11 celebrities who made it big in business
Celebrities are just like us — except famous. But unlike many of us, they’re sometimes able to parlay their large platforms into successful business ventures. The actor Ryan Reynolds, for instance, was able to use some of the money he got from being a big box office draw to invest in the telecommunications firm Mint Mobile. T-Mobile this week finalized a deal to buy Mint Mobile for $1.3 billion — and Reynolds could make $300 million from the sale.
He’s not the only star to notch big business wins. Check out some more.
Ryan Reynolds
Ryan Reynolds is a famous actor. He has played the lead role in the Marvel Studios Deadpool movies. In 2019, he purchased a stake in the mobile telephone company Mint Mobile. T-Mobile just bought Mint Mobile for $1.3 billion. Reynolds is expected to make $300 million from the deal.
Sean “Diddy” Combs
Sean “Diddy” Combs is a famous music producer and artist. He is known for his Bad Boy music label and other entertainment properties, including the television network Revolt. In 2014, he entered into a joint venture with the spirits giant Diageo to purchase the DeLeón tequila brand. He sold his stakes in both ventures this year amid the fallout from abuse and sex trafficking allegations, accusations Combs has denied. When he exited DeLeón, his stake was worth $200 million.
Brad Pitt
Brad Pitt is a famous actor. He starred in the Oceans movies. In 2013, he and then-wife Angelina Jolie launched Miraval Wines, a critically acclaimed company based at a French estate they had purchased together. They divorced in 2016 after Pitt “allegedly physically and verbally assaulted” her and their children on a flight leaving the estate, according to a Vanity Fair story last year. He denies abusing her. In 2021, Jolie sold her stake to the Stoli Group. Fortune reported last year that in a lawsuit accusing Pitt of poor stewardship of the company, Stoli suggested that Miraval was once clearing “tens of millions” of dollars in profit a year.
Russell Simmons
Russell Simmons is a famous music figure. He parlayed the success of his Def Jam record label into a number of other ventures, including the successful Phat Farm clothing label. He sold it in 2004 for a reported $140 million. He stepped down from Def Jam in 2017 after being accused of sexual assault. He has denied the accusations.
Paula Deen
Paula Deen is a famous chef. Her culinary skills and cooking show on the Food Network helped her launch a business empire of restaurants, utensils, and cookbooks that brought an estimated $5 million to $10 million a year. Her profile has been considerably lower since TMZ revealed that in a deposition for a racial discrimination lawsuit, she said “of course” she had used racial epithets in the past.
Kanye “Ye” West
Kanye “Ye” West is a famous music artist. In 2015, he launched his Yeezy joint venture with Adidas. Morgan Stanley estimated that the shoes West designed at one point accounted for 40% of the sneaker giant’s profits, according to Bloomberg. Adidas cut ties with West in 2022 after he went on a series of antisemitic tirades and has struggled with what to do with its Yeezy inventory ever since.
Mario Batali
Mario Batali is a famous chef. He’s had many TV shows, including a number of series on The Food Network and ABC’s The Chew. In 2012, his restaurant group claimed $250 million in revenue. He left The Chew and his restaurant group in 2017 after being accused of sexual harassment and assault. He settled a number of the lawsuits stemming from his alleged behavior.
Mel Gibson
Mel Gibson is a famous actor. He starred in the Lethal Weapon movies. In 1989, he co-founded Icon Pictures, a production company. Icon put out The Passion of the Christ, which yielded $600 million worldwide. In 2016, after years of scandal that included an antisemitic tirade in 2006 and a (later vacated) no-contest plea for domestic violence charges in 2011, Icon also put out Hacksaw Ridge, the film that marked his return to Hollywood.
Kim Kardashian
Kim Kardashian is a famous celebrity. She is featured in widely watched reality shows about her family, Keeping Up With the Kardashians and The Kardashians. She makes a lot of money endorsing things, at one point to the tune of millions of dollars a year. In, 2022 she agreed to pay a $1.3 million settlement to the Securities and Exchange Commission for improperly promoting a cryptocurrency.
Kylie Jenner
Kylie Jenner is a famous celebrity. She is featured in widely watched reality shows about her family, Keeping Up With the Kardashians and The Kardashians. The success of her makeup business, Kylie Cosmetics, once led Forbes to call her the youngest-ever self-made billionaire — though the magazine later revoked the title after saying she had falsified business records. While Jenner denied the accusation, she no longer appears on the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires list.
Gwyneth Paltrow
Gwyneth Paltrow is a famous actor. She starred in films including The Talented Mr. Ripley and The Royal Tenenbaums. Her Goop lifestyle business — which Quartz at one point discovered sold many items also commonly found through Alex Jones’ Infowars platform — reportedly brings in $100 million of annual revenue.