Kim Kardashian was recently fired from her own private equity firm, and it’s clear that her name alone couldn’t recreate the success she had with Skims—something that, in hindsight, seems more imagined than real. On top of that, she’s out here, well… trying to pull off a look that’s like Cindy Lho, but in a way that feels pretty off.
If you haven’t seen it, Kim dropped a weird Christmas video where she’s crawling around, looking like a cracked-out version of Cindy Lho. It’s unclear if she was going for some Marilyn Monroe vibe again, but it came off as a complete flop. Honestly, it felt like something Kanye might have done a decade ago—only without any of the spark. It’s like a poor imitation of Kanye’s old style, but without the energy or originality.
A lot of people have their own reasons for why it didn’t work, but it seems like Kim dropped the video to distract from something bigger. After all, she’s no longer the managing partner of her private equity firm—remember that? She was all over the cover of that magazine, flaunting her surgically enhanced curves in a jockstrap, talking about being on “different levels now.”
It was a bold move, but honestly, it didn’t really fit with the world of private equity. It was like showing up to an important business meeting in a party outfit. Sure, you do you, but it doesn’t exactly inspire confidence. Plus, in a male-dominated industry like private equity, the focus tends to be on women in all the wrong ways.
It’s especially strange considering Kim had reached a point in her career where she didn’t need to rely on her looks to make money. Yet here we are, years later, with her crawling around in a Christmas video, looking more like her old self than the business mogul she once wanted to be.
From the gold Christmas, I was thinking—at a certain age, you’d think someone would say, “I don’t have to compete with the younger girls. They can do all the tricks, but I can just sit back and make money while waiting for my nails to dry.” It’s kind of strange, but it really shows where Kim’s mindset was at that point. Even with four kids, all that fame, and tons of wealth, she still felt the need to be the most desirable, the hottest person in the room.
The problem with that? When you’re fighting for attention in that kind of space, you’re setting yourself up for failure. It’s not about whether a 45-year-old can be just as hot—or even hotter—than a 20-year-old. I’m not ageist at all. It’s more about why bother trying to compete in such shallow, surface-level spaces when you should have grown past that and realized that life is so much more than just physical appearance. Sure, you can embody it, but there’s so much more to life than that.
I’ve always thought Kim had someone whispering a little sugar into her ear, which is why she decided to start a private equity fund. For those who aren’t familiar, private equity is about big money. Kim can call herself a billionaire, but no billionaire would ever put all their money into a private equity fund by themselves. They’d bring in other investors.
Kim thought she could use her Kardashian name, built on sex appeal, and her success with Skims to make it work. But here’s the thing—anyone seriously looking to invest is going to do their homework. They’ll see that, even with all the hype, the real success behind the Kardashians’ businesses—Skims and Good American (though I honestly think Good American has more to do with Iger than Khloé, who’s more of a paid spokesperson)—isn’t Kim pulling the strings.
Yes, Kim owns Skims, but Emma Gird is the mastermind behind it all. Emma’s the one who took Kanye’s creative vision—let’s be real, Kim is still living off that vision—and turned it into a business. Kim was the face, Emma had the business sense, and Kanye brought the ideas. After Kanye left, they did what they could, but now Emma’s stepping into the driver’s seat. There’s only so much one person can do, and Emma is really starting to take charge.
A thoughtful, non-problematic Black man on Twitter recently pointed out, “Kardashian’s name recognition and success with Skims never translated into fundraising success for Sky Partners,” the private equity firm she co-founded with Jay Salmons, a former Carlyle Group dealmaker. Now, I’ve always been a bit skeptical about how far that private equity venture would go, but not because of Kim herself—it’s more about the way the Kardashians handle their money. It’s like their wealth just disappears into thin air. They’re constantly grabbing, grabbing, grabbing. That’s why they’re involved in so many different ventures.
I also think Kim thought she could bring the same marketing strategy that Kris Jenner perfected—overhyping how much people care about them and their products—into the world of private equity. They’ve mastered inflating their popularity, then selling it off to the highest bidder. Look at Kylie Cosmetics and Coty, for example. But private equity investors aren’t fooled by the hype. They do their homework because billions are at stake, and they’re focused on one thing: numbers. So while the Kardashians love to push the narrative that Kim is the “youngest billionaire” or that their brand is worth billions, the reality is investors just want to see solid numbers. After the issues with Kylie Jenner’s inflated figures, they took a hard look at the numbers and decided it wasn’t a good investment.
Another big issue was that some investors simply didn’t want to be associated with Kim. The Kardashian brand doesn’t inspire trust in the financial world, and their analytics showed that consumers weren’t as invested in their products as Kim and her team hoped.
At the end of the day, I think the Kardashians’ fame has a lot to do with how fans often believe in the idea of self-loathing as a path to self-improvement. A lot of people hate-watch them, but that’s part of their fame. The show portrayed them as a weird family that, despite everything, loved each other—and people tuned in to watch. But once they became famous, it seemed like they wanted more than just attention—they wanted respect. Of course, everyone wants respect, but it felt like they also wanted to sit at the top of the social ladder, looking down on the people who helped put money in their pockets. But here’s the thing: when you’re selling products like underwear and jeans, where’s the connection with the average consumer? You can’t just strip away relatability and expect to be seen as “upper echelon.”
When they were in Calabasas, they were upper middle class, but as they grew older, it seems they wanted to distance themselves from that image. Now they want to sit at the table with old money—the Jeff Bezos types—but that world doesn’t seem to mesh well with them. Maybe Kim will find another way to make it work, but private equity doesn’t seem to be it.
Now, about the “Santa Baby” video—Kim’s clearly trying to get back into the game, and she’s focusing on her legal career. Back to her roots.
Here’s the latest: Kim Kardashian is no longer managing Sky Partners, the private equity firm she co-founded in 2022. Despite her fame and the success of Skims, it didn’t translate into the fundraising success they hoped for. The firm was aiming to raise at least $1 billion to buy consumer companies but ended up with just $121 million and only one deal under its belt. They recently disclosed in filings that they secured a little more funding, but Kim is now just listed as a co-founder and has moved into a senior advisor role. Kris doesn’t even have a position anymore. The writing has been on the wall for a while—it’s tough for the Kardashians because not everything that glitters is gold. Kim’s been removed, but others are still working to see if they can salvage the firm without her involvement. We’ll see how it goes.
In the end, as always, the numbers don’t lie.
And now we understand the “Santa Baby” video—Kim’s trying to reset. She’s back to focusing on her legal career. Classic Kim.
Let me know what you think in the comments. Talk to you later. Bye.
