Deploying sibling after sibling, the household, led by Kris, has crafted a wholly modern business model for making money, an estimated $65 million in 2010, more than Tom Cruise, Angelina Jolie and Sandra Bullock combined.
“People couldn’t believe we chose to do the cover of Playboy,” Jenner says of Kim’s December 2007 issue. “I thought it was a great business decision; it was something to be proud of. It became controversial, which then made it more iconic. I was like, bring it on!”
Andrew SouthamAmong the many things that people call Kris Jenner and her Kardashian brood, business savvy should certainly be one of them.
PHOTOS: Inside Kardashian Inc.
The 55-year-old mom of six (and step-mom of four) has managed to catapult herself from airline attendant, to housewife, to international fame and fortune seemingly overnight. As her children pair off and begin families of their own, the ambitious mother and executive producer of E!’s Keeping Up With the Kardashians shows no signs of slowing down. Take a look back at five of her most notable career moves.
COVER STORY: How the Kardashians Made $65 Million Last Year
1. After marrying former Olympian Bruce Jenner in 1991, Kris began overseeing her second husband’s speaking engagements and management deals. By 1994, the couple launched their own line of stair-climbing fitness equipment through a self-produced infomercial titled Super Fit With Bruce Jenner. The campaign became a quick success, running 2,000 times a month in 17 countries.
2. In what may have prepped her for future gigs, Kris served as a correspondent for ABC’s daytime talk show Mike & Maty in the mid-‘90s. Though the gig was short lived, it helped Kris realize her passion for show business, which she would later combine with her natural business sense.
3. In 2003, Kris opened the children’s boutique Smooch along with eldest daughter Kourtney. While the store closed its doors in 2009, it laid the groundwork for her three elder daughters to open a second store, Dash, in Calabasas. The girls have since expanded their store to other cities, and the process has lent itself to the reality series, Kourtney and Khloe Take Miami and Kourtney and Kim Take New York.
4. The family’s real break came in 2007 when E! premiered the instantly successful reality program, Keeping Up With the Kardashians, for which Kris was named executive producer. Despite being new to the world of reality television, Kris and her family quickly made the decision to pursue the opportunity at full throttle, which has parlayed into lucrative endorsement deals and other offers for nearly every member of the KUWTK clan.
5. Kris will next serve as a guest host for The Talk at the start of next season, filling in temporarily for Sharon Osbourne. The reality star has also inked a short-term deal with TODAY, though official details have yet to be confirmed.
Keeping Up With the Kardashians is current in its seventh season, airing Sunday’s at 10 p.m. on E!.
