Kylie Jenner, 21, the young lass who’s part of the love-to-hate Kardashian-Jenner clan and founder of cult beauty company Kylie Cosmetics, has just been named the youngest “self-made” billionaire (with heavy emphasis on the air quotes) by Forbes mag.
Forbes announced on Tuesday that Jenner, 21, had beaten Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who was 23 when he reached the billion dollar figure.
Jenner told Forbes: “I didn’t expect anything. I did not foresee the future.
“But (the recognition) feels really good. That’s a nice pat on the back”.
Jenner, the youngest member of the Kardashian-Jenner clan, founded Kylie Cosmetics in 2015, which Forbes estimates is worth over $US900 million.
Having over 128M Instagram followers can’t hurt, either, with even Jenner conceding: “It’s the power of social media”.
Jenner, who also has a one-year-old daughter, owns 100 per cent of the company.
She also earns an income from brand endorsements and appearances on Keeping Up with the Kardashians.
Social media users were up in arms when Forbes first reported last year that Jenner was on track to become the youngest “self-made” billionaire.
People argued whether her success truly was self-made or a nice byproduct of being born into a family that was already famous and wealthy.
It appears the debate still isn’t over, with the social media backlashing continuing following Forbes’ announcement.
“Haven’t we gone over this? Self-made: having succeeded in life unaided,” tweeted the official Dictionary.com account in a viral post.
On their billionaires list, Forbes does differentiate between people who inherited most of their wealth and those who made their fortunes on their own.
Jenner would be in 2057th place whether she was self-made or inherited.
