Forbes has taken heat on Twitter for describing Kylie Jenner’s near-billion-dollar net worth as “self-made” in its cover story Wednesday, featuring the youngest daughter of the reality TV family in “Keeping up with the Kardashians”.
“At 21, she’s set to be the youngest-ever self-made billionaire. Welcome to the era of extreme fame leverage,” the magazine cover reads, accompanying a photo of Jenner wearing a black blazer.
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“In the NFL they got a bunch of old white men owning teams and they got that slave mentality,” James said during the latest episode of his HBO sports series The Shop. “And it’s like, ‘This is my team. You do what the f— I tell y’all to do. Or we get rid of y’all.'”
The magazine estimates Kylie’s net worth to be $900 million, putting her at the top of the wealth rankings of Kardashian-Jenner family. She made her fortune from her company, Kylie Cosmetics, which she owns all of. Its value? About $800 million, according to Harpers Bazaar:
“That’s a lot of lip kits. And when you add that value to her TV money and endorsement deals, (Forbes) estimates she’s ‘conservatively’ worth $900 million.”
But can you ever be self-made if you are born into privilege?
Kris Jenner, the mother of four famous Kardashian siblings, was married to the late Robert Kardashian, one of the defense lawyers for the O.J. Simpson murder trial. Kris has an estimated net worth of approximately $30 million, according to NBC:
“She reportedly took no money from the attorney in their divorce so she could quickly marry (Olympic) athlete Bruce Jenner (now Caitlyn Jenner following a sex change). Not only did she manage Bruce’s career as a motivational speaker, the pair even made a tape together. No, not a sex tape; a workout video.”
One school on Twitter says you can’t be self-made if you’re born into wealth.
“Calling Kylie Jenner a ‘self-made billionaire’ is like claiming you made soup from scratch because you opened a can and reheated it,” self-described policy wonk Gulab Jamun tweeted.
calling kylie jenner a ‘self-made billionaire’ is like claiming you made soup from scratch because you opened a can and reheated it.
— gulab jamun (@PedestrianPoet) July 11, 2018
Another school says “Where’s the respect?”
Your family can give you millions to start a business
But to get $670m in sales from strangers takes some doing
Let's give Kylie Jenner the respect she deserves
— PRINTED PAPER BAGS GUY (@Stevie_Madisha) July 11, 2018
The dictionary may have had the best response to Forbes’ declaring Kylie Jenner a ‘self-made’ billionaire, according to Blavity.
Self-made means having succeeded in life unaided.
Used in a sentence: Forbes says that Kylie Jenner is a self-made woman. https://t.co/sr8Ncd7s5A https://t.co/ehEL7Cf6KV
— Dictionary.com (@Dictionarycom) July 11, 2018
https://twitter.com/HeyUGotBadTits/status/1017077064493617154
It’s not being mad or hating. It’s a bad term. She isn’t self-made by literal definition of the term. pic.twitter.com/IM4dMxEssy
— Randi White (@RandiWhite) July 11, 2018
Donald trump himself ain’t self made his dad gave him 1 million to invest
— Jah (@HtxJah38) July 11, 2018
He’s also not self made because he Lost all that money, defaulted on loans, went bankrupt 6 times and… well, you know the rest.
Want a self made woman who is a billionaire?: pic.twitter.com/gyo2N466Ux
— Randi White (@RandiWhite) July 11, 2018
Honestly, @KrisJenner should be on the cover of Forbes cuz sis works harder than the devil
— Mayukh Majumdar (@themayukhsutra) July 12, 2018
Kylie did it herself guys! With a small loan of a million dollar reality tv show platform.
— AIM (@missaimluv) July 11, 2018
It is not shade to point out that Kylie Jenner isn’t self-made. She grew up in a wealthy, famous family. Her success is commendable but it comes by virtue of her privilege. Words have meanings and it behooves a dictionary to remind us of that. https://t.co/2HzIJbLb8q
— roxane gay (@rgay) July 11, 2018
It’s less about how she got the lips & more about how she got where she is. I encourage women to do whatever they want if it makes them feel better about themselves, but acknowledging her privilege is the point here @Dictionarycom
— Tara Dublin is down with NDP (@taradublinrocks) July 12, 2018
When they say self made, what they mean is billons weren’t inherited from her family…damn just be happy for her, at least for once.
— Kaamil Jones (@kaamiljones) July 11, 2018
The Jenner-Kardashian siblings and parents are all fabulously rich by most people’s standards. Here‘s what each member of the family is worth.