Actors, musicians, athletes, and other public figures continue to become some of the wealthiest people in America. Today, we’re seeing some of these household names achieve billionaire status. What sets apart the most successful celebrities is what they do with the large sums of money their primary careers make them. Entrepreneurship, and not just their high salaries or contracts, helps them garner so much wealth. The smartest stars, along with their financial advisors, have carefully created investment portfolios that take advantage of their accumulated money. Investing in startups, opening franchises, creating new products, and acquiring property are common tools used by high achieving celebrities. Here’s ten of the most successful celebrity investors:
Ashton Kutcher
The former “That 70’s Show” star has turned into more of a venture capitalist with a series of early stage investments. He established a sizable stake in several Silicon Valley companies while they were still in their infancy. Notable successes include Airbnb, Uber, and Skype. The celebrity has even created his own investment firm, A-Grade Investments, which he focuses a lot of attention on.
Ellen DeGeneres
In an interview where she was the guest for a change, Ellen admitted that she’s never purposely flipped a house. She was simply never perfectly satisfied with the reported twelve homes that she’s cycled through over the years. The day time television star and her wife, Portia, have incidentally become veteran house flippers after renovating and selling each property for a profit. According to Money magazine, one particular flip led to a profit of $15 million on an upscale mansion.
Sean Carter (Jay-Z)
Long time rapper and husband of Beyoncé, Sean Carter has developed into a legitimate business magnate. In fact, Jay-Z has been so successful that back in 2010, Forbes invited the rapper to do an interview right alongside legendary investor Warren Buffet. Over the years, Carter has amassed over $1 billion thanks in part to his streaming service Tidal, champagne brand Armand de Brignac, and talent agency Roc Nation. This accomplishment is even more impressive when you consider its entirely self made for the star who grew up poor in the projects of New York.
Lebron James
The King himself, LBJ is well aware that he can’t play basketball forever. The aging NBA superstar has taken great strides to ensure that his family continues to be well provided for long after his retirement. James has made investments all across the board from Beats Electronics to the international soccer club, Liverpool. He’s also embarked on some of his own ventures including a franchise with Blaze Pizza and his own production company, SpringHill Entertainment. The latter has gone on to produce several television shows, and all contributing to Lebron’s estimated net worth of almost $500 million.
Jessica Alba
Offscreen, movie celebrity Jessica Alba started her own venture completely outside the world of entertainment. “The Honest Company”, which she started in 2011, focuses on household products and cosmetics in addition to natural products for babies. By making a leap of faith, Alba solidified herself as a successful businesswomen and led her company to a valuation of almost $1 billion.
George Clooney
Similar to Jessica Alba, Clooney found massive success in an industry far away from the spotlight. The Golden Globe winner and his friend, Rande Gerber, spent years trying to find the perfect tequila for their own enjoyment. After working with a distiller, they decided to bring their favorite variation to market calling it Casamigos Tequila. In 2017, they cashed in on their passion project and sold the company for, reportedly, up to $1 billion.
Michael Jordan
This list couldn’t be complete without mentioning the success of Jordan’s business empire. After his legendary career in basketball, the famous athlete quickly capitalized on his fame by taking on endorsements with popular brands like Gatorade, Hanes and Nike. Nike also partnered with Jordan to build an entire line of shoes in his name. The spin-off brand is said to bring in over $3 billion in revenue every year. In addition, the basketball star returned to the NBA by purchasing majority ownership of the Charlotte Hornets. The teams value has increased six fold in the the last 9 years. On top of this, Jordan has diversified his investments by opening several restaurants and car dealerships. Forbes reports that his current net worth is nearly $2 billion.
Oprah Winfrey
Although her television show has been off-air since 2011, Oprah has continued to keep herself (and her money) busy. Outside of her charity work, the tv celebrity invested heavily in Weight Watchers back in 2015. Her initial investment of $67 million reached a peak value of $776 million in just three years before the company encountered problems in late 2018. She has also taken up producing movies and creating original content for her partnership with Apple. Forbes ranks her as one of America’s wealthiest self-made women at $2.6 billion.
Sean Combs (Diddy)
Another hip-hop artist turned business mogul, Diddy, has racked up an impressive net worth of over $800 million. After putting down the microphone, Sean Combs became a serial entrepreneur and investor. In addition to his “Sean John” clothing line and co-ownership of the AQUAhydrate water brand, he also partnered with DeLeon tequila and was brought on as a brand manager for the Ciroc vodka brand. Diddy is also contracted to recieve 50% of Ciroc’s profits for the remainder of the multi-year deal.
You don’t have to be a celebrity or even be a multi-millionaire to enjoy the profits of investing. We work with clients of all backgrounds and wealth levels to create a customized wealth management strategy. If you have questions about how to make your money work for you in celebrity style, please contact us.
