Keeping Up With Kim Kardashian’s Business Empire

You don’t become the 33rd highest-paid celebrity in the world by just looking pretty.

Madonna had famously responded to Kim Kardashian’s ode to the former’s platinum blonde hair with – “Does it surprise me that she’s famous without being an artist? I think that’s a sign of the times.”

And the time has never been better for the reality star who has, according to Forbes, nearly doubled her wealth from $28 million to $53 million in the last twelve months. She’s now #33 (47 positions up) on the list of the World’s Highest Paid Celebrities.

So what has Kim Kardashian done to warrant admission into the league of fame usually reserved for seriously talented actors, musicians and sportspersons?

She only designs clothes, shoes, accessories, a home collection, has a mobile game, an app, a line of fragrances and nail polishes, is a successful reality star and a social media influencer with 54.5 million followers on Instagram and 37.8 million followers on Twitter.

Here’s how the mother-of-two built her empire.

Cleaning Out My Closet

In 2002, Kim Kardashian started an eBay store with the username ‘kimsaprincess’. Speaking to Inquistr, she recalls how it started.

“I discovered eBay and I loved shopping. I had to be on a budget. I didn’t have credit cards. How do I figure out how to make this a business? I remember I bought these Manolo Blahnik shoes that were $700. He [Kim’s late father, Robert] let me buy five pairs. I had to pay him back plus interest. I sold every pair on eBay for $2,500. I became so obsessed with seeing that return, I would sell off the things I wouldn’t be wearing.”

But Kim wasn’t selling the usual designer clothes. Her keen sense of fashion ensured she was selling the ‘it’ item or the most highly coveted fashion accessory.

“They were these Manolo Blahniks that Jennifer Lopez had worn in her first or second video. Everyone had to have them. I called at the right time and the girl at the store had five pairs and I took them.”

She turned her eBay store into a full-time business after a visit to her godparents – Sugar Ray Leonard (the former professional boxer) and his wife Bernadette’s house. She helped her godmother Bernadette clean out her massive closet stuffed with designer clothes, shoes and bags and helped sell them on eBay.

Soon enough, she was cleaning out closets for Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie.

Thirteen years down the line, Kim still uses her eBay account to auction clothes from her and her rapper husband Kanye West’s wardrobe. A portion of the proceeds go towards charity.

Smooch & Dash

Long before Ryan Seacrest discovered the Kardashians for a reality show on E! – his cable TV channel, the three sisters were entrepreneurs with varying degrees of success. In 2006, they launched a chain of high-end clothing and accessories stores called Dash. The brand has moved on to more posh locations and continues to retail online as well.

In addition to Dash, the Kardashians even launched a kids wear brand called Smooch which they were forced to shut down in 2012 because of the bad economy.

Keeping Up With the Kardashians

With Season 11 premiering mid-November, KUWTK has become one of the longest running reality series in television history. The show first aired in October 2007 and has since inspired several spin-offs including Dash Dolls, Kourtney and Kim Take New York, Khloé & Lamar, Kourtney and Khloé Take the Hamptons and Kourtney and Kim Take Miami.

According to Kim’s mother and manager Kris Jenner, the family shoots for 18 hours a day to make a 22 minute show. “The girls hit the ground running at 6 am and shoot till 8 or 9 PM in addition to all their other designing and publicity engagements”, she told the Wall Street Journal.

According to VH1, only a small percentage of Kim Kardashian’s salary comes from the reality show, even though she still makes $40,000 per episode.

Kim Kardashian: Hollywood

The social media celebrity lets you lead the life of a celebrity on your iPhone or iPad by downloading the game Kim Kardashian: Hollywood. Your aim is to become the ultimate VIP. But you will have to do some serious work to climb the social ladder and gain more fans. You will have to network, pick the right dress and make-up and most importantly, use your energy wisely.

According to an earnings report from Glu Mobile, the company that developed the game made a whopping $43.4 million in the third quarter of this year. In the first five days alone it collected $1.6 million.

It has been reported that Kim picked up 45% of the net profits.

Selfish

For the undisputed queen of selfies, it was but natural to publish a book of photographs she has taken of herself and her family. The book contains pages full of topless shots interspersed with photographs of her goofy-faced and completely sunburnt. The autobiographical photo album, called Selfish, offers a peek into her jet set life and, according to US Weekly, is currently in its fourth print run with total trade sales of approximately 125,000 copies, domestic and international.

Apart from being called “disgusting and vile”, the book has also been called an “experiment in female identity exploration”.

So the next time you decide to deride Kardashian, you may want to reconsider. You cannot build a $41 million empire by just looking pretty. Maybe she’s more brain than bare breasts.