Social networks have become a job: it is already a reality. Content creators, also known as influencers, accumulate millions of followers on digital platforms, collaborate with important brands worldwide and attend notable events thanks to their ability to move masses. Despite being a lucrative business, some well-known faces on the Internet have chosen to expand their sources of income by creating business networks, more or less related to the sector with which they became known.
The most high-profile family in the American industry has created an empire around their last name: the Kardashians. Everything that sisters Kourtney, Kim, Khloé, Kendall and Kylie and her mother Kris Jenner touch turns to gold: the family has a joint assets valued at close to $2.75 billion, according to Forbes. The first time the Kardashian surname was heard was as a result of Kim’s friendship with Paris Hilton, in addition to a sex video of her with her ex-partner Ray J having come to light (the tape generated more than 1.4 million dollars).
That same year, the reality show Keeping Up With The Kardashian premiered. After more than 14 years of broadcast (2007-2021) and 20 seasons of uninterrupted success, the members of the “klan” became international stars and revolutionized the American television landscape by showing all their intimacies and their daily lives.
With more than twenty businesses in their particular business network, the Kardashian family has made a special foray into the fashion, cosmetics and liquor sectors. Some of the brands that have stood out are Kardashian Collection and KKW Beauty (Kim), Kylie Skin (Kylie), Purr and Lemme (Kourtney), Good America and D-A-S-H (Khloé) or the tequila brand 818 (Kendall). The multimillion-dollar “klan” businesses have turned Kim Kardashian’s company Skims into a case study at Harvard University, where she taught a class.
The dancer and influencer Charli Grace d’Amelio (19) rose to fame in 2019 when she began uploading dance videos to trendy music on TikTok, a platform on which she has 151.9 million followers, being the second most followed account on the social network worldwide. Her older sister Dixie Jean (22), who also began to be known on the same platform (formerly Musical.ly), has directed her career towards music, having released her first single Be Happy in 2020, with which she achieved the first spot on Billboard’s Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart and racked up 1.4 million listens on Spotify during its first week. Both are among the top 20 positions on Forbes’ Top Creators 2023 list.
Sisters Charli and Dixie have diversified their business portfolio since they were very young: they launched a Venture Capital fund to invest in startups with the aim of raising millions of dollars to create their own firms. In 2020 they joined forces with the cosmetics brand Morphe, with which they began a collaboration to create the makeup sub-brand Morhpe 2. In addition, in 2021 they launched the Social Tourist line together with Hollister (owned by Abercrombie
The Italian, who has 29.3 million followers on Instagram, began to make her name in 2009 through her blog The Blonde Salad. When her popularity began to rise, she left the International Law degree at Bocconi University in Milan with only three subjects left to graduate and moved to Los Angeles (United States). Ferragni closed deals with global brands such as Guess, Pantene and Swarovsky, although in 2013 she began marketing her own products.
The most powerful influencer according to Forbes has diversified her sources of income: she controls 100% of the company Tbs Crew, which manages her platform The Blonde Salad, and is the CEO and creative director of Fenice, the company that manages her fashion business, Chiara Ferragni Collection. In addition, she had a brief stint (18 months) on the board of directors of Tod’s.
Despite having pocketed millions of dollars thanks to his business side, a recent controversy has put his reputation in check. The Italian started an alleged charity campaign selling pandoros – a typical Italian Christmas sweet – in which she assured that its sale would mean a donation to the Regina Margherita pediatric hospital in Turin. Even so, it was made public that this donation, of 50,000 euros, had been made a priori and that its amount did not depend on sales. Ferragni pocketed around a million euros from a fraudulent campaign, and she was forced to apologize for a “communication error.” Despite having announced that she was going to donate all the money, Chiara Ferragni’s empire was on the verge of collapsing: several sponsors have broken her contracts with the Italian and she has lost nearly 85,000 followers on Instagram. In addition, her companies have been fined more than one million euros: Fenice for €400,000 and TBS Crew for €675,000.
María Pombo, the youngest of the saga of sisters known as ‘Pombashian’, is one of the Spanish influencers with the most national impact. The Madrid native, who recently starred in a documentary on Amazon Prime about her family history and her current life, has 3.2 million followers on Instagram. Having built her fame on social media, she has built her own small empire by diversifying her businesses.
Her first company was Tipi Tent, a casual and surf style clothing brand that she created in 2015 with her sister Marta and her ex-brother-in-law Luis Giménez, and which her husband Pablo Castellano joined. Years later she launched her second business in the same sector: the online store Name the Brand. Additionally, in 2019 she created the Suave Fest music festival, a reggaeton event in which artists such as Omar Montes, Cali y el Dandee and Henry Méndez have performed. The Madrid native has also joined the Vertical communication agency, founded by Marc Márquez, to launch a new division of content creators.
The Catalan influencer, who has 1.9 million followers on Instagram, is one of the most followed content creators in Spain. The model rose to fame after learning of her relationship with the publicist and presenter Risto Mejide, with whom she has been with for 21 years. Although their courtship was always criticized for the age difference, they married two years after starting dating. After seven years together and a daughter together, the couple ended their marriage in September 2022. Even so, there is something that still unites them: they continue to be part of the same company, Tuyyoque Studio SL., which reports million-dollar income ( according to Vanitatis, it had a turnover of 1.2M euros in 2022).
After their separation, the influencer and now businesswoman opted for new businesses. In January 2023 she founded La Tita Comunicación SL, which offers media representation services. Furthermore, in 2021 she opened her first beauty salon, Blondie, specialized in color treatments. Escanes spent a large part of her savings to open this beauty center in one of the most expensive areas of Madrid: near Puerta de Alcalá and El Retiro park. She has also started her journey in the world of television: she has presented the New Year’s Eve chimes with Miki Núñez and presents the adventure reality show La Travessa on TV3, the regional channel of Catalonia.
Other Spanish influencers have also decided to venture beyond social networks: Marta Lozano has her own cosmetics brand, The Glow Filter; Anna Ferrer Padilla controls the brand of bags, accessories, clothing and crafts ‘No ni ná’ together with her mother Paz Padilla; Eugenia Arroyo founded the Lagaam out-of-stock stores or the model and YouTuber Alex Boisset created the B3tter Foods brand, a healthy snacks company that had a turnover of 300,000 euros in its first year of existence. Other famous faces on social networks have become even better known after showing how their businesses work: this is the case of Alex Benlloch or Bruno Casanovas, the founders of the Nude Project brand, or Biel Juste and Joan Margarit, who head the brand. jewelry ‘made in Spain’ Twojeys.
