Celebrities With Their Own Successful Companies

Published on LoanPride

Many celebrities make more money they can spend but some of them are smart enough to know that money doesn’t last forever, especially if you want to keep up a lavish lifestyle, so adding this to a savvy business sense, a strong cause, a hobby or simply a good advice from a financial adviser, many stars invest in several business endeavors and for some, that small seed grows into a huge financial success. One thing is for sure, they didn't need to apply for a small business loan.

Check out the amazing successful business founded by your favorite stars…

George Clooney – Casamigos Tequila

The actor and his longtime friend, Rande Gerber, were building their vacation homes side-by-side in Cabo and spending a lot of time in Mexico, so naturally, they did drink a lot of Tequila. After a few months of trying different tequilas, they decided to make their own drink, which fits their personal taste along with their friend Michael Meldman.  Casamigos ("house of friends") was never meant to go public. For a couple of years, their customized drink was served exclusively to the trio's friends and family. Only later when the distillery informed them that they can't keep making limited amounts of the drink they went public with it and so the passion project turned into a successful private-label tequila business. Recently Diageo bought the label paying $700 million to Clooney and his friends and if the Tequila's success will continue they will add another $300 million to the deal.

Ashton Kutcher –  A-Grade Investments

Ashton not only plays a genius tech entrepreneur in Films and TV he is also one in real life. In 2010 with partners Guy Oseary and Ron Burkle, Kutcher founded “A-Grade Investments” firm which invests in technology startups. Since its inception, the firm had invested over $100 million and supported in companies such as “Spotify”, “Uber”, “Shazam”, “Couple”, “SoundCloud” and “Airbnb”.

Magic Johnson — Magic Johnson Enterprises

The NBA legend founded his investment company “Magic Johnson Enterprises” in 1987 and since then worked with companies such as Pepsi-Cola, Sony Retail Entertainment, T.G.I. Friday’s, Founders National Bank, 24 Hour Fitness, Burger King, Best Buy and more. Other than making him richy rich, the company’s mission statement is to support and assist low-income urban neighborhoods. In 2010 MJ sold his stakes in the “Los Angeles Lakers” and his 125 Starbucks stores bringing in major cash flow to the company. In 2012, he became the co-owner of the “LA Dodgers”.

Jessica Alba — The Honest Company

In 2011 actress Jessica Alba co-founded “The Honest Company”, which manufactures and sells safe, non-toxic and eco-friendly baby, bath and cleaning products provides full transparency to inform the customers the origins of their products. By 2015 the company was valued at $1.7 billion and serves the United States and Canada.

Bono — Elevation Partners

U2’s Bono is known for his music and activism but not a lot know how involved he is business. In 2004 the singer co-founded “Elevation Partners” firm which invests in new media and technology. Some of the bigger names in their portfolio include “Facebook”, ”Forbes”, “Yelp” and “Palm, Inc.”. The company has invested over $1.76 billion with a 12% internal rate of return and according to financial reports, the group brought over $1.4 billion from their investment in Facebook alone.

Gwen Stefani — L.A.M.B.

Rocker Gwen Stefani founded “L.A.M.B” fashion in 2003 featuring collections of shoes, handbags, and sunglasses and showcased her distinctive style in New York Fashion Week from 2006 to 2008. The company is named after Stefani’s debut solo album “Love. Angel. Music. Baby” and since its creation has added “Harajuku Lovers” and “Harajuku Mini” fashion lines to her ever-growing fashion label.

Robert De Niro — Nobu Restaurants

Hollywood legend Robert De Niro (and partners) has chosen to invest in the acclaimed chef Nobuyuki Matsuhisa and launched Nobu 57 in 2005. The success of the Japanese fusion style and quality led to the opening of more than 40 locations worldwide and worth over a billion dollars. De Niro also co-owns Nobu Hospitality. The first-ever Nobu Hotel & Restaurant located inside Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Not bad for a taxi driver.

Will Ferrell — "Funny or Die"

Will Ferrell is not only a comedy legend he is also the founding father of one of the most popular entertainment websites in the world “Funny or Die”. The comedy-video website not only hosts user-generated content it also produces exclusive content with a large variety of celebrities. With the internet being a rollercoaster ride for investors, the once worth $300 million empire has now fallen into hard times and recently had to let go of %30 of their staff by closing off their California office.

Mark and Donnie Wahlberg — Wahlburgers

Actors/producers Mark and Donnie Wahlberg teamed up with their chef brother, Paul and opened their first “Wahlburger” gourmet-burger restaurant in 2011 in Hingham, Massachusetts that brings in $5 million in sales annually. Success quickly followed and the brothers’ investment turned into a chain of restaurants with multiple locations in Massachusetts, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, and Coney Island. The business plan for the chain is to expend to 120 locations in the next 5 years.

Kate Hudson — Fabletics

Actress Kate Hudson wanted to invest in something close to home so she co-founded “Fabletics” in 2013 along with 2 other partners. The company focuses on athleisure (women's sportswear and accessories) mostly sold online and in pop-up stores. In 2015, Fabletics launched a men's activewear line (FL2) with Kate Hudson's brother and actor, Oliver Hudson. In 2016 the company extended their reach to swimsuits and dresses. According to Forbes, Hudson has struck gold with a company that triples its revenue each year and has a valuation of $250 million within its first three years of business.

Kevin Costner — Ocean Therapy Solutions

The noted actor has chosen to venture into unexpected territory when he was inspired to create a device that would separate water from oil after the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989. His company “Ocean Therapy Solutions” created devices that can separate 200 gallons of oil from water a minute which came in handy in 2010 when BP leased 32 units to clean the oil spill in the Mexico Gulf. According to reports, Costner made $15 from that deal.

Puff Daddy – Sean John

Sean Combes (aka Puffy Daddy, P.Diddy etc) is not only extremely successful in the music industry he is also a wiz in the business world with many successful endeavors. In 1998, Combs started a clothing brand named “Sean John” debuting with a men's sportswear collection in 1999, since then Combes was awarded CFDA Menswear Designer of the Year in 2004, expended the brand to include lifestyle items, high fashion suites, fragrances, and accessories. In 2016 “Sean John” introduced the brand’s first “GIRLS” collection.

Heidi Klum – Heidi Klum Fashion

Supermodel Heidi Klum is not only the brains behind “Project Runway” she is also a successful fashion designer on her own accord. Being a top model for years taught her how to design clothes that fit a woman’s body perfectly and that is why she is mainly focused on athletic wear, swimsuits, maternity wear, and lingerie. Klum has been designing since 2000 and been making waves with her “Heidi Klum intimates” website, “HKNB Heidi Klum for New Balance” collection sold in Amazon and “Heidi By Heidi Klum Activewear” sold by Macey's.

Jessica Simpson – The Jessica Simpson Collection

Jessica Simpson has given her name to countless products but “The Jessica Simpson Collection” is the first business she actually owns. Launched in 2006 as shoe line, the company since grown into an empire and in 2012 became the first celebrity-owned clothing brand in history to earn over $1 billion in annual sales. Today the collection includes shoes, women & juniors clothing, handbags, sunglasses and being sold in over 650 department stores across the united states.

Dr. Dre – Beats By Dre

Possibly the biggest success story of them all, Hip-Hop royalty Dr.Dre co-founded Beats Electronics with famous music producer Jimmy Iovine in 2006. The original product line focused on professional quality headphones and speakers. In 2014 the company expanded into the online music market with “Beats Music”, an online subscription-based streaming service. By 2013 the brand was valued at over $1 billion. In 2014 Beats broke all records when Apple Inc. acquired the company for $3 billion thus writing Dre a (pre-tax) check for $750 million.

Gwyneth Paltrow – Goop

Actress Gwyneth Paltrow launched Goop, a lifestyle brand that initially began as a weekly lifestyle newsletter in 2008. The company has since expanded into a full-scale lifestyle website, including blogs from Paltrow herself, nutrition articles, recipes, a high-end online shop, a skincare product line, and a traveling app. Despite some public criticism, the company is still up and running and bringing in millions in revenue each year.

Tyra Banks – Bankable Productions

Tyra Banks, former supermodel and current business mogul is a Harvard Business School grad, a guest lecturer at Standford University, the owner of “Tyra Beauty” makeup line, a New York Times Best Seller author, co-founder of “Fierce Capital” investment firm and most notably owner, founder and CEO of “Bankable Productions” an independent film and television production company since 2003. She is the brains (and the beauty) behind “America’s Next Top Model” which is currently on its 23^rd season and was franchised all over the world.

Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen – Mary-Kate & Ashley Fashion

Former child actresses “The Olsen Twins” had their fair share of the Hollywood spotlight which led them to a career change into the world of fashion. Mary-Kate and Ashley became not only recognized as fashion icons for their own unique style choices, but they also won the prestigious CFDA award for women's designer of the year in 2012 and 2015 and Accessories Designer of the Year in 2014.

Drew Barrymore – Flower Beauty

Actress Drew Barrymore has been the face of many cosmetics companies until she realized she can do it on her own and started “Flower Beauty” in 2012, a makeup line which brings affordable yet quality cosmetic products to customers. In order to cut the company’s expenses on advertising Barrymore promotes the brand herself as a spokesmodel and appears in all of their ads and events.

Lenny Kravitz – Kravitz Design Inc.

Musician, an Actor and now a furniture designer, is there anything Lenny Kravitz can't do creatively?

Kravitz channeled his boho-glam style for both private clients and real estate developers but in 2015 he took his designing skills to the public by teaming up with CB2 to make his pieces more accessible. Now with his first collection of furniture and accessories, fans can bring his rockstar style home. The pieces include pillows, lighting, tables and furnishings, all in the spirit of the 1970s.

Quentin Tarantino – The New Beverly Cinema

Filmmaker Quentin Tarantino has been the owner of the New Beverly Cinema since 2007 when he bought the building to save the property from redevelopment and assisted in the renovation of the theater and replacing all the seats. In 2014 Tarantino took over the programming duties for the theater screening from his own personal collection and from the theater’s massive archive of films. Naturally, this kind of investment is on the sentimental side and has no actual profit potential but we are pretty sure Tarantino can afford it either way.

Snoop Dogg – Reddit

Hip-Hop artist Snoop Dogg has always had a keen sense of business and an interest in various mediums so it shouldn’t really come as a surprise when he jumped on the opportunity to join in on a group venture in funding the Social web sensation Reddit thus becoming a part-owner of the company. In 2014 Reddit raised over $50 million in a funding round that was contributed by Snoop Dogg, Actor/Musician Jared Leto and 4 other investors which brought the company to an estimated value of $500 million. As of 2017, Reddit had 542 million monthly visitors ranking it #4 most visited website in U.S. and #9 in the world. Not a bad platform to have in your back pocket.

Venus Williams – V Starr Interiors

Tennis superstar Venus Williams is the founder and CEO of “V Starr Interiors”, a full-service commercial and residential interior design company. Since its inception in 2002, Venus is extremely hands-on with the company, consulting with clients over the phone, going over fabric swatches and envisioning new projects. In other ventures, Venus and her sister Serena are part owners of the NFL team the Miami Dolphins.

Billy Corgan – Pro-Wrestling

The Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan entered the world of professional wrestling in 2011, founding Chicago-based “Resistance Pro Wrestling”, he later joined “TNA Wrestling” (now known as “Impact Wrestling”) and became its president in 2016. In 2017, after leaving TNA, he purchased the “National Wrestling Alliance” (NWA). Other than wrestling, Corgan also owns a tea shop in Highland Park, IL.

Kevin Smith – Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash

Filmmaker Kevin Smith is known for his undying love of comic books and aside of his own TV & Film production company “View Askew Productions” and podcasting network, he is also the owner of a comic book store located in New Jersey named after his leading characters “Jay and Silent Bob’s Secret Stash”. The store’s location has changed over the years but the original one was bought by Smith in 1997. Other than comics the store sells comic-related merchandise and View Askew film-related items. It is also the location for the filming of some of Smith’s podcasts and film projects. A second store was opened in Los Angeles between 2004 to 2011 but closed due to a decrease in business.

Floyd Mayweather – Mayweather Promotions & The Money Team

Floyd Mayweather Jr. might be the undefeated champion of the boxing world but he is also married to controversy and is one of the few athletes in the world that promoters just don’t want to endorse. That being said, Mayweather is so rich he doesn’t need endorsers or sponsors, so he founded his own companies to do it for him. In 2007 he founded “Mayweather Promotions” to promote all forms of live entertainment including sporting events, live music as well as film and television productions. In 2012 he founded “The Money Team” a company that sells athletic wear, accessories, and training equipment to men, women, and children

Victoria Beckham – Victoria Beckham Fashion

Way back in the 90s Victoria Beckham was mostly known as “Posh Spice” of the Spice Girls and as the wife of English football star, David Beckham but since 2008 that all started to change when the stylish Brit started her own fashion line. She’s been showing her designs at New York Fashion Week every year. In 2011 a lower-priced “Victoria by Victoria Beckham” label was introduced and generated over $50 million in sales. Later her brand expanded from dresses to separates and then came the luxury handbags selling at up to $15,000. Becks empire grew into multiple lines for denim, eyewear and fragrances, she was awarded “Designer Brand of the Year” at the British Fashion Awards and she is a favorite among celebs.

Jessica Biel – Au Fudge

Actress Jessica Biel (and wife of Justin Timberlake) opened a kids-friendly restaurant in Los Angeles. Within less than a year since its opening “Au Fudge” – a restaurant meets a playground, became of one of L.A. hottest locations and one of the most recommended kid-friendly restaurants in the city. The restaurant includes an in-house bakery/store, original vegan dishes and delicious sweet treats alongside less sophisticated yet totally yummy food for the kids while they can hang out in the play area for children (of all ages) including a tree house overseen by au pairs and security cameras, allowing parents to enjoy a drink at the bar or a full meal in peace.