By Mariel Turner
5:18am PDT, Aug 2, 2018
Celebrities are known for making the big bucks working on-screen, but some stars have managed to make millions outside of Hollywood. Wonderwall.com is taking a look at a few of those celebs, starting with George Clooney. The actor-director decided to make his own tequila with restauranteur Rande Gerber, Cindy Crawford's husband, for their frequent trips to Mexico. Casamigos Tequila took off and officially went public in 2013. In 2017, the pair and their third partner sold the brand to British liquor company Diageo for up to $1 billion ($700 million upfront plus another $300 million if it kept selling well over the next decade). Talk about major cash! Keep reading to see which other celebs have made a ton of money outside of performing…
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Diddy might have gotten his start in the music industry, but today, the hip-hop mogul is known for his lucrative businesses. The star owns and operates several ventures including a clothing brand, a beverage company and a stake in Revolt TV and has a partnership with Ciroc vodka and DeLeón tequila, bringing his total net worth to a reported $825 million!
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Who knew Ellen DeGeneres was a real-estate maven? The talk-show host made flipping houses one of her hobbies and her interest has paid off. Ellen, along with wife Portia de Rossi, has flipped and sold more than 12 properties over the years, including a $40 million mansion for a $15 million profit. While she might appreciate the money from house-flipping, Ellen has claimed that she never intends to sell when she buys the home. "I've never bought to sell. I always say: 'This is it. I'm never moving.' People laugh at me now," she told The New York Times.
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Inspired by the birth of her daughter, Jessica Alba founded The Honest Company in 2012 and the business has since taken off. The company, which sells products like baby wipes, laundry detergent and makeup that are either organic or free of harmful chemicals, was valued just shy of $1 billion in 2017. Impressive!
Ashton Kutcher got his start in Hollywood but these days, he more lucratively moonlights as a venture capitalist and tech entrepreneur. The "The Ranch" actor co-founded A-Grade Investments in 2010. It has money in more than 70 companies including Skype, Foursquare, Airbnb, Path and Fab.com.
Robert De Niro knows a good thing when he tastes it. The acting legend convinced chef Nobuyuki Matsuhisa to launch a Japanese eatery after trying his delicious food in 1993. Nobu restaurant was born, with Robert as a partner. Today, there are Nobu restaurants across the globe including in New York, Malibu, Las Vegas, Milan, London, Qatar, Greece, Dallas, Tokyo, Honolulu, Moscow, Dubai, Mexico City, Budapest and Hong Kong!
Kylie Jenner might be the youngest sibling in her reality TV dynasty, but she's also the richest. In July 2018 at age 20, the "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" star appeared on the cover of Forbes' "America's Women Billionaires" issue, which revealed that — thanks to her wildly successful Kylie Cosmetics brand, which she'd launched just three years earlier with a series of lip kits — Kylie is on track to become the youngest self-made billionaire ever. Her net worth? An estimated $900 million and counting!
Francis Ford Coppola came to fame as the director of the "The Godfather" franchise but today he is devoting much of his time to his winery. The acclaimed filmmaker bought an estate in Napa Valley 45 years ago and transformed it into a winery, Coppola Wines, in the '90s. "All I know," Francis told Wine Enthusiast magazine , "is that one year we did $9 million. Four years later, $60 million. I was making much more money in the wine business than I ever made in films."
Kevin Costner's money-making business might surprise you. The Oscar winner paid the U.S. government $24 million for Ocean Therapy Solutions, a company that separates oil and water. The investment in the clean-energy business paid off: BP made a $52 million order for the machines during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010.
Jessica Simpson started her career as a bubblegum pop singer but nowadays, she's a certified businesswoman. The star launched the Jessica Simpson Collection in 2006 as a footwear collaboration with Camuto Group but soon expanded the brand to include clothing, jewelry, handbags and more. Today, it's a billion-dollar enterprise!
JAY-Z made the jump from rapper to businessman years ago and his pockets were never happier. The hip-hop mogul owns and operates several successful businesses and companies including the 40/40 Club, the Rocawear clothing line, sports agency Roc Nation Sports, the Tidal streaming service and Armand de Brignac champagne. All together, his business ventures have given him a net worth of $900 million!
Rihanna took some time away from music to make her mark in the beauty world and it has definitely paid off. The Barbadian singer launched her makeup line, Fenty Beauty, in 2017 and the brand is already a multimillion-dollar company. The acclaimed beauty line, which has received widespread praise for its inclusivity, made $72 million in its first month! Rihanna followed up Fenty Beauty with a profitable lingerie line, Savage X Fenty.
Bono might be the frontman of super-popular rock band U2, but he's also a Silicon Valley venture capitalist bringing in the dollars. The singer founded private equity firm Elevation Partners (named after the U2 song "Elevation"), which has invested $1.76 billion in various tech businesses such as Facebook and Yelp with a 12 percent rate of return. In fact, the company has made $1.4 billion from its Facebook investments alone.
Like many of the other stars on this list, Beyonce has dabbled in the tech industry. The superstar singer's management company, Parkwood Entertainment, has invested at least $150,000 into Sidestep, an app that offers access to concerts and merchandise. The app made more than $2 million in sales in 2017, 10 times what it made the year prior. Queen Bey also founded the super-lucrative athleisure brand Ivy Park in partnership with Top Shop.
50 Cent has managed to dominate the music charts and the boardroom. The rapper is involved in several business ventures including a clothing line, fragrances, liquor, video games, mobile apps, book publishing, headphones, health drinks and dietary supplements as well as investments in real estate, financial markets, mining, boxing promotion, vodka and consumer electronics! In fact, when Fiddy sold his stake in Vitamin Water to Coca-Cola, he reportedly made a cool $100 million.
Dr. Dre has made his mark in music and in business. The producer has been involved in a number of businesses but really made waves when he co-founded Beats Electronics with music exec Jimmy Iovine in 2006. In 2014, the pair sold the headphone company to Apple Music for $3 billion, the biggest acquisition in Apple's history!
Jared Leto is an Academy Award-winning actor and a venture capitalist (surprising, right?). Over the years, the "Suicide Squad" actor has invested in Airbnb, Uber and Nest — right before Google bought it in 2014 for $3.2 billion.
Serena Williams is a champion on the tennis courts and in the business world. The phenomenal athlete, who has made more than $81 million from tennis winnings alone (more than any other tennis player), operates a lucrative fashion line with the Home Shopping Network and also has stakes in the Miami Dolphins and Ultimate Fighting Championship.
It turns out the rockers of Linkin Park are also very savvy businessmen. The band has its own investing fund, Machine Shop Ventures, which has money in Robinhood, the stock-trading app recently valued at $1.3 billion, and the ride-sharing service Lyft. Band member Mike Shinoda (seen here) has also separately invested in Spotify and Pandora.
Magic Johnson is one of the first athlete-entertainers who took on the business world. The former Los Angeles Laker founded Magic Johnson Enterprises after his retirement from basketball and has owned shares in movie theaters, gyms and hundreds of TGI Fridays, Burger King and Starbucks locations. The company is valued at $700 million.
Van Halen rocker Sammy Hagar made good money during his stints with the band but he really started raking in the dough when he founded his tequila brand, Cabo Wabo. The liquor became immensely popular and Sammy sold the brand for $91 million over a period of three years.
