Celebrities Who Built Side Businesses Outside Entertainment

Some celebrities make money from acting, music, or sports.

Others build companies that become serious businesses on their own. The strongest examples are not simple endorsements. They involve ownership, product development, branding, investment, hospitality, beauty, fashion, wellness, or consumer goods.

These stars used fame as a starting point, but the business had to work beyond the name.

Ryan Reynolds

Ryan Reynolds became one of the best modern examples of celebrity entrepreneurship.

He was tied to Aviation Gin before Diageo bought the brand in a deal worth up to $610 million, and he later became a major face of Mint Mobile before T-Mobile acquired its parent company in a deal worth up to $1.35 billion.

Jessica Alba

Jessica Alba co-founded The Honest Company, a consumer goods brand focused on baby, beauty, personal care, and household products.

The company went public in 2021, raising $412.8 million in its IPO and reaching a valuation of about $1.44 billion at the time.

Reese Witherspoon

Reese Witherspoon built Hello Sunshine into a major media and lifestyle business around women-led stories.

Although entertainment was part of the company, Witherspoon’s business move was bigger than acting. She created a brand around books, production, storytelling, and female audiences.

Robert De Niro

Robert De Niro helped build one of the most successful celebrity-linked hospitality brands through Nobu.

Nobu Hotels describes the brand as led by chef Nobu Matsuhisa, Robert De Niro, and Meir Teper, with properties built around luxury hospitality and local experiences.

Gwyneth Paltrow

Gwyneth Paltrow turned Goop from a newsletter into a lifestyle, wellness, beauty, and commerce brand.

The company has been debated and criticized at times, but as a business story, it is hard to ignore. Paltrow created a strong brand identity around taste, aspiration, and wellness culture.

Dwayne Johnson

Dwayne Johnson built businesses around fitness, drinks, production, and personal branding.

His ventures include Teremana Tequila, ZOA Energy, and Seven Bucks Productions. The common thread is clear: strength, discipline, motivation, and mass appeal.

George Clooney

George Clooney helped turn Casamigos Tequila into one of the most famous celebrity business exits.

The brand, co-founded with Rande Gerber and Mike Meldman, was sold to Diageo in a deal widely reported at up to $1 billion.

Kate Hudson

Kate Hudson co-founded Fabletics, an activewear brand built around fitness fashion and membership-based shopping.

The brand worked because it sat between celebrity style, affordable activewear, and direct-to-consumer marketing. Hudson was not just selling red-carpet glamour. She was selling practical lifestyle fashion.

Rihanna

Rihanna built one of the strongest celebrity business portfolios through Fenty Beauty and Savage X Fenty.

Fenty Beauty became especially important because it launched with a broad shade range and changed the beauty conversation around inclusion.

Beyoncé

Beyoncé has built business ventures around fashion, fragrance, hair care, production, touring, and brand partnerships.

Her business style is controlled and image-conscious. She does not attach herself to everything. When she enters a category, it usually connects to performance, beauty, culture, or identity.

Jay-Z

Jay-Z moved from rapper to business mogul through ventures in music, spirits, sports, streaming, fashion, and investment.

His business story includes Rocawear, Roc Nation, Armand de Brignac, D’Ussé, and Tidal. He became a model for artists who want ownership rather than only royalties.

Ashton Kutcher

Ashton Kutcher became known as one of Hollywood’s strongest tech investors.

He invested early in companies across consumer technology, media, and culture, and later co-founded Sound Ventures. His move into venture capital helped change the way people saw celebrity investors.

Mark Wahlberg

Mark Wahlberg built business interests across food, fitness, production, clothing, and wellness.

His ventures include Wahlburgers, fitness-related businesses, and production work. His brand is built on discipline, early mornings, training, and blue-collar ambition.

Drew Barrymore

Drew Barrymore built side businesses around beauty, home, kitchen products, and media.

Her Flower Beauty brand helped her move into accessible cosmetics, while her Beautiful by Drew line expanded her into home goods. Her business strength is warmth. She sells products that feel approachable instead of overly polished.

Sarah Jessica Parker

Sarah Jessica Parker turned her fashion image into business through footwear, fragrance, wine, and publishing.

Her SJP Collection made sense because fans already connected her with shoes through Sex and the City. The brand worked because it felt close to her public identity without being a copy of Carrie Bradshaw.

Sofia Vergara

Sofia Vergara built a business career across licensing, fashion, fragrance, furniture, beauty, and media.

Her strength is mass-market appeal. She understands how to turn celebrity warmth, humor, and glamour into products that feel familiar to a broad audience.

Serena Williams

Serena Williams built businesses beyond tennis through fashion, venture capital, wellness, and consumer investments.

Her work with Serena Ventures made her a serious investor, especially in companies led by women and underrepresented founders. She is not just a sports icon with endorsements. She is a business operator and investor.

LeBron James

LeBron James built businesses across media, sports, production, fitness, food, and investment.

His company SpringHill helped turn him into a media entrepreneur, while his investments and partnerships extended his influence far beyond basketball.

Kim Kardashian

Kim Kardashian built major businesses in beauty, shapewear, skincare, mobile apps, and media.

SKIMS became one of her most important ventures because it solved a clear market need around shapewear, loungewear, and inclusive sizing. Kardashian’s business strength is attention, product timing, and relentless audience understanding.

Kylie Jenner

Kylie Jenner turned beauty and social media into a major business story through Kylie Cosmetics.

Her company showed how a celebrity with a strong online audience could create direct demand quickly.

Paul Newman

Paul Newman built Newman’s Own, a food company known for donating profits to charity.

The brand began with salad dressing and expanded into a major consumer goods business. Newman’s model was different because philanthropy was built into the company’s identity from the beginning.

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