Discover 7 Entrepreneurial Celebrities’ Surprising Side‑Hustles Now
7 Entrepreneurial Celebrities: These Are Their Side-Hustles
You already know these people for their day jobs. Acting, music, sports- you name it. But a lot of celebrities have quietly built businesses that make as much money as their fame, sometimes more.
It's not just clothing lines and perfume anymore either. Celebrities are getting into tech, beverages, and even financial services. You'll find them backing apps that handle everything from mobile checkout to pharmacy payment processing, because they've realized the smartest money isn't always glamorous. It's just useful. Here are seven who turned side projects into real companies.
Dwayne Johnson, Teremana Tequila
You probably knew Johnson was into spirits. Teremana wasn't a vanity project, though. He spent years visiting Jalisco and learning the production process before launching. The brand now sells millions of cases a year. That's not a celebrity slapping their name on a bottle. That's actual work.
Rihanna, Fenty Beauty
Rihanna didn't just start a makeup line. She built one around a problem the industry had ignored for years: shade ranges that left darker skin tones out. Fenty launched with 40 foundation shades. Competitors scrambled to catch up. You can credit her with shifting the entire beauty industry's approach to inclusivity.
George Clooney, Casamigos
This one started as a joke between friends who wanted a smooth tequila for their own use. It turned into a billion-dollar sale to Diageo in 2017. Clooney has said he wasn't trying to build a brand at first. He just wanted something good to drink. Sometimes that's all it takes.
Jessica Alba, The Honest Company
Alba started Honest because she struggled to find safe, nontoxic products for her kids. The company went public in 2021. It now covers baby products, cleaning supplies, and personal care. Here's what stands out: she built it from a personal frustration, not a market study.
Ryan Reynolds, Mint Mobile
You've seen the ads. Reynolds bought a stake in Mint Mobile in 2019 and leaned hard into his own marketing instincts. Sales jumped. T-Mobile bought the company in 2023 for around 1.35 billion dollars. He's done something similar with Aviation Gin before selling that too.
Kim Kardashian, SKIMS
SKIMS started as shapewear and grew into a full apparel brand valued at billions. Kardashian has talked about wanting products that actually fit real bodies, not just sample sizes. The brand now includes:
· Men's basics
· Swim
· Even NBA partnership gear
It's become one of the more respected business plays among celebrity founders.
Mark Wahlberg, Wahlburgers
Wahlberg's burger chain started with his brothers back in Massachusetts. It grew into a reality show and a multi state restaurant chain. He's also invested in fitness and wellness ventures over the years. The guy clearly likes building things he can put his hands on.
What This Tells You
None of these people needed the money. That's actually the interesting part. They built these businesses because they saw a gap, or had a genuine interest, and decided to chase it seriously.
A few patterns show up again and again:
· They hire real experts instead of just lending their name
· They invest their own money, not just their image
· They stay involved past the launch phase
If you're thinking about your own side hustle, that's the real lesson here. Star power gets attention. It doesn't build a company. The work does.
