OK! Investigates: You Wont Believe How Much Kim Is Worth! Kardashian's Net Worth And How She Made Her Money

It certainly pays to be a Kardashian!

In a special week long feature, OKMagazine.com is breaking down how much each member of the famous family is worth, how they built their fortunes and where the money comes from—starting with the richest of the rich reality stars—Kim Kardashian!

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It comes down to her wildly successful TV career, her sex tape, lucrative endorsements, paid appearances and savvy business acumen—and here are the number crunching facts!

First up, the back story.

Kim, 32, shot to fame in early 2007 after a homemade sex tape she made in 2003 with her then-boyfriend, Ray J, was leaked to the public.

Vivid Entertainment—the company that also released Farrah Abraham's celluloid sexploits, purchased the rights to the tape—Kim immediately filed suit, disputing their ownership rights, and after a mere two months of legal wrangling she settled with the company for a cool $5 million.

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And her career was born!

In October of the same year E! premiered Keeping up With the Kardashians, a reality show following the day-to-day lives of Kim, Khloe, Kourtney and Rob Kardashian, their mom Kris Jenner, her husband Bruce and their two kids together Kendall and Kylie.

Kim's fortunes continue to grow since hooking up with rapper Kanye West, who's worth $100 milion himself!

The show has been a mega-success and spawned four spin-offs, Kourtney and Khloe Take Miami, Kourtney and Kim Take New York, Khloe and Lamar and Kourtney and Kim Take Miami.

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And now the money!

The Kardashian Klan was already richer than most regular people could ever dream of as family patriarch, Robert Kardashian left a whopping $100 million estate in trust for his family when he died from esophageal cancer in 2003.

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Despite that more than sizable nest egg, the Kardashians have gone on to build their own fortune independently.

The family signed a $40 million contract with E! in 2012 to produce three more seasons of reality fare—and Kim earns the lions share of the cash, raking in an eye watering $80,000 an episode!

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Kim's high profile means she can command the megabucks for personal appearances at clubs and events around the world—and when we say mega bucks, we mean it—Kardashian earns an average of $100,000 per appearance, with a top end payday of $1 million!!

Kim, along with sisters Kourtney and Khloe, designs a clothing range for Sears called Kardashian Kollection

In February, there was an outcry after Nigerians learned Kardashian was paid $500,000 for a 45-minute red carpet appearance and 45 second stage shout out at the Love Like a Movie concert in Lagos.

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It's tough to top that, but……. Kim also charges just to be in her presence, like celebrating her birthday! Kardashian charged a bargain basement ticket charge of $1,000 - $2,500 to attend her 30th birthday party at Amnesia in New York back in 2010.

Kim also rakes in a sizeable income from magazine front covers and modeling work

Nice work if you can get it!

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Kim also rakes in a fortune from tweeting—scoring anywhere between $10,000 - $25,000 for one single 140 characters or less missive to her near eighteen million followers promoting a client's business or venture.

And, lets not forget the magazine covers!

When Kim married ill-feted hubby number two, Kris Humphries, she sold the exclusive rights to bridal shower coverage for $100,000 and the wedding photos for $1.5 million.

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That was just the start of the nuptials windfall—it's widely reported Kardashian pulled in a total of $18 million in licensing fees, endorsement and broadcast deals related to her big day.

Kim commands between $100,000 to $1 million for club and event appearances

Sadly the marriage only lasted 72 days.

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Then there's the businesses:

Kim, Khloe and Kourtney have a clothing line, Kardashian Kollection, which they sell though Sears in the U.S. and Dorothy Perkins in the U.K—although the exact details of their deal are unknown, the business brought in around $250 million in sales last year, of which we are sure they received a healthy portion.

Kim, Khloe and Kourtney also own D-A-S-H, a fashion store with branches in LA, Miami and New York

The girls also own D-A-S-H, an upscale fashion store with branches in New York, LA and Florida and a lifestyle boutique called Kardashian Khaos, which is based in the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas.

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Kim was one of the joint founders of ShoeDazzle which launched in 2009, and she remains it's chief fashion stylist.

Phew!

Put it all together and it's easy to understand why Kim has a net worth of $40 million—and with her's and Kanye West's star rising with each passing Vogue Cover, it seems the only way is up for KK!

What do you think of Kim Kardashian's net worth? Sound off in comments below and tweet us @OKMagazine.