Kim Kardashian’s shapewear and loungewear company Skims has seen massive success since launching in 2019. Many have speculated that Skims catapulted Kim into billionaire status. So did Skims really make Kim a billionaire?
Kim’s Net Worth Before Skims
Prior to launching Skims in 2019, Kim Kardashian was estimated to have a net worth around $350 million according to Forbes. Her wealth came from her family’s hit reality show Keeping Up with the Kardashians as well as many business ventures including a mobile game, makeup line, fragrance and more. She lived an ultra lavish lifestyle with husband Kanye West and their four children. But while extremely rich, she wasn’t quite a billionaire yet.
The Launch of Skims
In 2019, Kim launched Skims, a shapewear, underwear and loungewear company that offered both functional and fashionable options for women. The brand took off quickly, resonating with women for providing comfortable, quality basics that made them feel confident. The marketing was also highly effective, with Kim leveraging her massive social media following and fame to promote Skims.
Skims Sales and Valuation
Though private, Skims has revealed some sales and fundraising data that gives clues to how fast the brand has grown:
- Within minutes of launching in 2019, Skims sold $2 million worth of product
- In 2020, Skims did over $100 million in revenue
- In April 2021, Skims raised $154 million in funding at a $1.6 billion valuation
Industry experts estimate Skims sales are now $400-500 million annually. The hype for the brand has only intensified, especially after outfits from Skims were worn by Team USA athletes at the 2021 Olympics.
Forbes Declares Kim a Billionaire in April 2021
In April 2021, Forbes published that Kim Kardashian had officially reached billionaire status for the first time, with an estimated net worth of $1 billion. The majority of her wealth was attributed to Skims and recent valuation, as well as cash from reality TV and endorsement deals.
Forbes estimated that Kim’s stakes in Skims were worth over $500 million, and the rest of her wealth came from:
- $250-$300 million from reality TV and endorsement deals
- $300-$350 million from her KKW beauty company
- $100 million in real estate holdings and investments
- $30 million from Kimoji app and sponsored social media posts
Kim’s billionaire status was short-lived, however. In May 2021, Forbes backtracked and accused her of fabricating financial documents to look richer than she really was. They lowered her Skims valuation and net worth estimate to under $1 billion again.
Kim Claims Skims’ Success Made Her a Billionaire
While Forbes disputed her billionaire status, Kim and her team maintained that Skims’ rapid growth had in fact made her a billionaire. She told Forbes:
I can provide every contract, every bank statement, every legal letter, audits from the CPAs, everything showing we qualify for billionaire status according to Forbes’ net worth tracker.
Kim also defended Skims’ valuation, saying revenue was on track to hit $400 million in 2022. Industry experts seem to agree Skims could easily be worth over $3 billion based on sales trajectory and profitability.
A Billionaire Thanks to Skims?
While Forbes says otherwise, Kim seems convinced Skims catapulted her net worth over the billion dollar mark. Back in 2019, she didn’t seem focused on hitting the 10-figure net worth:
I’m not like, ‘Okay, we have to do this and this so that I can make a billion dollars.’ But then again, every day is such a blessing and we’re so blessed already and into the billions already. Who cares? I’m not doing it to make that one billion.
But the incredibly fast success of Skims seems to have changed things. Two years after launch, her shapewear company could be making up the bulk of her fortune. While the exact numbers are private, Skims seems on track to eventually make Kim a billionaire – if she wasn’t one already for a brief moment in time.
Skims’ Massive Valuation
In April 2022, Skims raised another round of funding – this time valuing the company at $3.2 billion, quadruple the valuation just a year earlier. The size of this round and valuation provided further proof of just how big Skims has become in only a few years:
- Post-money valuation of $3.2 billion in April 2022 fundraising round
- $240 million raised in the round
- Led by Lone Pine Capital and D1 Capital Partners
- Existing investors Imaginary Ventures, Alliance Consumer Growth and Thrive Capital also participated
At a $3 billion+ valuation, Skims is one of the most valuable private consumer brands in the world. For reference, it took Spanx over 20 years to reach a $1.2 billion valuation when they were acquired in 2021.
Skims’ tremendous worth stems from its meteoric rise paired with its strong business fundamentals:
- Massive brand awareness and customer acquisition thanks to Kim’s celebrity marketing powers
- On track to $500+ million in 2022 revenue
- Doubled sales every year since 2019 launch
- Very profitable – strong gross margins reported to be around 80%
- Kim retains majority ownership and control
Skims has leveraged Kim’s influencer status and style perfectly while also focusing on comfort, quality and diversity of products. This has allowed the company to resonate widely among consumers and become enormously valuable.
What Is Kim’s Skims Ownership?
Details on Kim’s exact Skims ownership have not been publicly shared. However, it is known she has majority control of the company after raising over $300 million in funding while not giving up control.
Industry experts estimate Kim likely owns 60-80% of Skims still. At a $3.2 billion valuation, that means her stake could be worth around $2 billion or more – easily making her a billionaire.
Skims Sales Projections
Skims has not revealed any official future sales projections, but the company’s trajectory makes it easy to speculate on where Skims might be headed.
Here are some reasonable sales projections for Skims over the next 5 years based on their growth to date:
| Year | Projected Revenue |
|---|---|
| 2022 | $500 million |
| 2023 | $750 million |
| 2024 | $1 billion |
| 2025 | $1.25 billion |
| 2026 | $1.5 billion |
At a run rate over $1.5 billion by 2026, Skims would be one of the largest intimate apparel brands worldwide. It may sound ambitious, but Skims has already proven its ability to grow at a torrid pace in just a few short years.
How Big Could Skims Get?
Judging by current momentum, Skims could realistically generate over $2 billion in annual sales within the next decade. The global shapewear market alone is estimated to reach $5.5 billion by 2027, and Skims is poised to take a large share.
Beyond shapewear, Skims has been successfully expanding into loungewear, underwear and swimwear. The broader intimates apparel industry generates over $15 billion in the U.S. alone. Skims’ comfort-focused ethos can extend nicely into these new categories.
International expansion also offers huge potential for Skims to multiply its sales. They already ship to over 30 countries, but have yet to establish an international presence to the level of Victoria’s Secret or other major lingerie brands.
Add it up, and Skims reaching $3-4 billion annually within 10 years seems like a reasonable prediction based on their early success. The sky is truly the limit for how big Skims could ultimately become.
Skims Future Valuation Projections
If Skims roughly doubles sales every 2 years as projected, its valuation should continue ballooning as well:
| Year | Projected Valuation |
|---|---|
| 2022 | $3.2 billion |
| 2024 | $6 billion |
| 2026 | $10 billion |
These numbers assume Skims will maintain strong profitability and growth fundamentals. But with Kim’s marketing power combined with comfort-focused products, there’s little reason to expect Skims to slow down anytime soon.
Skims IPO
An eventual Skims IPO would also propel its valuation even higher. The stock market tends to assign premium valuations to high-growth consumer brands. Just look at brands like Canada Goose, Allbirds, Warby Parker and Figs that have commanded rich valuations in the public market.
Skims checks all the boxes investors want to see – powerful branding, massive scale, young customer base and robust sales growth. An IPO valuation reaching $15-$20 billion within the next 5 years is feasible assuming the current trajectory continues.
Will Kim Cash Out?
With Skims potentially becoming a $10 billion+ brand someday, many wonder whether Kim will look to cash out via a sale or IPO. So far, all signs point to Kim maintaining full control:
- Has repeatedly stated she’s in it for the long-term, with plans to pass Skims down to her children one day
- Has raised hundreds of millions from investors while remaining majority shareholder
- Forbes reports she has not sold any of her stake despite lucrative offers
It would certainly be lucrative for Kim to sell or take Skims public. But Skims seems to be a lifelong passion project for her – a chance to build something that provides real value to women while cementing her business legacy. She may very well keep control indefinitely and continue growing Skims into a global mega-brand.
Annual Distributions
While not cashing out completely, Kim is likely taking home hefty annual payouts as Skims grows more profitable. Forbes estimates she has collected over $100 million in distributions the last few years as the business scales.
Owning the majority of an ultra-high margin consumer brand spinning off hundreds of millions in cash flow certainly makes staying a long-term owner very appealing.
Net Worth Milestones
Here is a look at some potential net worth milestones for Kim thanks to her Skims ownership, assuming the brand continues thriving and Kim retains majority control:
- 2022: $1.5 billion net worth
- 2024: $2.5 billion net worth
- 2026: $4 billion net worth
- 2028: $6 billion net worth
Reaching multibillionaire status seems imminent for Kim thanks to Skims’ runaway success. Her net worth could realistically land anywhere between $5-10 billion within the next decade if the business scales globally.
Wealthiest Self-Made Woman?
At her current trajectory, Kim has a chance to become one of the wealthiest self-made women in history. Her estimated $1.8 billion net worth today already ranks her near the top of women who built business empires themselves.
A few women currently ahead of her in the self-made rankings include:
- Diane Hendricks – $12 billion
- Judy Faulkner – $7 billion
- Meg Whitman – $5.5 billion
- Marian Ilitch – $5.1 billion
But if Skims keeps up its phenomenal growth, Kim could soar past them over the next decade to become the richest self-made woman in the world.
Conclusion
Skims has already made Kim Kardashian an ultra-high net worth individual by conservative estimates. Ongoing rapid growth and billion-dollar valuations suggest the shapewear firm has likely propelled Kim’s net worth past the ten-figure billionaire mark – even if Forbes disagrees for now.
And Skims reaching $10 billion in annual sales someday now seems like a realistic possibility based on its early trajectory. This would make the company one of the most valuable apparel brands in the world – and make Kim one of the richest self-made women in history.
While the exact numbers are private, all signs point to Skims being the driving force that has finally made Kim Kardashian a billionaire. The brand’s sensational launch and continued expansion looks poised to make her ultra-wealthy for decades to come.
