Whether you love them or loathe them, there's no denying the Kardashian-Jenner dynasty has mastered the art of making – not to mention spending – serious money.
The reality stars turned business moguls have a collective fortune that stretches into the billions, with Kim Kardashian alone worth $1.7 billion according to Forbes. But the ways in which they've made and spent their cash have often proved controversial...
With the new House of Kardashian docuseries airing this month, read on for our round-up of some of the family's more eye-opening episodes.
All dollar amounts in US dollars.
One of the Kardashian family's earliest controversial business moves happened back in 2010 when Kim, Kourtney, and Khloé launched a credit card in partnership with Mastercard.
Creatively – or perhaps that should read "kreatively" – named the Kardashian Kard, it allowed users to access funds of up to $250,000, encouraging them to spend well beyond their means.
Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal slammed the card for targeting "financially unsophisticated" young women, while its exorbitant user fees were also a point of contention among critics.
It cost $99.95 just to obtain the card, with an additional $5 monthly fee. Other hidden charges included small fees for every cash deposit and transaction made with the card, as well as a charge for contacting customer service.
Unsurprisingly, a mere 250 people signed up for the Kardashian Kard, leading to its embarrassing removal from the market within just one month of its launch.
Khloé Kardashian has amassed a fortune worth $60 million. One of her most successful business ventures is her fashion brand, Good American, which she co-founded in 2016.
But just three years after launching the company, Khloé came under fire for her "wildly out of touch" response to a social media post about the cost of Good American jeans.
A fan wrote on Twitter (now X): "So I realized I have to work 20 hours in order to afford @khloekardashian jeans, and I’m in love with them. Catch me picking up extra shifts." Khloé replied: "Awwwwww, this is so cute! I’m so happy you enjoy them."
Naturally, the star was criticized for her controversial "cute" comment, with many calling her "tone deaf" for failing to fathom the high price of her products compared to America's low federal minimum wage.
In March 2019, Forbes crowned Kylie Jenner, just 21 years old at the time, the "planet's youngest self-made billionaire" thanks to the immense success of her Kylie Cosmetics makeup empire.
In May 2020, however, Forbes shockingly reversed its position, suggesting that Jenner may have manipulated tax returns to exaggerate her wealth and her company's value. Kylie refuted the allegations, with her legal team describing the Forbes article as filled with "outright lies."
The revelation came just six months after Jenner sold a 51% stake in Kylie Cosmetics to beauty giant Coty for a remarkable $600 million. Currently, Forbes estimates Jenner's net worth to be $680 million.
And that's far from the only controversy that Kylie Cosmetics has dealt with since it launched in 2014. It's also faced allegations of cultural appropriation and idea theft from smaller businesses.
In 2015, the company (then called Kylie Lip Kits) shared an Instagram post that showed metallic lips dripping with gloss. This led to makeup artist Vlada Haggerty accusing Jenner of copying her work, which featured strikingly similar visuals. It happened again the following year and ultimately resulted in a lawsuit between Jenner and Haggerty that was apparently later settled.
Last year, designer Travis Terry accused Jenner and the Kardashian family of frequently emulating the work of Black creatives after Kylie Cosmetics released a promotional video featuring Kylie and her mother, Kris Jenner.
Many on social media pointed out the striking similarities between Jenner's work and a marketing campaign by Terry for his brand IEMBE. Terry later took to Instagram to express his view that the Kardashian family consistently "steal[s]" from Black culture instead of "supporting it."
Kylie isn't the only family member who's faced allegations of plagiarism and cultural appropriation. Supermodel Kendall Jenner, whose estimated worth stands at $60 million, launched her alcohol brand, 818 Tequila, in 2021.
However, she encountered issues when a smaller tequila brand named Tequila 512 filed a trademark lawsuit, claiming her company had blatantly copied its logo and branding. Ultimately, the lawsuit was settled, with both parties agreeing to make minor changes to their label designs to prevent any confusion.
Kendall's brand faced another challenge when an advertisement featuring her strolling through an agave farm, wearing a cowboy hat and with a horse by her side, drew criticism for appropriating Mexican culture and perpetuating cultural stereotypes.
In fact, the supermodel has faced a number of controversies over the years. In 2017, for example, she encountered backlash for her involvement in a Pepsi ad that many deemed insensitive to the Black Lives Matter movement.
The advertisement depicted Kendall joining a political protest and handing a can of Pepsi to a police officer in a scene that garnered widespread criticism for trivializing issues related to police brutality. Pepsi ultimately withdrew the ad following accusations of appropriating the nationwide protest movement, which had first emerged in response to police shootings of African-Americans.
In a viral moment shown on Keeping Up With The Kardashians, Kendall issued a tearful apology for her involvement in the Pepsi project. "I would never purposely hurt someone, ever," she said, adding that she felt "stupid" for appearing in the advertisement.
Kim Kardashian also found herself accused of cultural appropriation in 2019.
The controversy began when she unveiled her new shapewear brand Kimono, which was swiftly slammed for appropriating Japanese culture due to the kimono's significance as a traditional garment of the nation.
Despite initial worries that renaming her shapewear company would cost her $10 million due to the already-printed Kimono labels on the stock, Kim wisely opted for a name change, settling on SKIMS. Happily enough, the labels bearing the old name could be cut out and replaced.
This decision has proven to be highly lucrative, with SKIMS now valued at an impressive $4 billion. Consequently, Kim's personal net worth has surged to a staggering $1.7 billion, as reported by Forbes.
The following year, Kim found herself at the center of another scandal due to her actions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In October 2020, she triggered outrage when she flew 40 of her "closest friends and family" to a private tropical island to celebrate her 40th birthday. While much of the world was adhering to strict quarantine and stay-at-home orders, Kim and her entourage were photographed hugging and dancing on a beach.
However, Kim's pandemic insensitivity didn't stop there. In January 2021, on the very same day that the United States surpassed 400,000 COVID-19 deaths, she posted a picture of herself by the pool at her mansion with the caption: "This is more than life...this is paradise."
Understandably, many found her boastful post to be disrespectful during the ongoing pandemic.
Just months after her pandemic-related controversies, Kim found herself embroiled in yet another scandal after her advice to women in business went viral.
"Get your f****** a** up and work," she declared during a video interview with Variety, adding: "It seems like nobody wants to work these days."
These remarks sparked considerable backlash, although Kim later claimed on the chat show Good Morning America that the soundbite had been "taken out of context."
In May 2022, Kim Kardashian made headlines for all the wrong reasons when she chose to wear a dress that had once been worn by Marilyn Monroe on the Met Gala red carpet (as pictured).
Kardashian's choice sparked controversy, with the International Council of Museums stating that "historical garments should not be worn by anybody, public or private figures." They argued that such pieces belong to humanity's heritage and should be preserved for future generations.
Even prior to the Met Gala, Kim had defended her decision to wear the dress, which Monroe famously donned at the 1962 birthday celebration of President John F. Kennedy. Kim emphasized her respect for the gown's historical significance and vowed to take every precaution to prevent any damage to the garment, even altering her usual body makeup routine.
Despite these assurances, the iconic gown reportedly still showed signs of damage after Kardashian wore it, although Ripley's Believe It or Not, which owns the dress, denied these claims.
And it didn't end there. Kardashian, who admitted to losing more than a stone in weight in just three weeks to ensure she'd fit into the frock, was also accused of promoting extreme dieting.
Kim has 364 million Instagram followers and, like the rest of the Kardashian clan, can make a fortune by promoting products on the app.
However, Kim was fined $1.26 million by America's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last year after a group of investors filed a class action lawsuit against her when she posted about the crypto token EthereumMax on social media.
The filing claimed that Kim had been employed by EthereumMax to "misleadingly promote and sell" the crypto as part of a "pump and dump" scheme – a strategy whereby the price of an asset is artificially inflated through dishonest marketing before being sold to unwitting investors for a profit. EthereumMax denied the allegations.
Kim's social media ad was flagged by the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the SEC in the US. It was discovered that EthereumMax had paid her $250,000 to promote the cryptocurrency, a fact Kim hadn't disclosed in her post. As well as the hefty fine, Kim agreed not to promote crypto asset securities for the next three years.
And it wasn't just the cryptocurrency lawsuit that Kim found herself facing in 2022. Along with her mother Kris Jenner and sisters Khloé Kardashian and Kylie Jenner, she ended up in court after the model and influencer Blac Chyna sued them, seeking $140 million in damages.
Chyna is the ex-partner of Kim's brother, Rob Kardashian, and the mother of his six-year-old daughter Dream. The couple briefly had their own reality TV show, Rob & Chyna, which aired for a single season in 2016.
Chyna alleged that Kim, Kris, Khloé, and Kylie had "secretly and falsely" accused her of abusing Rob, leading to the cancellation of Rob & Chyna. Ultimately, however, the Kardashian-Jenner clan emerged victorious in the defamation battle after Rob testified against Chyna. The former couple is shown here together.
Kylie dropped $72 million on a private jet in 2020, which reportedly costs an additional $5 million per year in maintenance fees. Her pimped-out pink plane boasts an entertainment suite, a master suite, two bathrooms, a gallery, a crew rest area, and, of course, a closet for her designer outfits.
When she's on the ground, Kylie cruises in style thanks to her fleet of luxury cars, which includes a Rolls-Royce, a Ferrari LaFerrari, and a Lamborghini Urus. But her extravagant travel choices have sparked controversy...
Last year, after uploading an Instagram photo that showed her and then-partner Travis Scott standing in front of their private jets (complete with the caption: "You wanna take mine or yours?"), Kylie was branded a "climate criminal" by her followers.
Reports revealed that she'd opted to take a 17-minute flight for a 26-mile journey that would have been less than 40 minutes by car. Jenner even drove half an hour in the wrong direction to reach Van Nuys airport, where her private plane was parked.
Not to be outdone by her little sister Kylie, Kim also owns a private jet, which reportedly cost her $95 million. However, swanky customizations on the G65OER mean that total costs likely soared to a whopping $150 million.
Kim had the aircraft altered to look like her home, choosing a cream interior, cashmere finishes, and leather seats.
It wasn't the first time Kim has personalized her transport to match her Hidden Hills mega-mansion. In 2022, she spent around $100,000 on having her Lamborghini Urus, Rolls-Royce Ghost, and Mercedes-Maybach Sedan spray-painted gray to match the luxurious esthetics of her California home.
While the entire Kardashian-Jenner clan is no stranger to splurging on luxury items such as properties and private jets, Kylie reportedly takes the cake as the family's biggest spender. An insider even told Page Six that Kris Jenner intervened last year, asking her youngest daughter to "slow down" her spending.
Back in 2019, Life & Style reported that Kylie was spending $300,000 every single week on her designer wardrobe. In addition to this, her shoe collection alone is reportedly worth more than $1 million.
Kylie also doesn't hold back when it comes to splurging on her children's outfits and accessories. Back in 2020, she hit headlines when she spent $12,000 on an Hermès backpack for her then-two-year-old daughter Stormi, which the little one sported on her first day of homeschooling.
Speaking of the family's next generation, eldest sister Kourtney Kardashian is currently expecting a baby with her husband, Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker.
Just last month, the couple hosted an extravagant Disneyland-themed baby shower at their $9 million Malibu mansion, which undoubtedly came at considerable expense. The lavish affair featured a barbershop quartet, Disney-themed cuisine, and a pool adorned with balloons.
However, a second "baby shower" event, which involved the hiring of a different Malibu mansion, has proven to be controversial.
Bruce Silverstein, the mayor of Malibu, accused Kourtney of committing "fraud" by allegedly providing false information on her permit application for the event, which he believes was actually a promotional party for her wellness brand, Poosh. Silverstein further alleges that around 600 guests attended, while the approved permit only allowed for 94. An investigation is ongoing.
A new report has suggested that Caitlyn Jenner is considering cutting her children Kendall and Kylie from her will due to an ongoing feud with the Kardashian family.
Caitlyn and the Kardashians have had strained relations since her controversial comments about Kris Jenner in her 2017 memoir – and while Caitlyn once had a good relationship with Kendall and Kylie, it's now rumored that her daughters have sided with the Kardashians.
An insider told National Enquirer that Caitlyn is reconsidering her will, stating: "The people who have looked after her are the ones who'll get looked after, simple as that. She is going to be leaving her kids piles of money. You can't blame her if she wants to dole it out to the ones that actually care about her and show it."
Caitlyn, who is worth around $25 million, has yet to speak publicly about these rumors, although a second source has since denied them to Radar Online.
In the latest Kardashian scandal to grab headlines, Kim has come under fire for wearing luxury fashion brand Balenciaga to the Kering Foundation's annual Caring for Women Dinner in September (Kim is pictured at the event here).
Kim, who's renowned for her major style influence, posted photos on Instagram showcasing her look alongside Nicole Kidman, who also wore Balenciaga.
Just one year ago, however, Kardashian condemned Balenciaga for its controversial fashion campaign that featured child models in bondage gear, revealing that she was "re-evaluating" her relationship with the brand.
This led to critics questioning her decision to wear the label once more, with one follower commenting on Kim's Instagram post: "I seriously don’t get it. This is a simple look that she could have commissioned from any brand. I’m here because I’m a fan but this really upsets me."
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