The world’s top celebrity investors include the likes of Ashton Kutcher and Serena Williams. But do you know which companies they’ve backed since the pandemic shook up the global economy? The Fresh Business Thinking team pulls together a unique look at celebrity lockdown investments.
Celebrities don’t just make their money from their day jobs and sponsorship deals. They’re often silent investors in many popular brands using their sizeable paychecks to make lucrative investments. Here we round up the most savvy celebrity investors in the world today, and take a look at their lockdown investments.
Who are the biggest celebrity investors?
Investment experts at money.co.uk analysed a seed list of 30 celebrities from Crunchbase and Love Money to find out which stars are the biggest and busiest investors. These celebs have invested a total of $11.9bn across 339 different business ventures. Let’s take a look.
- On average, celebrities invest $38m per investment venture.
- Over a fifth (23%) of wellness and health brands are funded by female celebrity backers, with Saie and Headspace receiving the most funds from celebrity backers.
- A third of celebrities have invested over $100m in a single business investment.
- 1 in 10 celebrities have invested $500m in a single investment fund.
- The combined estimated net worth of all of these celebrity investors totals $12bn.
- Ashton Kutcher has invested the most into businesses ($3.1bn), followed closely by Nas, Katy Perry and Jared Leto.
- According to money.co.uk’s methodology that scores each celebrity on net worth, number of investments, investment sums and the estimated total amount of funding, Jay-Z is the most successful celebrity backer with 11 investments and a total investment sum of $983m with tech and champagne being his biggest investment areas.
- Katy Perry has the highest average fund amount of $265m spread across her four investments.
- Oprah Winfrey, Jessica Alba, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Tyra Banks are the most fruitful wellness investors with 16 brands in their portfolios.
- Ashton Kutcher, Jay-Z, and Jared Leto were all early investors in Uber back in the brand’s early days.
The celebrities who have invested the most
Inspired by money.co.uk’s Celebrity Investments Index, the Fresh Business Thinking team looked into the top 9 celebrities who have the highest estimated amount investment and their lockdown investments, looking at Crunchbase data from March 2020 till date. Ashton Kutcher and Serena Williams lead the lockdown investment list, backing multiple companies privately and via partnerships. Check out our breakdown below.
Ashton Kutcher
Actor Ashton Kutcher has made a total of 54 investments and has 14 exits to date. Since the pandemic, he has invested in 5 businesses. He also holds 5 current jobs, including Co-Founder at Sound Ventures, Co-Founder at A Plus, and Chairperson at Thorn.
| Business | About | Sector | Valuation | Money raised | Funding round | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cloud Paper | Cloud Paper is a tree-free paper manufacturer that makes paper products made with 100% bamboo. | Sustainability | N/A | $3m | Seed | 22 Sep 2020 |
| Titan | Titan is an investment management operating system for retail investors. | Financial services | $1m to $10m | $12.5m | Series A | 16 Feb 2021 |
| Dapper Labs | Dapper Labs is a consumer-focused blockchain product made for gaming and supports digital collectables. | Blockchain | N/A | $305m | Venture | 30 Mar 2021 |
| SuperRare | SuperRare is a marketplaces for tokenised digital art. | Blockchain | N/A | $9m | Series A | 30 Mar 2021 |
| SteadyMD | SteadyMD is a healthcare technology company that provides telehealth services. | Healthtech | $10m to $50m | $25m | Series B | 30 Mar 2021 |
| Chainalysis | Chainalysis provides blockchain data and analysis to government agencies, banks, and businesses around the world. | Blockchain | N/A | $13m | Series B | 07 Jul 2020 |
| Chums | Social media shopping | ECommerce | N/A | $3.5m | Seed | 01 Mar 2021 |
| MainStreet | MainStreet is a financial platform that helps startups and small businesses discover and claim tax credits and government incentives. | Financial Services | N/A | $60m | Series A | 08 Mar 2021 |
| Community | Community is an app that solves communication and engagement problems. | Telecommunications | N/A | $40m | Venture | 09 Apr 2021 |
Katy Perry
Singer Katy Perry has made 4 investments totalling $1.06bn. She holds 2 current jobs as Co-Founder at Juicero and Singer at Capitol Records.
| Business | About | Sector | Valuation | Money raised | Funding round | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Impossible Foods | Impossible Foods is a company developing plant-based substitutes for meat, dairy, and fish products. | F&B | $1bn to $10bn | $500m | Series F | 16 Mar 2020 |
| Apeel Sciences | Apeel Sciences develops plant-derived shelf life extension technology for fresh produce that improves quality and reduces food waste. | AgTech | $1bn | $250m | Series D | 26 May 2020 |
Jared Leto
Actor Jared Leto has made 28 investments and 6 exits, including Suja Life, Reserve, and Reddit.
| Business | About | Sector | Valuation | Money raised | Funding round | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moment House | Premium digital live platform for artists and creators | Digital media | N/A | $1.5m | Seed | 17 Nov 2020 |
| Relativity Space | Aerospace | $1bn to $10bn | $500m | Series D | 17 Nov 2020 | |
| X1 Card | Smart credit card | Financial Services | N/A | $12m | Venture | 14 Jan 2021 |
| Vessel | Vessel is an at-home wellness tracker that helps in accessing, understanding, and optimising health and wellness from the comfort of home. | Healthtech | N/A | $8.5m | Seed | 27 Jan 2021 |
Jay-Z
Shawn Carter AKA Jay-Z has made 10 investments and 4 exits, including Uber, Julep, and JetSmarter. He has 4 current jobs including Owner at Project Panther, Founder at Roc Nation, and Founder at the Shawn Carter Foundation.
| Business | About | Sector | Valuation | Money raised | Funding round | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Impossible Foods | Impossible Foods is a company developing plant-based substitutes for meat, dairy, and fish products. | F&B | $1bn to $10bn | $500m | Series F | 16 Mar 2020 |
| Therabody | Therabody is a developer of medical devices for targeted vibration therapy and pain relief. | Healthtech | N/A | N/A | Venture | 17 Feb 2021 |
| HUNGRY | Hungry is a food-tech catering company that connect customers to chefs, delivering fresh food from these chefs to the customers. | Catering | $100m to $500m | $20m | Series B | 05 Mar 2020 |
Bono
Paul Hewson AKA Bono has made 5 investments and 2 exits (Vamo and Blue Bottle Coffee). He is the Co-founder at The ONE Campaign and was the Managing Director & Partner at Elevation Partners. He is a Board Member at Zipline.
| Business | About | Sector | Valuation | Money raised | Funding round | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Varo Money | Varo Money is a mobile banking business that helps customers cover their expenses, pay their bills, and build their wealth over time. | Financial services | $1bn to $10bn | $241m | Series D | 3 Jun 2020 |
Will.i.Am
William Adams AKA will.i.am has made 6 investments and has 1 exit (Honest Dollar). He has 4 current jobs including CCO at 3D Systems, Chief Executive Officer & co-founder at i.am+, and President at i.am.angel Foundation.
| Business | About | Sector | Valuation | Money raised | Funding round | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Impossible Foods | Impossible Foods is a company developing plant-based substitutes for meat, dairy, and fish products. | F&B | $1bn to $10bn | $500m | Series F | 16 Mar 2020 |
Serena Williams
Serena Williams has made 4 investments privately and 28 via partnerships. She currently holds 4 jobs including Partner at Bumble Fund, Founder & Partner at Serena Ventures, and Founder at Serena Williams Foundation.
| Business | About | Sector | Valuation | Money raised | Funding round | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Impossible Foods | Impossible Foods is a company developing plant-based substitutes for meat, dairy, and fish products. | F&B | $1bn to $10bn | $500m | Series F | 16 Mar 2020 |
| Pachama | Pachama is building a technology verified marketplace for forest carbon offsets. | Sustainability | N/A | $5m | Seed | 15 Sep 2020 |
| Every Mother | Every Mother is designed for women at all stages of motherhood. | Fitness | N/A | $1.5m | Seed | 06 May 2020 |
| SpringHill Entertainment | Incubating, developing, and producing work that speaks to a cross-cultural audience. | Media | N/A | $100m | Venture | 25 Jun 2020 |
| ShoppingGives | ShoppingGives encourages consumers to make an impact through its change commerce technology. | ECommerce | N/A | $5.5m | Seed | 15 Sep 2020 |
| Lolli | Lolli is a rewards app that allows users to earn bitcoin when shopping online. | Blockchain | N/A | $5m | Seed | 24 Mar 2021 |
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey made 4 investments and 1 exit (Waywire). She has 2 current jobs as Chairwoman & CEO at Oprah Winfrey Network and Founder, Chairwoman and CEO at Harpo Productions. She is also a Board Member at True Food Kitchen.
| Business | About | Sector | Valuation | Money raised | Funding round | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apeel Sciences | Apeel Sciences develops plant-derived shelf life extension technology for fresh produce that improves quality and reduces food waste. | AgTech | $1bn | $250m | Series D | May 26, 2020 |
| Oatly | Oatly delivers products that have maximum nutritional value and minimal environmental impact. | F&B | N/A | $200m | Private equity | Jul 15, 2020 |
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