'She could one day become governor of California': Kim Kardashian, the incredible rise of Instagram's patient 'zero'

Stars of social networks or YouTube, their influence has gone beyond the first circle of their community of fans. Notoriety and media exposure have enabled them to build veritable small empires and sign marvelous contracts with major brands.

At the dawn of summer, in the heart of the German capital, Kim Kardashian, surrounded by her three bodyguards, tried to make her way among the cream of global finance. For the most famous of American influencers, the aisles of SuperReturn, one of the high masses in the sector, were the perfect opportunity to present her first private equity firm, SKKY Partners, in search of 1 billion dollars for its first fund.

“Are you still driving your kids to school, Kim?” asked a journalist, as the star with 363 million Instagram followers (more than the number of inhabitants in the United States) was interviewed. by Carlyle co-founder David Rubenstein. A handful of protagonists present in Berlin were obviously not yet ready to welcome Kim Kardashian into the ruthless world of private equity...

"Like her family, Kim Kardashian is what we can call in marketing a 'human brand'", comments the American academic Markus Wohlfeil, author of the book Celebrity Fans and Their Consumer Behavior ("Les fans de celebrities and their consumption behavior”). The days when the general public discovered the 27-year-old young woman on the internet through a sex tape with her boyfriend of the moment now seem very distant. A few months after this highly publicized sex scandal, the program "The Incredible Kardashian Family" saw the light of day on television at the end of 2007, propelling Kim, her mother Kris Jenner, her stepfather Bruce Jenner (now later Caitlyn), her sisters Khloé and Kourtney as well as her half-sisters Kylie and Kendall Jenner take center stage.

In the collective imagination, Kim Kardashian is often seen as the "patient zero" of the influence industry, where narcissism and photo editing are kings. And where the results of Instagram filters end up as models on the table of the most fashionable cosmetic surgeons... "Kim Kardashian's strength is that she was able to quickly transform her social capital into financial capital", analyzes an investment banker . First through product placements and collaborations with brands. For a single corporate-sponsored post on social media, the now 42-year-old businesswoman charges no less than $500,000. According to Forbes magazine, the fortune of the daughter of Armenian-born lawyer Robert Kardashian, known for having defended American footballer O. J. Simpson, was around $ 1.8 billion at the start of 2023.

The former companion of Kanye West, cited among the most influential personalities in the world by Time magazine, has turned into a formidable businesswoman. Four years ago, she founded her brand of support underwear Skims, valued at $ 4 billion during its last fundraising, last June. The company, which has received the confidence of large funds such as Wellington Management, Greenoaks Capital Partners, D1 Capital Partners and Imaginary Ventures, now dreams of going public. Her beauty, cosmetics and fragrance brand, SKKN By Kim, is also a big hit.

The reality TV star has proven that she can influence consumers' shopping behavior in their perpetual quest for beauty. Before that, the long-haired, dark-haired fashionista from Los Angeles had made sure to influence the way the general public perceived beauty: a complexion built up with large strokes of "contouring" (a makeup technique) and a body showing off its curves, far from the diktats of leanness of the time.

In parallel, his smartphone game "Kim Kardashian: Hollywood", released in 2014, regularly appears in the list of the hundred best video games released in the last decade.

With the Kardashians, business continues to be done with the family. Kris Jenner is one of the partners of SKKY Partners (dedicated to financing companies in the media, digital, e-commerce and luxury hotels), founded by Kim and an industry pundit, Jay Sammons. The queen of storytelling now hopes to prove that her talents will help her through the turbulence of private equity, which has been idling since the spectacular rise in interest rates.

"In the future, it would not surprise me if Kim Kardashian became governor of California, like Arnold Schwarzenegger," predicts his biographer, Sean Smith. In the United States, celebrities who enjoy regular exposure on television have immense influence. Throughout the 285 episodes of his "dynasty show", part of the group has seen Kim Kardashian evolve, often in the grip of major societal issues...

While waiting to fight in the political ring, the American, recently passed on the benches of law school, tries her hand at comedy. Platinum blonde hair and blood red lips, she will take her first steps in the twelfth season of the American Horror Story series, which will air in the coming days.