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Kylie Jenner Named World’s Youngest Self-Made Billionaire

Summary: Kylie Jenner is expected to become America’s youngest self-made billionaire.

At the age of 20, Kylie Jenner landed the cover of Forbes Magazine, who declared she’s projected to be America’s youngest self-made billionaire by her 21st birthday.

The half-sister of Kim Kardashian is famous for her plump lips, and she parlayed that notoriety into a successful makeup line.

“What her half-sister Kim Kardashian West did for booty, Jenner has done for full lips. Like Kardashian West, she has leveraged her assets to gain both fame and money. But while her sister is best-known for the former, Jenner has proved adept at the latter. In historic fashion,” Forbes said.

Forbes put Jenner on the cover of its richest self-made women issue. The issue includes 60 self-made entrepreneurs, and it said that Jenner is expected to reach billionaire status in a few months thanks to her cosmetics line, Kylie Cosmetics.

“Jenner runs one of the hottest makeup companies ever. Kylie Cosmetics launched two years ago with a $29 “lip kit” consisting of a matching set of lipstick and lip liner, and has sold more than $630 million worth of makeup since, including an estimated $330 million in 2017. Even using a conservative multiple, and applying our standard 20% discount, Forbes values her company, which has since added other cosmetics like eye shadow and concealer, at nearly $800 million. Jenner owns 100% of it,” Forbes said.

Kylie Cosmetics’ money adds to the millions that Jenner already accumulated from endorsements and her TV show, Keeping Up with the Kardashians. Forbes estimates Jenner is worth $900 million. Her older half-sister Kim is worth $350 million in comparison.

If Jenner becomes a billionaire at 21, she will become the youngest self-made billionaire in American history. Mark Zuckerberg, for instance, became a billionaire thanks to Facebook at the age of 23.

Jenner with her impressive wealth was still only 23rd on Forbes’ list. She had accumulated her current $900 million fortune in three years, and she credits social media for her success.

“Social media is an amazing platform,” Jenner said. “I have such easy access to my fans and my customers.”

Jenner posts on social media almost hourly, showing off her cosmetics. She has almost 110 million followers on Instagram and millions more on Snapchat. Jenner is so powerful online that she once tweeted a dismissive remark about Snapchat and the company lost a percentage of its valuation that day. She later apologized.

Jenner is the youngest daughter of Kris Jenner and Caitlyn Jenner. She grew up on camera thanks to her family’s reality show, and her mother Kris helped her launch her fame into lucrative modeling contracts which later led to the makeup line.

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Teresa Lo: