Forbes was handed a grammar lesson on Twitter for its choice of words to describe Kylie Jenner, who graced the magazine’s cover on Wednesday.
“At 21, she’s set to be the youngest-ever self-made billionaire. Welcome to the era of extreme fame leverage,” the magazine cover read alongside a photo of Kylie wearing a black blazer.
The term “self-made” didn’t sit well with Twitter users. Jenner is the youngest daughter of the reality TV family in “Keeping up with the Kardashians.”
Dictionary.com was quick to point out that, “self-made means having succeeded in life unaided,” and then posted this example, apparently in jest: “Used in a sentence: Forbes says that Kylie Jenner is a self-made woman.”
Another Twitter user said “calling Kylie Jenner a ‘self-made billionaire’ is like claiming you made soup from scratch because you opened a can and reheated it.” While others called it a “slap in the face” and questioned whether the outlet even knows what the term means.
Self-made means having succeeded in life unaided.
Used in a sentence: Forbes says that Kylie Jenner is a self-made woman. https://t.co/sr8Ncd7s5A https://t.co/ehEL7Cf6KV
— Dictionary.com (@Dictionarycom) July 11, 2018
“Calling Kylie Jenner “self-made” is like calling McDonald’s “homemade” stop this madness,” a user said on Twitter.
But not all were so quick to discredit the accomplishments of the 20-year-old, who is likely to grab the title of youngest billionaire ever from Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg – he reached the elite status at the age of 23.
“Unpopular opinion: Kylie J has built an empire of quality makeup and while she isn’t “self-made” we should all still be happy for her success,” Twitter user named Andy wrote.
calling kylie jenner a ‘self-made billionaire’ is like claiming you made soup from scratch because you opened a can and reheated it.
— gulab jamun (@PedestrianPoet) July 11, 2018
Another user agreed with the debate about whether “Self-Made” was the right word, but noted “she definitely took the foundation that was given to her and ran with it. Can’t even be mad. Not one bit.”
Kylie, who was placed on the cover of Forbes’ “America’s Women Billionaires,” launched her own cosmetic brand called Kylie Cosmetics less than three years ago, and has since sold more than $630 million worth of makeup, according to Forbes. In 2017 alone, she sold an estimated $330 million.
Forbes valued the company at nearly $800 million, while Kylie rakes in another $100 million from endorsement deals and appearances on her family’s reality TV show.
Kylie Jenner is about to be a billionaire at age 21 and y’all mad because they called her self made. Mannnnn she’s better than me because I would’ve called y’all broke!!
— a’rod (@austuck) July 11, 2018
Whether the reality TV star and social media authority is “self-made” is open to interpretation, however, it’s important to note Kylie did invest $250,000 of her own money from modeling gigs to produce the first line of lip kits that eventually led to her makeup empire.
