How Kylie Jenner Became World’s Youngest Self-made Billionaire

Becoming a billionaire is a journey that takes most people years of hard work, failures, successes and basically a whole lot of experiences that require thick skin for survival. Kylie Jenner however has done it in such a short time considering she just 21 and has been made the youngest self-made billionaire.

The reality star of ‘Keeping up with the Kardashian’s’ and cosmetic queen was named the youngest ever self-made billionaire by Forbes. Her net worth has hit $I billion comings a few months after Forbes featured her on their cover of its richest self-made woman issue. But there is always a group of people who have something different to say. Kylie was criticised and received a backlash yesterday from the story done and most argued that she was already a rich kid since she was born to the legacy of the Kardashians. Forbes however has some light to shed concerning why they felt Kylie deserved the recognition. ‘We define self-made as any person who built her own fortune, and didn’t inherit the money.’ Kylie began her cosmetic business in 2015 by funding the first 15,000 lip kits with her own money made from her modelling gigs.

The journey began with her selling her Kylie Cosmetics products briefly in pip up shops and online and being social media savvy was an added advantage to the growth of her business which hit $900 million. Her lip kits which consisted of a matte liquid lipstick and matching lip liner went for $29. This, she did for a period of three years and in mid- November 2018 she made a visit to a strip mall for the first time. She then signed an exclusive distribution deal with Ulta which launched her into getting her products in Ulta’s 1000 plus stores.

Kylie team of 15 consists of seven full-time and five part time members and still uses social media to do her marketing. She announces product launches, previews new items and announces the Kylie Cosmetics shades she’s wearing directly to her 175 million-plus who followers. Her mother Kris Jenner handles her finances and public relations in exchange for a 10% manager’s fee. This has propelled Kylie to becoming a billionaire faster than even Facebook’s Zuckerberg who was 23 when he made is 10-figure money. “I didn’t expect anything. I did not foresee the future,” says Jenner, who is the youngest billionaire in the world. “But [the recognition] feels really good. That’s a nice pat on the back.” These were Kylie’s sentiments about this matter. She also credits the power of social media that has allowed her do much more using her large following and influence.

Kylie Cosmetics experienced what we can call a booming sale with some stores inventory gone within hours. “It sold out faster than we planned,” admits Tara Simon, Ulta’s senior vice president of merchandising.

Ulta provides access to a wide demographic of America with more than 714 standalone stores. They credit Jenner for her ability to communicate with over 120 million people on snapchat and because of this the retailer hasn’t spent a coin on traditional marketing to launch the brand stores.

“She did well online, but there’s only so far that that can take her.” This statement was said by Shannon Coyne, who is an equity research analyst at BMO Capital Markets. “She probably realized: ‘If I want to get big, I’ve got to scale, and to do that, I need a partner.’ Ultimately, she wants to grow her brand, and she needs this store presence to do that.”

Kylie Cosmetics has without a shadow of doubt grown so fast. It went from ordinary and hit $307 million worth of sales within a single year after its launching. This is even before the brand expanded to accommodate other products like concealer, make up brushes and many more colour combinations in 2018.

There are questions of whether Kylie might give a sale for her products now that she has made good returns on her business. Kylie has dismissed this idea; however, her mother Kris Jenner says it’s an idea they might be willing to explore. At the moment Kylie says she is more interested in expanding her product range to include a setting powder, and bringing. She assures that as more development comes, she will keep her fans posted through her social media pages. And yes, Kylie Jenner is the first selfie-made billionaire. And she is killing it.