Say what you like about Kim Kardashian, but her latest Forbes cover and her 42nd placing on its annual celebrity ‘rich list’ proves one thing – if you have a big following then the even bigger big bucks soon follow.
Kardashian’s Forbes cover is emblazoned with the cover line “the new media moguls” and “how anyone with a following can cash in”.
Following her appearance on one of the planet’s most respected finance/business magazines, the reality TV star (facetiously) tweeted “not bad for a girl with no talent”.
According to Forbes‘ celebrity ‘rich list’ (which was won by Taylor Swift who took home $A225 million over the last 12 months), Kardashian, 35, earned $US51 ($A67.6) million in the past 12 months primarily on the back of earnings from her mobile game app titled Kim Kardashian: Hollywood which raked in $A212 million for her and the developers. The app has reportedly been downloaded 45 million times since it was launched in 2014.
The Forbes Top 10 richest celebrities on the planet for 2016 were (all amounts in US dollars)…
- Taylor Swift – $170 million
- One Direction – $110 milliom
- (Author) James Patterson – $95 milliom
- Dr Phil McGaw – $88 million
- Cristiano Ronaldo – $88 million
- (Comic actor) Kevin Hart – $87.5 million
- (Radio and TV personality) Howard Stern – $85 million
- (Tax avoider) Lionel Messi – $81.5 million
- Adele – $80.5 million
- (Talk show host and poltical commentator) Rush Limbaugh – $79 million)
Check out the full Forbes 100 list here.
In February, the Kardashian clan reportedly renewed their reality TV show with E! for another for years for a reported $US100 million.
Even when hubbie Kanye alleged he’d lost $US53 million from his failing clothing business, Kim responded with the tweet, “Sorry I’m late to the party guys I was busy cashing my 80 million video game check & transferring 53 million into our joint account.”
Of the Kim Kardashian: Hollywood app, she told Forbes magazine: “I remember I asked Kanye ‘Should I do this?’ He was like ‘Yes!’ That’s how he got into music because he wanted to do music for video games and wanted to create video games.
“I started spending a lot of time in San Francisco… I realised this is really going to be the next cycle of my career and this is what I want to focus on.
“This is fun for me. Now I’m coming up with Kimojis and the app and all these other ideas. I don’t see myself stopping,” she said.
It’s now safe to say that Kardashian has moved from D-grade reality (and sex tape) star to global A-lister. Proof of her recent Vogue and rather raunchy GQ covers and spreads.
However, Kardashian’s success comes on from an article on B&T last week that most celebrity bloggers and vloggers were often “nobodies who are just in it for the dough”.
The comments by Australian celebrity agent Lauren Miller Cilento, boss of the Harry M Miller Group, who claimed that these “zero people” were damaging to brands.
“These people will promote anything and everything for money. I think people can see through that, there’s no sincerity,” Cilento said. “What’s the thing that fuels the marketing budget? It’s sales and the bottom line. That’s the thing with these influencers and bloggers, what they do isn’t measurable. The brand never knows if there’s a huge spike in return for their investment.”
