14 DAY TRIAL // Being a reality star – and one that makes a lot of money, while at it – means working around the clock to keep yourself on the map, to make sure you always get enough exposure. This explains why Kim Kardashian seems to be everywhere these days – and why she’s top earning reality star of the moment.
The Daily Beast came out with a list of the top 15 biggest reality stars right now and, perhaps not surprisingly at all, Kim came out on top.
Of course, the money she makes comes from various sources, not only from her paycheck for her reality shows, with the e-zine saying Kim earns more from endorsements. So, it’s no wonder then that she even showed up at the opening of a new toilet store.
In between them, the Kardashian sisters (Kim, Kourtney and Khloe) made a whopping $11 million last year, but most of the credit goes to Kim, who landed $6 million worth of endorsements.
“It’s hard to avoid a Kim Kardashian sighting, and that’s great for her. She pulled in an estimated $6 million this year for shilling everything from cupcake mix to Skechers Shape-ups to Kotex. But much of the Kardashian commerce is a family business,” the Daily Beast writes.
The Kardashian also have a line of boutiques that has proved very successful and have written a book (which moved 13,000 copies in its first week), but they also charge an appearance fee whenever they’re photographed in clubs or at various events.
Lauren Conrad of “The Hills” fame has also managed to turn her stint on the MTV show into a very lucrative business, making no less than $5 million in the last year from her fashion line, her books and public appearances.
Bethenny Frankel comes in at number 3 with $4 million in revenue, while Conrad’s co-star on “The Hills,” Audrina Patridge also made the cut, with $3.5 million.
Kate Gosselin lands on the 5th position also with $3.5 million but, speaking objectively, she had it worse than Audrina since she also has 8 children to support, whereas “The Hills” star doesn’t.
Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino from “Jersey Shore” also raked in the big bucks, with estimated earnings of $3 million for the past year, while Khloe Kardashian made $2.5 million.
The rest of the top ten is comprised of Kourtney Kardashian ($2.5 million, less than Khloe because she too has a kid to support), DJ Pauly ($2 million) and Kendra Wilkinson (also with $2 million and a child).
Honorable mentions go to: Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi ($750,000), Caroline Manzo $310,000 (show only), Danielle Staub $290,000 (show only), Jacqueline Laurita $270,000 (show only) and Teresa Giudice $250,000 (show only).