Kim Kardashian joins billionaire club as sister Kylie Jenner drops off Forbes list

Kim Kardashian has added the word “billionaire” to her resume.

On Tuesday the cosmetics and shapewear businesswoman, who launched her career off the reality TV series Keeping Up with The Kardashians, was for the first time included in Forbes magazine’s list of the world’s billionaires.

Forbes estimated that Kardashian, 40, “is now worth $1bn (about R14.5bn), up from $780m in October, thanks to two lucrative businesses — KKW and Skims — as well as cash from reality television and endorsement deals, and a number of smaller investments.”

The Forbes estimate means Kardashian joins her soon-to-be ex-husband Kanye West in the billionaire’s club.

Forbes on Tuesday estimated West’s net worth at $1.8bn (about R26bn), mostly from deals on his Yeezy sneaker and fashion line.

Kardashian filed for divorce from West, 43, in February, citing irreconcilable differences.

Her half sister Kylie Jenner, however, lost her billionaire status, Forbes said. It valued the 23-year-old’s fortune at around $700m (about R1bn), citing a tough year for cosmetic sales during the coronavirus pandemic and what it said were previous overestimates of revenue from Kylie Cosmetics, now 51% owned by Coty Inc.

Kardashian founded KKW Beauty in 2017, promoting and selling the products online and helped by a social media presence that includes about 213 million Instagram followers. She launched the multihued shapewear line Skims in 2019.

Kardashian celebrated on Tuesday by posting a photo of herself in a bikini on a beach  with the caption “Bliss” ,and announcing the launch of the first Skims pop-up shop at a high-end shopping mall in Los Angeles.

Reuters