Celebrities are pumping their substantial earnings into various companies at a record pace, so here we will take a look at the four biggest celebrity investors to see where all that money is going.
More often than not, when you choose to invest in something — be it real estate, stocks, etc. — you hope those investments will help you be better off financially if not outright wealthy.
Venture capitalists, angel investors and corporations have the same idea.
Celebrities have long been investors in start-up companies, but they reached a peak in the total dollar amount invested in 2019. According to tide.co, celebrity investment reached $2.25 billion — nearly doubling the $1.4 billion invested the year before.
It is the highest amount of celebrity investments in history.
So we’ll take a look at the four biggest celebrity investors and see exactly what they are invested in. For our list, we looked at the total number of investments and the amount of their current funding rounds.
4 Biggest Celebrity Investors
1. Ashton Kutcher
Total Number of Investments: 159
Total Funding Round: $3.13 billion
Average Fund Size: Less than $20 million
According to a report from CB Insights, Kutcher has put money into startups like Airbnb, Bebo and Box. Of his massive number of investments, 61 of those, or $1.61 billion, is in software companies.
He’s also invested in apps, about $378.7 million, and digital media, about $26.8 million.
But in looking at different sectors, Kutcher is invested in just about all of them and is in the top 10 in the amount invested.
That makes Ashton Kutcher one of the four biggest celebrity investors.
2. Nasir “Nas” Jones
Total Number of Investments: 188
Total Funding Round: $1.49 billion
Average Fund Size: Less than $20 million
His $1.49 billion is sprinkled over 188 different investments.
Of those investments, $539.3 million is in software companies. Jones has 67 total investments in the software space.
He also has almost $200 million invested in finance companies and nearly $60 million invested in app development.
Jones’ venture fund QueensBridge Venture Partners has invested in clothing platforms like Totspot and FitMob.
His diverse and impressive portfolio makes Nasir “Nas” Jones one of the four biggest celebrity investors.
3. Carmelo Anthony
Total Number of Investments: 38
Total Funding Round: $1.1 billion
Average Fund Size: $29.1 million
He’s not as diverse an investor as Jones or Kutcher, but Anthony has invested a good portion of his money in retail — to the tune of $249 million. He’s also sunk another $172.5 million in the travel and lifestyle sector.
Anthony’s biggest investments have come in software companies. He’s invested $337.4 million in nine different funds.
Among some of his investments are physical storage space MakeSpace and women’s fashion website PureWow.
Dropping more than $1 billion makes NBA star Carmelo Anthony one of the four biggest celebrity investors.
4. Jared Leto
Total Number of Investments: 23
Total Funding Round: $1.02 billion
Average Fund Size: Less than $20 million
While Leto is only invested in 23 different companies, he has dropped a little more than $1 billion into them.
His biggest category of investments is software, where he’s invested a total of $1.2 billion over the years.
Another of his biggest investments was in the mindfulness app Headspace.
His ardent investment in software and apps makes Jared Leto one of the four biggest celebrity investors.
Others on the list
Here’s a list of other celebrity investors and how many investments they have made over the years:
- Kevin Durant (NBA) — 34 investments.
- Ryan Howard (MLB) — 32 investments.
- Serena Williams (WTA) — 29 investments.
- Snoop Dogg (musician) — 27 investments.
- Joe Montana (NFL) — 24 investments.
- Will Smith (actor) — 21 investments.
Esports
A hot sector for celebrities to invest in has been Esports, or competitive videogaming. Here are the top 10 celebrity Esports investors, how much they’ve put and what they’ve invested in:
- Keisuke Honda — $46 million (Ksv Esports International).
- Will Smith — $46 million (Ksv Esports International).
- Kevin Durant — $38 million (Vision Esports).
- Odell Beckham Jr. — $38 million (Vision Esports).
- Andre Iguodala — $37 million (Team SoloMid).
- Stephen Curry — $37 million (Team SoloMid).
- Steve Young — $37 million (Team SoloMid).
- Sean “Diddy” Combs — $30.5 million (PlayVS).
- Michael Jordan — $26 million (Axiomatic Gaming).
- Drake — $25 million (100 Thieves).
As you can see, celebrities have become very active investing world and they throw their substantial wealth into a wide range of sectors, from software to fashion.
That’s our list of the four biggest celebrity investors.