Kim Kardashian became the youngest self-made billionaire in 2021, but the star has been defeated by singer Rihanna, who is eight years younger.
Kim Kardashian is no longer the youngest self-made billionaire as singer Rihanna dethroned The Kardashians star. In 2021, Forbes announced that Kim was officially a billionaire, making her the youngest self-made billionaire at the time. Kim’s title came just two years after her younger sister Kylie Jenner was named the youngest self-made billionaire in 2019 at just 21 years old. Unfortunately, Kylie did not hold the title for very long, as she was removed from the billionaires list a year later. After some investigating, Forbes found that Kylie had fabricated her earnings and was not a billionaire, after all. According to Forbes, Kylie is actually worth under $900 million.
At the time Kylie was named a billionaire, the makeup mogul faced a lot of criticism. Many people felt that the star was born into an extremely wealthy family who gained more fame and fortune from their reality series Keeping Up With The Kardashians. They argued that it was unfair to call her self-made since the money she used to build her company came from her family, whereas other self-made billionaires had to build their businesses from the ground up. Many pointed out that Pat McGrath, a billionaire makeup mogul, was a better example of a self-made billionaire as she is a Black woman who wasn’t born into wealth. The Kardashians star didn’t receive as much criticism as the star, worth $1.8 billion, is credited with bringing her family into the spotlight.
Unfortunately for the Kardashians, Kim has been knocked out of the number one spot as Rihanna is officially a billionaire. Maxim explained that Rihanna surpassed the reality star as the youngest self-made billionaire with a net worth of $1.4 billion. The “Umbrella” singer, who was born in Barbados, is also the first billionaire to ever come out of the Caribbean country. Despite being dethroned, The Kardashians star still holds a higher net worth than Rihanna. Both women also worked their way onto Forbes‘ list of Twitter’s most-followed billionaires, with Rihanna in first place and Kim in third place.
Rihanna released her first album, Music Of The Sun, in 2005. The album featured popular songs like “Pon de Replay” and “If It’s Lovin’ That You Want,” which launched Rihanna into the A-list celebrity she is today. However, it wasn’t her music career that earned her a spot on the billionaires list. Rihanna built her success in the fashion and makeup industries. She launched her makeup brand Fenty Beauty in 2017 and her lingerie brand Savage X Fenty in 2019. Both companies have had great success due to their inclusivity and quality products. Kim earned her fortune with similar brands like her makeup line KKW Beauty and shapewear company SKIMS. She also gained a large portion of her money from her successful reality TV career.
There’s no word on how Kim has taken the news that Rihanna surpassed her as the youngest self-made billionaire, but it’s likely she’s not too happy about it. The Kar-Jenners are obsessed with being on top, so obsessed that they were willing to lie about Kylie’s earnings to get her a Forbes cover. Now that Kim is no longer on top, who knows what lengths the family will go through to push her to new heights? If they get to work, they may just be able to get Kylie back on the list, making The Kardashians star the youngest self-made billionaire for real this time.