ashton kutcher & rihanna
Happy Sunday Everybody!
Elon Musk is officially living in a box...
The world's third richest man is living life to its fullest in a 375 sq. foot pre-built home located on the SpaceX launch site.
We guess he really wasn't kidding when he said he was abandoning all material posessions....
It's not like he can take much to Mars anyways!
Story
Our Future in Celebrity CEOs?
A long, long time ago in a galaxy far in the past, celebrities used to capture only a fraction of the value they delivered to the world.
Today, we're seeing celebrities transcend "movie star" or "musician" titles and become business moguls in their own right.
We're seeing celebs take ownership of their creations rather than acting as disposable talents under organizations controlled by others.
That's why in today's issue we're making examples of Rihanna and Ashton Kutcher...
Let's start with Ashton Kutcher. For one he's terrible at acting when you compare it with his investing!
He's used his brand name influence combined with movie and TV earnings to achieve massive victories in the world of venture capital.
With the help of mentors like Marc Andreessen and Ron Conway, Kutcher has made early bets on the following companies through his venture firms: A-Grade Investments & Sound Ventures.
- Skype 👨🏽💻
- Spotify 🎧
- Uber 🚘
- Acorns 💰
- Airbnb 🏡
Many celebrities don't take the time or diligence necessary to enter new industries and pursue new projects out of hubris, but this was never the case for Kutcher.
He credits his success to spending 90% of his time listening and emphasizes how you should have no fear of asking stupid questions.
To date, he's deployed over $3B of capital into startups and you can bet he'll continue to back future unicorns!
While Kutcher has invested billions, he isn't worth billions.
Enter Rihanna who Forbes just named a billionaire with a net worth of over $1.7B, making her the wealthiest female musician in the world.
Rihanna's makeup startup, Fenty, which she owns 50% of (LVMH owns the other half) has crushed Kardashian-level competition to become the world's most valuable celebrity cosmetics brand.
While many would argue that her 234 musical awards and 60 million album sales made her a billionaire, it was her business -- not her music -- that made her loads of cash.
And Fenty isn't Rihanna's only pet unicorn.
Her lingerie brand: Savage x Fenty she was valued at $1 billion and has completely rewritten the rules of the category. With inclusivity at the forefront of her brand, Fenty proves with certainty that body positivity and diversity are the future of fashion.
If Kutcher and Rihanna have proved anything, it is that celebrities are now looking more creatively at their financial futures.
With massive social media audiences, unprecedented professional networks, and sizeable career earnings to invest, were likely to see many more celebrities become business icons.
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Our Future Profile
AJ Eckstein
This section is part of a new series highlighting all of the crazy ambitious young people we have on this newsletter! Every week, a new member of our 3.5K+ audience will answer a few questions!
1) The Backstory: AJ Eckstein // LA, CA // Graduated from USC // Work at Accenture in Strategy & Consulting // Founder of Career Coaching Company // Host of The Final Round Podcast
2) Life or Work Hack: Find something you are passionate about because work doesn't become work anymore.
3) #1 Content Rec: The Final Round Podcast // The Third Door (Book) // Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future (Book)
4) Advice: Don't just show up - go lead the meetings --> Get involved on campus and craft a unique story
5) How you can help me: I think more of Our Future's audience could really benefit from listening to The Final Round since it will help them advance past the final round interview and land jobs.
6) Follow me: Linkedin
This section is open to all readers! Do you want to be featured in our next profile 3.5K subscriber audience? Just fill out this form!
Our Future Meme
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Written by: Jimmy Sikorovsky + Michael Sikand
Designed by: Elaine Su