When Netizens Slammed Forbes For Designating Kylie Jenner as 'Self-Made' Billionaire

In August 2018, Forbes named Kylie Jenner as the youngest 'self-made billionaire' at the age of 21. Revenue at Kylie Cosmetics increased by 9% to an estimated $360 million in 2017. With that type of growth, Forbes calculated Jenner's company was worth at least $900 million, even using a conservative multiple from the burgeoning makeup market. "At 21, she's set to be the youngest-ever self-made billionaire," the title of the esteemed publication read. However, netizens disagreed with the 'self-made' tag and called out Forbes for featuring a social influencer's generational wealth. 

Dictionary.com tweeted, "Self-made means having succeeded in life unaided. Used in a sentence: Forbes says that Kylie Jenner is a self-made woman," along with the Forbes cover link. An X user wrote, “'Self-made'? Really? It’s easy to become a billionaire when you’re parents are millionaires...It’s called generational wealth + nepotism. Try Oprah Winfrey, who was raised on a small Mississippi farm by her grandmother, for self-made. *whispers Kylie also isn’t a billionaire yet.*" Another critic quipped, "Today, at 21 years old, Kylie Jenner became the youngest self-made billionaire of all time. Today, at 21 years old, I picked mold off a piece of bread, ate it, and then called my mum to ask if it would poison me."

Chiming in a person trolled, "Just saying, if my sister was Kim Kardashian, father Caitlyn (formerly Bruce) Jenner, and Mother Kris Jenner, I’d be a millionaire too." In a similar vein, another echoed, "The lesson here is that if your parents have the connections to shop a reality show that launches when you're 10, so you're famous from childhood, and have very famous siblings, maybe you too can pull yourself up from your bootstraps and start a company valued at billions. #goals." 

As the comments poured in, a critic ridiculed, "...Please. Self-made in my mind means coming from nothing. Not having the aid of your very rich famous family." Forbes soon rectified its mistake when it realized that the Hulu star had lied about her finances. In 2020, Forbes stated, "As the family has spent years trying to convince the cosmetics industry and media sources, including Forbes, Kylie's business is much smaller and less profitable than it is."

“It’s fair to say that everything the Kardashian-Jenner family does is oversized,” Stephanie Wissink, an equity analyst covering consumer products at Jefferies, said. “To stay on-brand, it needs to be bigger than it is.” Forbes charged Jenner with fabricating a “web of lies” to exaggerate the scope and financial size of her cosmetic company. 

As per The Guardian, publicists reported sales of £267 million, but tax records indicated the company's sales were above £243 million in 2016. But according to a Coty presentation to investors, the company only made £101 million in sales in 2018, the magazine said. This was true even though Forbes was "led to believe" it had made £292 million that year. Even after the sale, the esteemed magazine stated that Jenner is not a billionaire and calculated her net worth to be "just under $900m."