Kim Kardashian was born in Los Angeles, California, the second of four children. When she was 9 years old, her parents got divorced, and not long after, her mother married the Olympic gold medalist Bruce Jenner (later Caitlyn). She and her siblings were educated to be independent and to earn their own money, so during her school years (the all-girls Catholic), she worked in her father’s company, which she inherited with her siblings after her father passed away in 2003.
At 19, she eloped with her boyfriend, the music producer Damon Thomas. They divorced after three years because he abused her physically and emotionally. During the early 2000’s she became known as the stylist for her childhood friend, Paris Hilton, frequently appearing on The Simple Life reality show.
At 26, Kardashian had her first business endeavor when she and her sisters, Kourtney and Khloé, opened a boutique store named D-A-S-H, selling their clothing and fragrances collections. In 2007, a sex tape of her and her boyfriend, the R&B singer Ray J, leaked online and was distributed as Kim Kardashian, Superstar. With her growing fame, alongside the debut of the new reality show “Keeping up with the Kardashians,” which followed her and her extended family, she was able to channel her status as socialite into a business of its own. She began featuring in films and TV shows, such as “How I Met Your Mother,” “30 rock,” “CSI: NY,” and “90210.” She was a guest judge at “America’s Next Top Model” and a guest host at “WrestleMania XXIV.” “Keeping up with the Kardashians”’ success led to several spin-offs, including “Kourtney and Kim Take Miami,” and “Kourtney and Kim Take New York.” In 2008, she founded Kimsaprincess Productions and became involved in various business ventures, including a workout DVD series and different product endorsements, from beauty products to credit cards. Kardashian became the face of the Seven Bar Foundation’s campaign for funding women entrepreneurs while launching an online shoe company.
In 2011, Kardashian married the NBA player, Kris Humphries. Their wedding preparations and celebration were televised in a two-part special on E!. Sadly, 72 days after the ceremony, the couple filed for an annulment. The following year, she began dating the rapper, Kanye West, and they married two years later. Kardashian was always open and sincere about her pregnancies, sharing her experiences with preeclampsia and the early birth of her first child, and with the fertility issues she dealt with in her second pregnancy, which afterward she was advised not to become pregnant again, and her third and fourth child were born via a surrogate. In 2014, she made a sensation when she appeared nude on the cover of Paper’s magazine with the caption “Break the Internet.” The response to this photo is recognized as a landmark of the new era of social media. In that same year, she released a mobile game, in which the user mission is to become a Hollywood star. The game gained US$1.6 million in less than a week. Following her enormous successes, she began charging between $75,000 and $300,000 for an endorsement post on social media, and within four years, she was paid $720,000 for a single post. In addition to been a social media icon and influencer, she kept on opening new businesses, including the KKW beauty and perfume line, an OPI nail polish line, a contemporary jewelry line, and the Skims shapewear.
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