Images: Annemarieke van Drimmelen for WSJ. Magazine

Kim Kardashian Billionaire

In Spring 2021, Kim Kardashian officially achieved billionaire status on the Forbes list. Unlike her sister Kylie who was dropped by the Forbes list in 2020 over the Trumpian move of inflating her assets, Kim Kardashian’s wealth was estimated by Forbes at about $1 billion, up from $780 million. Forbes estimated values of her stakes in KKW Beauty at $500 million and Skims at $225 million.

Being older and wiser than her younger sister, Kim Kardashian’s sober approach to life and business is well-articulated in her WSJ Magazine November 2021 Brand Innovator 2021 cover story, on newsstands Saturday, November 13th.

KKW poses with her friend, Fendi creative director Kim Jones, celebrating the early November release of Fendi x Skims, the underwear and cozy loungewear label Kardashian launched in 2019.

KKW: WSJ Magazine’s Brand Innovator’s Award

Kardashian West will be honored, along with 7 other cultural groundbreakers at WSJ. Magazine’s Innovator Awards virtual presentation on November 1st at 8:00 PM EST. You can register to watch online at … WSJ. Magazine's 2021 Innovator Awards Virtual Presentation

WSJ Magazine cites Skims alone as being valued at over $1.6 billion, and Kardashian is a majority owner. Kim’s beauty brand KKW is being rebooted but for good reasons and not lack of big-brand potential. Skims Sleep will soon be moving into the inner-lives of American women.

“I want to really launch an entirely new beauty brand,” she says. “I learned so much that I’m excited [to put out] a brand that has all the new information that I know. I feel like it’s going to be my baby, I’ll have my beauty brand and Skims. I can really nourish it and flourish it more if it [were] all condensed into one.”

Frequent WSJ Magazine photographer Annemarieke Van Drimmelen captures KKW for the cover story, styled by Giovanni Dario Laudicina. written by Christina Binkley.

True Grit, Serious Hustle. Major Intelligence and a Micromanaged Life

Achieving a business status that puts Kim Kardashian in a prime spot in WSJ’s annual Innovators Issue takes some serious hustle and intelligence.

Kim Kardashian has both — even if the totally engaged mother of four and supportive soon-to-be ex-wife of Kanye West — has failed some of her recent bar-exam preparation tests. Simply stated, Kar Kardashian powers on with marketing savvy and human connections that are currently too valuable to put a price on them.

“My days are completely micromanaged to the minute,” she says. “In order to get away from the kids, I will go into my office at my house and study. And then working on beauty and rebranding and Skims, constantly, I’m always in fittings and fabric meetings. My days are pretty full…. And that’s it. I love to be home; I love my weekends at home.”

Speaking of home, KKW just paid Kanye West $20 million for their Hidden Hills, LA home and $3 million for the furniture, art and other contents. Kim now owns the house outright.

Kim Kardashian Captains Her Ship with a Steady Hand

People can heap all the hate they want on Kim Kardashian. She is a superb businesswoman, and Kardashian knows it. There’s nothing wrong with self-confidence, sincerity and an earnest approach to living.

In contrast to how the public imagines the life of Kim Kardashian West, her closest humans describe her as a non-partier and a low-grade control freak. By her own admission, she is a workaholic who reads sales numbers in bed late at night.

“I have never liked drunk people,” Kardashian West says. “I never like to be out of control. I never like to not know what’s going on.” (“I didn’t go [away] to college because of [the partying],” she says.)

Kim Kardashian: Someday Matriarch

She now weighs in on most of the family’s deals jointly with Kris Jenner. “If there’s a deal, it’s always my mom, me and our attorney talking it over,” Kardashian West says.

The expectation is that Kim Kardashian will take over the reins, when Kris, 66, one day retires. “We’ve talked about it. I would assemble a team of people to take over,” Kardashian West says. “I hope it doesn’t happen for a really long time, because I’m really busy.”

The possibility that KKW will lead a Kardashian-Jenner conglomerate empire built around the fashion, cosmetic, liquor and media enterprises that her family has launched over the past decade is a real one.

WWJ Magazine references the fact that the rebound fortunes of Victoria’s Secret; the pulsating growth of Rihanna’s Savage x Fenty lingerie [with indirect backing from LVMH] and now Skims soaring puts a lot of pressure on the already-stressed VS. There’s no doubt that both Rihanna and Kim Kardashian know how to play hardball, even if they do it grace and a smile on their faces.

Kate Moss modeled in recent Skims campaign images. A special Skims pop-up opened in Paris in time for Paris Fashion Week this September at the famous Galeries Lafayette department store. Skims is sold by retailers such as Nordstrom, Ssense and Net-a-Porter. “The inclusive sizing, sharp price point and comfort are just a few reasons why the brand has been so successful,” says Lea Cranfield, Net-a-Porter’s chief buying and merchandising officer, by email.

Rihanna hasn’t weighed in on this trifecta undergarments competition, but KKW reminds us that her grandmother only retired in her early 80s. “I think I’ll always feel good when I’m working,” Kardashian predicts.

“I don’t see me floating on a yacht.”

In fact, Kim Kardashian’s life plan has her as a member of the California bar, and she currently studies about four hours a day to achieve this goal. “Hopefully one day I can start a law firm where we can help people pro bono and hire people who were formerly incarcerated,” she says of her longer-term goals.

Kim’s goal is no act, in spite of the heat she’s taken for working with former president Donald Trump on prison reform. KKW marches to her own drum with four kids and a big family in tow. One wonders what Kanye West actually thinks of his uber-talented wife. R-E-S-P-E-C-T would be appropriate.