Kardashian starts fund firm with Carlyle veteran
KIM KARDASHIAN has launched a new private equity firm with a former partner of industry giant Carlyle, as the reality TV star seeks to expand her growing business empire.
Ms Kardashian has teamed up with Jay Sammons, who led consumer investing at Carlyle, to found SKKY Partners, a new private equity fund focused on buying stakes in fastgrowing media and consumer-facing companies.
The pair will serve as co-founders and co-managing partners, with Mr Sammons leading day-to-day operations of the firm.
The company said that its “target sectors include consumer products, digital and ecommerce, consumer media, hospitality and luxury”.
The firm has yet to raise any funds, according to the
which first reported the launch. Ms Kardashian’s mother Kris Jenner is also set to be a partner at SKKY.
Celebrities are increasingly looking to use their wealth and status to become investors in the private equity and venture capital sector. In March, tennis star Serena Williams raised $111m (£96m) for her new venture capital firm Serena Ventures.
Ms Kardashian has already had success with recent personal ventures, including fashion brand Skims and makeup brand KKW. In January, Skims was valued at $3.2bn.
Last year, Ms Kardashian was singled out by the then chairman of the City watchdog in a speech taking aim at celebrities who sell “delusions of quick riches” to the public by endorsing online investment schemes.
Charles Randell, the former chairman of the Financial Conduct Authority, said that famous people who promote cryptocurrencies and other high-risk investments on social media are “betraying the trust” of their fans. Mr Randell added that Ms Kardashian – who had advertised a cryptocurrency called Ethereum Max to her 250m Instagram followers – “may have been the financial promotion with the single biggest audience reach in history”.
There is no suggestion Ms Kardashian broke any rules.