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Kylie Jenner Is Officially The Youngest Self-Made Billionaire In History

by Rachel Spalding

A couple more zeroes obviously got added to this entrepreneur's bank account recently. The news is in from Forbes magazine that Kylie Jenner is officially the youngest self-made billionaire ever & Stormi's lavish birthday party makes a little more sense now.

Jenner, 21, was just given the title. Which is a pretty big deal given that Forbes has crunched the numbers enough to assertively state that Jenner's 10-figure fortune makes her the youngest entrepreneur to hit this mark, ever.

As in, younger than Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who was 23 when his fortune was estimated at $1 billion by comparison, the magazine noted.

Jenner — mom to Stormi Webster, 13 months, her daughter with musician Travis Scott, according to Us Weekly — owes it all to her Kylie Cosmetics brand, as Forbes outlined.

The magazine noted the company's true genius is its status as a cash cow: Jenner’s company is worth at least $900 million. Forbes estimated that last year, the company took in about $360 million, according to NBC News, with Jenner owning a 100 percent stake in Kylie Cosmetics.

Forbes added that Jenner started the company in 2015 and only has seven full-time and five part-time employees.

The magazine also noted mom Kris handles finance and PR in exchange for a 10 percent fee she takes from all her celebrity offspring. Kris Jenner is a well-known "momager," as E! Online noted.

All of which means that most of the profit from this wildly popular makeup line is going straight to the social media maven herself.

So with her makeup brand already a hit, what pushed it over the edge? After all, last year Forbes predicted that she would become the youngest self-made billionaire in history, and now, here we are.

The difference apparently was Jenner's wise move to expand her reach last year to 1,000 Ulta stores nationwide, per MarketWatch.

Forbes noted that Ulta is, generally, a less expensive beauty chain than Sephora, which was a great move to connect to Jenner's teen fans who may not yet shop at Sephora and don't have a credit card to browse online.

ABC News added that Kardashian critics say it's hard to claim "self-made" status when Jenner's family had money to begin with and her mom helped her grow her brand in the beginning.

But Forbes stood by its definition, the news outlet reported: As long as Jenner didn't inherit the business or the money to start it, her claim to self-made status is good.

As for Jenner, while modest might not be the exact right word for her, she seemed ready to concede that there was a little luck involved as well as hard work.

"It’s the power of social media," Jenner told Forbes. "I had such a strong reach before I was able to start anything."

And while her personal and brand Instagram accounts both promise more product launches in the months to come, it's hard not to admire someone so young who has such a clear vision for her life.

She seems to effortlessly juggle parenting with empire-building as well, with lots of snaps on social media showing she's having a blast with little Stormi (did you see Stormi's multi-themed birthday party? OMG).

Jenner is a member of the Kardashian-Jenner clan, which means she's probably unlikely to ever give up or retreat to a more private life. If you're a hater, you might as well give up. You'll be buying her skin cream any day now.