When people search for the Keeping Up With the Kardashians networth, they usually mean one of two things: how much the show itself paid the family, or how much wealth the show helped them build. The second answer is larger by far.
Keeping up with the kardashians networth: the show in brief
Keeping Up With the Kardashians ran on E! from 2007 to 2021, over twenty seasons. It followed Kris Jenner, her children and her family members, and it became one of the most-watched reality shows of its era. In 2017 the family signed a new multi-year contract with E! that was reported to be worth around 100 million dollars. The family later moved to a new series on Hulu, called The Kardashians, in 2022.
What the show paid
According to entertainment press reports, the pay per episode rose over time, and the 2017 deal was described as one of the largest ever for a reality show. The money was split among the main cast members, with the amounts for each person not made public. Production companies such as Bunim/Murray and Ryan Seacrest Productions were also involved, and the family had its own deals on top, which made the income more complicated.
The real value: building brands
Most analysts say that the show’s true effect was to turn its stars into brand owners. The family used the exposure to launch products, many of which were advertised in the show itself.
Kim Kardashian
Her shapewear and clothing company, Skims, launched in 2019 and has been valued by investors at several billion dollars in funding rounds, according to press reports. Forbes has described her as a billionaire.
Kylie Jenner
Kylie Cosmetics, started in 2015, was sold in part to Coty in 2019 in a deal that valued the company at about 1.2 billion dollars.
Khloé Kardashian
Good American, the denim brand she co-founded, grew into a significant business.
Kourtney Kardashian
She launched Poosh, a lifestyle website, and later a supplement brand called Lemme.
Kris Jenner
As a manager she took a percentage of her children’s deals, and she has been described by Forbes as one of the wealthiest family members.
Advertising by another name
The show worked like a weekly advertisement. Product placement, social media and appearances created a loop in which the show promoted the brands and the brands drew attention back to the show. That made the show’s effect on net worth much bigger than its direct pay.
Estimates for the family
Forbes and other outlets have reported that Kim Kardashian has a fortune of over a billion dollars, that Kylie Jenner has several hundred million and that Kris Jenner, Khloé, Kourtney and Kendall have fortunes in the range of tens to hundreds of millions of dollars. Those are estimates, not confirmed numbers.
Why precise numbers are risky
Private companies are valued by funding rounds and rumours, and one wrong assumption can shift an estimate by hundreds of millions. Forbes itself corrected one of its estimates for Kylie Jenner in 2020 after learning more about the revenue of her company.
How to cite it
Write: “The 2017 contract with E! was reported to be worth around 100 million dollars, according to media reports.” That refers to the show and not to the family’s total fortune.
Questions readers ask
Did the show pay each family member the same?
No, and the details were not published.
Who is the richest Kardashian?
According to Forbes, Kim Kardashian.
Is the new show as big?
Hulu has not published detailed ratings, but it has promoted the show as a success.
What the show says about modern fame
The show is often studied by media scholars as an early example of fame that is created and monetised by the people it features. Instead of acting for a studio, the family controlled their image and used it to sell products to the same audience. That model has been copied by many influencers and reality stars, with mixed results. For readers interested in net worth, the central point is that the largest numbers come from owning a brand and not from a television fee. The show provided an audience, and the business built on that audience created the fortunes that are reported today.
Where to check for updates
Forbes publishes updated estimates for the family, and business news outlets cover funding rounds for Skims and other brands. The E! contract was covered by Variety and The Hollywood Reporter in 2017.
*General information, not financial advice. Figures are reported estimates.*
More like this: browse our Celebrity Net Worth section. For background, see the Wikipedia entry.
