Old money is reaching new heights.
Kim Kardashian has allegedly topped the list for the world’s most successful “nepotism baby,” the hot button term describing famous children of A-list parents.
The 42-year-old SKIMS founder is the reigning nepo-baby, superseding her iconic sisters, according to digital marketing agency Evoluted.
Kardashian, who is estimated to have a net worth of 1.8 billion dollars, supposedly beat out her 25-year-old half-sister Kylie Jenner, whose net worth is estimated at 600 million and placed second on the list.
According to Forbes, the SKKN founder’s wealth is mostly garnered from her stakes in her own brands – as she weasels into the shape wear and cosmetics industries following her start on reality TV.
Evoluted created the privileged hierarchy based on net worth estimations, Google Trends data, social media following and a YouGov-attributed “fame score,” which decides just how popular any celeb is.
Miley Cyrus, 30, fell at third place on the list, and the country singer-turned-rockstar is closely trailed by TV personalty Simon Cowell, 63, and silver fox George Clooney, 61.
Money talks – and everyone’s listening in. The nepotism chat began in the New York Magazine’s cover story “Extremely overanalyzing Hollywood’s nepo-baby boom.”
The article, which dubbed 2022 as “The Year of the Nepo-Baby,” elicited outcry from fans on Twitter who claimed the A-listers included were wrongly dragged through the mud. It even ruffled the feathers of the generational wealth successors, as some embraced the title and others bashed it.
“It’s weird to me to reduce somebody to the idea that they’re only there because it’s a generational thing,” Lily-Rose Depp, the 23-year-old daughter of “Pirates of the Caribbean” star Johnny Depp, told Elle in November 2022.
“It just doesn’t make any sense,” she added. “If somebody’s mom or dad is a doctor, and then the kid becomes a doctor, you’re not going to be like, ‘Well, you’re only a doctor because your parent is a doctor.’ It’s like, ‘No, I went to medical school and trained.’”
But there’s no use crying over spilled tea – some young stars like Hailey Bieber owned their inherited status. The model sported a white tee with the words “nepo baby” printed on the front just last week.
Analyzing search and following data of rising nepo-babies, Evoluted crafted a list of the youngsters riding the nepotism wave on the heels of their parents. 24-year-old “Stranger Things” star Maya Hawke, daughter of Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman, took first place as actor Lewis Pullman, 29, placed a close second.
Bieber, the 26-year-old daughter of Stephen Baldwin, followed in third as her beauty brand Rhode dominates the internet and threatens to topple Jenner’s lip kit empire. 24-year-old Jaden Smith, son of Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith, came in fourth as Brooklyn Beckham, the 23-year-old child of Victoria and David Beckham, trailed behind.
Nepotism isn’t exactly a new phenomenon, as one Twitter user pointed out, “Is it really a nepo-baby boom or has it always been this way & we just didn’t realize? They rattled off a slew of household names: Jamie Lee Curtis, Jennifer Aniston, Charlie Sheen, Gwyneth Paltrow, Drew Barrymore.
Curtis, who referred to herself as the “OG Nepo Baby,” isn’t convinced having talented parents promises success, but also isn’t surprised by the inherited craft.
“It’s curious how we immediately make assumptions and snide remarks that someone related to someone else who is famous in their field for their art, would somehow have no talent whatsoever,” the 64-year-old actress wrote online.
Kate Hudson, daughter to mother Goldie Hawn and step-dad Kurt Russell, weighed in on the matter – and she’s convinced a knack for the limelight can be boiled down to genetics.
“I look at my kids and we’re a storytelling family. It’s definitely in our blood,” the 43-year-old actress said. “People can call it whatever they want, but it’s not going to change it.”