Kris Jenner, photographed in Calabasas on Jan. 15.
(Evan Mulling / For The Times)
You could make the case that any one of Kris Jenner’s five daughters deserves a spot on this list of L.A.’s most influential people. They’re each indelible parts of the pop culture firmament, attract millions of followers on social media and have massively lucrative businesses that together bring in billions.
All true. But none of that success would exist without Jenner, 68, who serves as the family’s entrepreneurial mastermind.
Discover the changemakers who are shaping every cultural corner of Los Angeles. This week we bring you the final installment of the L.A. Influential series: The Establishment. They are the bosses, elected officials and A-list names calling the shots from the seats of power.
Jenner manages all of her daughters’ careers, taking a reported 10% cut of a dizzying array of moneymaking businesses. That’s a piece of the action in Skims, Kim’s shapewear brand, Kendall’s 818 Tequila and modeling gigs, the size-inclusive clothing brand that Khloe co-founded, Kylie’s cosmetics line, and Kourtney’s vitamin business, just to name a few. (She’s also involved in her son Rob’s sock company.)
And then there’s the family’s reality TV empire that Jenner has orchestrated. After 20 seasons with E!, “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” ended in 2021 and “The Kardashians” began on Hulu a year later. Like her kids, Jenner has shared intimate details of her life on the programs: She has documented a face-lift, coached Kim through a Playboy shoot — “You’re doing amazing, sweetie!” — and went through a divorce with Caitlin Jenner.
Kris Jenner’s daughters are each indelible parts of the pop culture firmament, attract millions of followers on social media and have massively lucrative businesses that together bring in billions.
Jenner wed the Olympic gold medalist in 1991, following her split from O.J. Simpson defense attorney Robert Kardashian. It was during her second marriage that the San Diego native began to employ her business acumen. The former flight attendant took it upon herself to reinvigorate her athlete spouse’s career — and the family’s finances — by marketing her partner through motivational speaking gigs and a series of workout videos.
Today, she has her own company — Safely, a plant-based cleaning product line — but it’s her work helping to build her children’s entities that has brought her the most financial success. According to Forbes, Jenner sets up the employee and supply chain infrastructure for their businesses. Not bad for a woman whom so many deride as only being famous for being famous.