By Yael Warman
They make our blood pressure spike when they jump off trains, give us belly aches when they make us laugh and make our hearts swell in romantic scenes. We see them in the silver screen and on magazine covers. That’s what celebrities are famous for, but behind the gloss, glitz and glamour, some celebs have decided to take their hard earned cash and invest it wisely in order to guarantee their lifestyles, long after their stardom fades away.
Want to take a look at who they are and what they invest in? I know I wanted to, so I made the legwork for you and searched high and low to bring you The Ultimate List of Celebrity Investors
William Shatner.
Better Late Than Never wasn’t a motto Shatner applied when it came to making wise business decisions. The original Captain Kirk has a business degree, which is what may have given him the talent to know a good business when he sees one, and agree to get paid in stock for his role as the Priceline negotiator. Word on the street is Shatner made $600 million when he sold his shares right before the dot-com bubble.
Ashton Kutcher.
As co-founder of venture capital firm A-Grave Investments, the That 70’s Show actor has probably made more money with his investments than he ever did in his high profile Hollywood life. Kutcher has invested in winners like Airbnb, Skype, FourSquare, Uber, and Spotify and his venture capital firm has invested in technology start-ups such as GroupMe, now owned by Microsoft, and Nest, acquired by Google. Mr. Two and a Half Man has become one of the most successfully celebrity investors.
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Magic Johnson.
Johnson dominates the investment world just as much as he dominated the court when playing for the NBA. The former Lakers player has been a busy investor since he retired from basketball. His holding company, Magic Johnson Enterprises, has its fingers in more than one pie, owning movie theaters, restaurants, health clubs, real estate, life insurance and a couple multi-million dollar sports teams.
Ellen DeGeneres.
There is nothing funny about Ms. DeGeneres’ approach to investing. The comedian made big bucks when the app she invested in, Stamped, was purchased by Yahoo for $10million. DeGeneres partnered with Warner Bros to found Ellen Digital Ventures and launched a family-friendly video destination in partnership with music competition app Chosen.fm.
Tyra Banks
The supermodel-turned-tycoon started Fierce Capital Investment, a company that invests in early-stage startups and female-focused businesses. Since its inception, the firm has invested in the social shopping site The Hunt, later acquired by Pinterest, millennial career site The Muse, lock screen app Locket, acquired by mobile shopping app Wish, and multiple rounds of the video portal Videogram.
Bono.
Although The U2 singer has had a track record of investments resembling a Sunday Bloody Sunday, including a 40% stake his private equity firm purchased in Forbes, which subsequently suffered a pension freeze and several rounds of layoffs, his move to buy a 1% stake in Facebook for $90 million, has granted him another Beautiful Day now that that stake is worth nearly $2 billion.
Nas.
The rapper has invested in a dozen startups, including Bitcoin services provider Coinbase. He often teams up with Silicon Valley veteran venture capitalist, Ben Horowitz to invest in startups.
Jessica Alba.
Alba must be feeling pretty ‘Fantastic’ since her e-commerce site and baby & household products startup is valued at an estimated $1 billion. She may have been named the most beautiful woman in Hollywood more times than I can count, but it is the ability with which she has turned the business world into her playground that has the world dazzled.
About the Author:
Yael Warman is a creative writer with a strong background in marketing and advertising. Yael has been a writer for over 10 years and has worked for clients in various industries as well as her own companies and is currently the Content Manager at Leverate.