was in 2018 with a net worth of $350 million. Five years after gracing the cover,
she's officially joining the world's billionaires list. The biggest assets in her empire are her
two lucrative businesses, KKW Beauty and Skims. Kardashian West founded KKW Beauty in 2017,
following the success of her half-sister Kylie Jenner's Kylie Cosmetics. She borrowed from
Kylie's playbook using a similar direct-to-consumer model that relied heavily on social media
marketing. Her first launch, which was 300,000 contour kits, sold out within two hours. By 2018,
just a year later, her business had expanded into eyeshadows, concealers, lipsticks, and fragrances,
and was bringing in about $100 million in revenue. She cashed in on her ownership of KKW Beauty last
year when she sold 20% of the business to a beauty conglomerate, Coty, for $200 million
in a deal that valued the company at $1 billion. Forbes estimates that figure is a little bloated,
and that her remaining 72% stake is worth about $500 million.
There's also Skims. The shapewear line Kardashian West launched in 2019.
She raised money from fashion industry insiders like Net-a-Porter's Natalie Masson and Theory's
Andrew Rosen and capitalized off of her massive social media following to shill the brand. The
fast-growing company has been quick on its feet. During the pandemic, consumers became more
interested in comfy clothes for the couch than smoothing their stomachs under evening gowns,
and she swiftly started turning the company's focus to loungewear. It's her stake in Skims
that pushed her over the threshold to become a billionaire and what may cost her net worth to
continue to grow in the coming years. The rest of Kardashian West's fortune sits in cash and
investments, including real estate. Every year since 2012, Kardashian West has earned at least
$10 million pre-tax by Forbes' count, and some years it's much more. Those paychecks come from
keeping up with the Kardashians, endorsement deals, and endeavors like her mobile game or
the now-defunct Kimoji app. She's also got three properties in Calabasas and a portfolio of blue
chip investments, including shares of Disney, Amazon, Netflix, and Adidas that her soon-to-be
ex-husband Kanye West gifted her for Christmas in 2017. As she tweeted herself the day she
made the cover of Forbes, it's not bad for a girl with no talent.
