Kylie Jenner Is Officially Now the Youngest 'Self-Made Billionaire'

Kylie Jenner, who at 20 years old made the cover of Forbes last year because she was poised to become the youngest billionaire, is back on Forbes again because she is now the youngest "self-made" billionaire at 21.

61st Annual GRAMMY Awards - Arrivals
(Image credit: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin)

The inevitable happened: Kylie Jenner, who at 20 years old made the cover of Forbes last year because she was poised to become the youngest billionaire, is back on Forbes again because she is now the youngest "self-made" billionaire at 21.

Forbes notes that Jenner's Kylie Cosmetics company is now worth $900 million and that she owns all of it. With "the cash Jenner has already pulled from the profitable business," Forbes wrote, Jenner is officially $1,000,000,000 rich. She beats out the previous titleholder, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, who became a billionaire at the age of 23.

Jenner is humble-ish when asked about reaching this milestone. “I didn’t expect anything. I did not foresee the future,” she told the outlet. “But [the recognition] feels really good. That’s a nice pat on the back.”

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Kylie Jenner

(Image credit: gotpap/Bauer-Griffin)

How self-made Jenner is could be a subject for debate since Jenner has been on her famous family's show Keeping Up With the Kardashians since she was a kid. But Jenner isn't pretending she didn't have an advantage on social media because of that, where much of her company's promotion is. “It’s the power of social media,” Jenner told Forbes. “I had such a strong reach before I was able to start anything.”

And she did defend her "self-made" title to Paper magazine last month. "The self-made thing is true," she said, noting her parents "cut her off at the age of 15."

"My parents told me I needed to make my own money, it's time to learn how to save and spend your own money, stuff like that," she said. "What I'm trying to say is I did have a platform, but none of my money is inherited."

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Alyssa Bailey
News and Strategy Editor

Alyssa Bailey is the news and strategy editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage of celebrities and royals (particularly Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton). She previously held positions at InStyle and Cosmopolitan. When she's not working, she loves running around Central Park, making people take #ootd pics of her, and exploring New York City.