Celebrity net worth rankings increasingly track equity stakes in beauty, spirits and fashion companies rather than salaries alone. Forbes' 2026 list counted 22 celebrity billionaires worth a combined $48.1 billion, built in large part on ventures such as Skims, Casamigos and Fenty.
Headlines about celebrity fortunes rarely come from paychecks anymore. Forbes' 2026 ranking of celebrity billionaires counted 22 entertainers and athletes with ten-figure net worths, a combined $48.1 billion, up from 18 celebrities worth $39 billion a year earlier, according to Forbes' list as reported by Hypebeast.
From Salaries to Equity Stakes
The same Forbes-based reporting frames the jump as a shift in how stars make money: wealth increasingly comes from ownership positions in consumer brands - beauty lines, spirits companies, apparel labels - rather than from acting fees, touring income or endorsement checks alone. Stars who once simply licensed their name now negotiate equity, so the value of the brand itself becomes part of their net worth.
Three Deals Behind Recent Celebrity Fortunes
Three well-documented transactions show how this works in practice - a tequila brand sold to a drinks giant, a shapewear company valued by Wall Street, and a fashion house launched with a European luxury group.
Celebrity ventures: how the deals were structured
Celebrity
Venture
Key dates
Deal terms
George Clooney, Rande Gerber, Mike Meldman
Casamigos tequila
Founded 2013; sale announced June 26, 2017
Diageo agreed to pay up to $1 billion - $700 million upfront plus a $300 million earnout tied to performance over 10 years
Kim Kardashian, Jens Grede
Skims shapewear and apparel
Founded 2019; funding round Nov. 12, 2025
$225 million raised, led by Goldman Sachs Alternatives with BDT & MSD Partners' affiliated funds, at a $5 billion valuation
Rihanna
Fenty fashion house
Partnership announced May 10, 2019
LVMH backed the label as its first new fashion-house launch in over 30 years, reportedly investing $30 million
Casamigos began as a private batch of tequila for George Clooney, Rande Gerber and real-estate developer Mike Meldman, founder of Discovery Land Co., before a distillery told them they needed to get licensed if they wanted to keep ordering roughly 1,000 bottles a year, according to Distillery Trail's account of the deal. Co-founder Rande Gerber said the brand had grown into the top-selling entrant in the super-premium tequila category by the time Diageo's acquisition was announced, according to the same account.
Skims, the shapewear and apparel company Kim Kardashian co-founded with Jens Grede in 2019, was expected to exceed $1 billion in net sales for 2025, the same year Goldman Sachs Alternatives led a $225 million round that pushed its valuation to $5 billion, according to a press release from Goldman Sachs Asset Management. The capital was earmarked for physical retail and international store expansion, product innovation and growth in apparel and activewear.
Today's announcement validates the hard work of our incredible team and partners who have helped us reach this exciting new chapter, becoming a global omnichannel retail brand.
— Kim Kardashian, Skims co-founder, Nov. 12, 2025
Rihanna's Fenty fashion house, announced in May 2019, marked LVMH's first new apparel brand in more than three decades, since Christian Lacroix in 1987, and made her the first woman of color to lead an LVMH label, according to Time. The venture is distinct from Fenty Beauty, her cosmetics line launched with LVMH that had already grossed over $500 million in sales by 2018. LVMH chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault described Rihanna, in comments reported by Time, as an accomplished entrepreneur and business leader when the partnership was announced.
Why the Numbers Move Every Year
Forbes' 2026 list added four new celebrity billionaires - Roger Federer, Dr. Dre, James Cameron and Beyoncé - per Hypebeast's summary of the data. Because a large share of these fortunes sits in privately held companies rather than cash, estimates shift whenever a brand is sold, revalued in a new funding round, or loses value, which is why year-to-year rankings can change sharply even without a change in a celebrity's day job.
22 celebrities qualified as billionaires on Forbes' 2026 list, with a combined net worth of $48.1 billion
Steven Spielberg topped the list for a second straight year at $7.1 billion
Kim Kardashian: $1.9 billion; Jay-Z: $2.8 billion; Taylor Swift: $2 billion; Rihanna: $1 billion, per the same ranking
Skims' $5 billion valuation followed a $225 million round led by Goldman Sachs Alternatives on Nov. 12, 2025
Diageo's Casamigos deal, announced in 2017, was worth up to $1 billion in upfront cash plus a 10-year earnout
Questions
How many celebrity billionaires did Forbes count in 2026?
Forbes identified 22 celebrities with billionaire-level net worth in 2026, with a combined fortune of $48.1 billion, up from 18 celebrities worth $39 billion in 2025, according to Forbes' list as reported by Hypebeast.
How much is Kim Kardashian's Skims worth?
Skims reached a $5 billion valuation after a $225 million funding round led by Goldman Sachs Alternatives on Nov. 12, 2025, with the company expected to exceed $1 billion in net sales that year, per Goldman Sachs Asset Management's announcement.
How much did George Clooney's Casamigos sell for?
Diageo agreed to pay up to $1 billion for Casamigos in a deal announced in June 2017 - $700 million upfront and a further $300 million tied to a 10-year performance earnout - according to Distillery Trail. Clooney co-founded the brand in 2013 with Rande Gerber and Mike Meldman.
What is Rihanna's Fenty fashion house and why does it matter?
Announced in May 2019, Fenty is a ready-to-wear label Rihanna created with LVMH - the luxury group's first new fashion-house launch in more than 30 years and the first LVMH label led by a woman of color, according to Time.
Does a celebrity's net worth mean they have that much cash?
No. Published net worth figures combine reported earnings with the estimated market value of equity stakes in companies such as Skims or Casamigos, so totals can rise or fall sharply when a brand is sold or revalued, or when a company's private valuation changes between one funding round and the next.
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