Kylie Jenner a self-made woman? Forbes honor has commenters buzzing
“I am very proud to say my wallet had nothing to do with this.”
“America picks some strange role models.”
We need to talk about Kylie Jenner — child of the Kardashian–Jenner clan, social media influencer, reality TV show star, and … inarguably triumphant businesswoman? Just this week, business magazine Forbes featured her on its list of America’s Richest Self-Made Women, commending its youngest honoree for the $800 million valuation of her company, Kylie Cosmetics, after only three years of operation.
A post shared by Kylie (@kyliejenner) on Jul 11, 2018 at 7:00am PDT
Forbes said Jenner, 20, is now on track to become the “youngest self-made billionaire” in history cashing checks from her beauty line, television appearances, Puma campaigns, and other endorsement deals. For comparison: Mark Zuckerberg became a billionaire at age 23, Snapchat’s Evan Spiegel got there in his early 20s, and the rest of the Kardashian crew hasn’t come close to that particular milestone.
A post shared by Kylie (@kyliejenner) on May 30, 2018 at 10:16am PDT
Many Yahoo commenters have taken issue with Forbes’ classification: “Self made is a bit of a stretch,” one reader commented on Yahoo Entertainment’s original article. “She was born into a rich, famous, well-connected family… Just being born a Jenner had her halfway there already.”
“When I think of ‘self-made’ I think of people like Steve Jobs, Oprah Winfrey, Floyd Mayweather and J.K. Rowling to name a few,” one commenter wrote. “I don’t think she’s part of that club.”
That sentiment was echoed across social media.
Calling Kylie Jenner self-made without acknowledging anywhere the incredible headstart she had is what allows people to turn around and look at poor people and ask them why they haven’t become billionaires yet. Her story is not inspiring or motivating for anyone https://t.co/YMnTSzHlKP
— Lola (@lola_adewuya) July 11, 2018
But others online defended Kylie’s hard work and success: “Did she have an advantage because of family name?” one commenter asked. “Yes she did. But I can name countless kids from rich celebrities’ families who have done nothing with their lives.”
For several readers, the influencer’s head start didn’t detract from her incredible feat: “The fact that she is worth over $900 million is an absolutely incredible accomplishment for someone who never went to college. She has my total respect!”
On Twitter, Kylie fans were really just proud of their girl.
She’s made more money than her mom and her sisters in like three years, and they’ve been in the business for MUCH longer. That is definitely inspiring and enormously successful. She had a head start & that should be acknowledged, but her success is still amazing
— Starbeam Night (@StarbeamNight) July 12, 2018
What do you think?
Let us know in the comments.
Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:
Kylie Jenner removed her lip fillers. Here’s how it may impact her young fans
Khloé Kardashian defends standing by Tristan Thompson after cheating scandal
Kylie Jenner shuts down paternity rumors in new Instagram photo with Travis Scott
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