How a reality TV star made a $1.7 billion fortune

• According to Forbes, Kim Kardashian’s net worth is estimated at $1.7 billion.
• She makes most of her money from shapewear and clothing brand Skims.
• She has built several successful businesses after becoming widely known through reality television.

Over the course of her career, Kim Kardashian has used her reality TV fame to become one of the most successful businesswomen in the world, earning a fortune estimated at $1.7 billion, according to Forbes.

The Kardashian family first gained fame when her father, Robert Kardashian Sr., worked as OJ Simpson’s lawyer in the 1990s. In her youth she later worked stylist Brandy Norwood in the early 2000s, later working her friend Paris Hilton’s assistant and periodically appear on Hilton’s show “The Simple Life”. Eventually, Kardashian and her two sisters, Khloe and Kourtney, opened their clothing boutique, DASH, in Calabasas, California, and later opened stores in SoHo in New York City and Miami, Florida.

However, the biggest turning point in Kardashian’s career was the launch of her family’s reality show in 2007, Keeping Up with the Kardashians. The show catapulted Kardashian and her family to a level of fame that eventually led to her current status as a billionaire and cultural icon.

Forbes estimates that Kardashian is worth $1.7 billion, the lion’s share of which comes from her stake in her shapewear brand, Skims.

As of July 2023, Skims was worth $4 billion.

Kardashian launched her shapewear and clothing brand Skims changed its name from its original name “Kimono” in 2019 after accusations of cultural appropriation. The brand’s shapewear line featured unique silhouettes such as asymmetrical short it can be worn with clothes with a thigh slip.

Since then, the scope of the brand’s activities extended past shapewear to other items such as loungewear and basics. According to The New York Times, as of July, shapewear no longer made up the majority of its sales—and the company plans to begin selling men’s clothing in the fall.

In July, The New York Times reported that Skims had raised $270 million in a new funding round, raising its valuation to $4 billion. In 2022, the brand was valued at $3.2 million.

Kardashian’s business partner and Skims chief executive Jens Grede told the Times that the company is profitable and said he hopes to eventually take the company public.

Forbes calculated that Kardashian owns at least one-third of Skims, meaning this roughly $270 million funding round increased her net worth by about $500 million.

Kardashian has also made money from her family’s various reality shows.

Keeping Up with the Kardashians ran for 20 seasons from 2007 to 2021. In 2017 Hollywood Reporter cited anonymous industry sources who claimed Jenner and her daughters were paid $4.3 million annually for Keeping Up with the Kardashians, with Jenner taking a cut of her children’s earnings as their “momager.” That same year, the family renewed their contract with E! on the show until 2020, said an anonymous insider Diversity at that time, the deal was worth “less than $100 million.” (A rep for E! declined to comment on the terms of the deal when contacted by Variety.)

The family eventually moved their reality TV operations to Hulu, launching Keeping Up with the Kardashians in March 2022. Khloe Kardashian told Variety that all family members will receive the same salary for the series, saying they are “all equal.” Diversity reportedThe family’s Hulu deal was worth nine figures, citing anonymous insiders.

Kardashian launched KKW Beauty in 2017, later shutting it down and launching a skincare line.

In 2017, Kardashian launched her own cosmetics line, KKW Beauty, with a range of contouring kits. People reported.

In June 2020, a cosmetics company Coty has agreed to acquire a 20% stake in KKW for $200 million, valuing the company at $1 billion, The Financial Times reported this..

Then, in 2021, Kardashian announced that KKW would be closing to launch an entirely new brand. People reported. She launched SKKN Kimskincare line, whose full collection of nine products retailed for $575 when it launched in June 2022.

Kardashian entered the world of investing in 2022

In September 2022 Kardashian announced she was launching a private investment company called SKKY alongside Jay Sammons, with her mother Kris Jenner listed as a partner.

According to Press releaseThe company planned to invest in “consumer products, digital and e-commerce, consumer media and entertainment, hospitality and luxury.”

While Kardashian and Sammons declined to tell Fortune the amount, the publication reported that SKKY hopes to raise $1 billion to invest in the business.

Kardashian’s mobile game was also a huge success.

Kim Kardashian: Hollywood, a mobile game starring Kardashian that allows players to follow the celebrity’s career, launched in June 2014. In July 2016 Forbes cover storyThe publication reported that the game was downloaded 45 million times, generating $160 million in revenue, while Kardashian earned approximately $45 million.

Kardashian also had a line of her own emojis.

In late 2015, Kardashian launched Kimoji, an app that gave users access to hundreds of Kim Kardashian-themed emoji. The app, which Fortune reported costing $1.99 in 2016, was ranked No. 1 on Apple’s App Store list of paid apps in February 2016. The app was also one of Apple’s top 50 highest-grossing apps at the time, according to Fortune.

In 2019, the app’s developer sued Kardashian for $300 million, accusing her of depriving him of profits, The Washington Post reported. Kardashian won her lawsuit in 2020, according to Fortune.

Kardashian also owns numerous properties.

Kardashian’s first home purchase was a Beverly Grove apartment in Los Angeles in 2005, which she eventually sold for $885,000 in 2010. According to Architectural Digest.

Following her divorce from ex-husband Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, Kardashian purchased her share of their Hidden Hills home for $23 million in 2021. People reported. The former couple purchased the Bel Air mansion for $9 million in 2013 before selling it for $17.8 million in 2017, according to Architectural Digest.

Kardashian also purchased Cindy Crawford’s former Malibu home for $70.4 million in 2022. Architectural Digest reports this.

Vogue February 2022 cover story. reported that Kardashian had two more real estate projects in the works: architect Tadao Ando built her a house in Palm Springs, and architect Kengo Kuma designed her a glass and wood lake house.

Kardashian has a car collection that is worth millions

Photos published TMZ in April 2023, a row of identical gray cars will be shown outside Kardashian’s Hidden Hills home, with the publication estimating their value at approximately $2 million. Kardashian previously showed off some of her favorite cars in a 2022 Vogue interview.

All of Kardashian’s cars are gray to match her home, Kardashian said in an interview with Vogue. In the video, she showed off her Lamborghini Urus Mansory, Rolls-Royce Ghost and her favorite Maybach sedan.

Kardashian also has many other sources of income, from paid Instagram posts to a thriving acting career.

In 2019, Kardashian said at The New York Times DealBook conference (via CNBC) that she acts cautiously when making paid posts on social media – and sometimes weighs them based on how much she has spent or expects to spend at the moment. She also said at the conference that she would sometimes take on paid positions when she knew she could use the proceeds to pay legal fees for people behind bars.

Kardashian also took on many acting projects over the years, for example, voice acting in the films “Paw Patrol”. She also appears in American Horror Story: Delicate. along with Emma Roberts and Cara Delevingne.