Reality show family superstars, the Kardashians, raked in over $65 million last year alone, according to The Hollywood Reporter, who ran a cover story on them in this month’s issue.

Many people are wondering how they made their money. The Kardashians got their loot from their reality show, merchandising, various appearances and plain old product endorsements. The family’s Matriarch and manager Kris Jenner, or as TIME called her “mom-ager” reportedly takes 10 percent of the profits, and has been responsible for the family going from virtually unknown, to mainstream.

Kris Jenner says that she had wanted to have a reality show about her family for a long time, but after the unfortunate Kim Kardashian tape got released, she put the plans on hold.

“I thought, ‘Oh well, there goes the reality show,'” she said. “But you can either be a problem maker or a problem solver. And I’m a problem solver. My job as her mom and manager is to take care of the problem – whatever it is…All I knew was that I had to make some lemonade out of these lemons fast. Real fast.”

Problem solver she is, “My job was trying to take my kids’ 15 minutes and turn it into 30,” she told The Hollywood Reporter. She did that and much more.

Kim Kardashian brings in an estimated $100,000 for each appearance, and can get $25,000 just for promoting a product on Twitter. When she got married, Khloe Kardashian got a reported $300,000, to let OK! Magazine publish her wedding pictures, and Kourtney got the same amount just to have Life & Style Magazine run pictures of her newborn and cover her pregnancy.

The Kardashians are also business-oriented. They have three Dash clothing boutiques, fitness DVDs, perfume, and a new line at Sears called the Kardashian Lifestyle Collection. Many are critical of their rapid ascent, but decidedly, the Kardashians have nowhere to go but up.