If you need an example of a hardworking, breadwinning American mother, you could do worse than Kim Kardashian.
The mother of two earned $51 million between June 2015 and June 2016, according to recent estimates made public by Forbes. That’s a full $33.5 million more than her husband, Kanye West, who made $17.5 million over the same period. And she did it all despite giving birth to her son, Saint West, in December 2015.
For simple comparison, the CEO of Goldman Sachs earned about half of that amount over another recent 12-month period.
Kardashian’s earnings make her far and away the highest-paid reality star in the country. Next on that list is her sister Kylie Jenner, who earned about what Kanye did over the same period, $18 million. Together, the Kardashian-Jenner clan pulled in more than $122 million.
While you may think most of Kim Kardashian’s money is a result of her family’s show, “Keeping Up with the Kardashians,” that isn’t true.
“These reality stars all make relatively little from their shows, which instead function as advertising and branding opportunities,” Forbes writes. “On-screen salaries hover in the low seven figures, but the bulk of the stars’ cash tends to come from endorsements, be it beauty products or liquors.”
In Kardashian’s case, about two-fifths of her earnings come directly from her mobile game, “Kim Kardashian: Hollywood.” But she also earns hefty paychecks from her emoji app ― appropriately titled Kimoji, which was launched the same month her son was born ― as well as from her subscription app and her Instagram endorsements. (For those wondering, the Kardashians and Jenners are now reportedly making at least $200,000 per sponsored Instagram post.)
Plain and simple, Kardashian knows where the money is. She’s used that knowledge to turn her social media empire into a financial one ― and done it quickly.
