Kylie Jenner Named Youngest Self-Made Billionaire For Second Year In A Row

For the second year running, Kylie Jenner has retained the title of the world’s youngest self-made billionaire.

As I weigh up whether I can justify buying the good cereal, here comes Forbes with its annual World’s Billionaire List to make my bank balance feel inadequate.

With a net worth of exactly $1 billion, the 22-year-old Kylie Cosmetics makeup mogul has held her position after entering the rich list back in March 2019 – unseating Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, who made his first 10 digits at the age of 23.

The Kardashian-Jenner sister’s ‘self-made’ status has attracted a degree of controversy, considering the wealthy, reality TV-bolstered background from which she descends.

However, the publication has defended her position, writing: ‘Yes, self-made (despite a lot of help from her famous family, she didn’t inherit her business – she built it). And yes, billionaire (she’s worth $1 billion).’

While acknowledging the privilege of a ‘huge’ platform, Jenner also defended being self-made in an interview with Interview Germany, saying: 

There’s really no other word to use other than self-made because that is the truth. That is the category that I fall under. Although, I am a special case because before I started Kylie Cosmetics, I had a huge platform and lots of fans.

I did not get money from my parents past the age of 15. I used 100% of my own money to start the company, not a dime in my bank account is inherited… and I am very proud of that.

Jenner’s business was immediately promising. Upon launch in 2015, her first lipstick kits sold out within minutes. However, her wealth took a hike last year when she sold a $600 million majority stake of Kylie Cosmetics to beauty giant Coty Inc, and now her brand is now valued at $1.2 billion.

With that deal finalised in January, the cash from the sale and income from her remaining 49% share helped cement her position on the Forbes list. Jenner previously told the publication: I had such a strong reach before I was able to start anything…. 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.’

While she may be the youngest, there are nine other billionaires under the age of 30, including Snapchat co-founder Evan Spiegel, 29, with a net worth of $1.9 billion and Stripe co-founder John Collison, 29, with a net worth of $3.2 billion.

With her billion-strong wealth, Jenner is just ‘one of just 2,095 people in the world with a ten-digit fortune’. Atop the pot of gold sits Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, with a whopping net worth of $113 billion.

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