Celebrity power couples hold the fascination of many people. How these couples manage to bring such large amounts of money into a nuclear unit while standing firmly rooted in their love for each other can seem both inspiring and unattainable—or at least from an outsider’s perspective.
In a COVID-19 world—where stadiums are starting to fill up again and TV shows are getting into the swing of regular production schedules—many celebrities have ventured into other lines of business, such as investments and real estate to add to their earning portfolio.
Top-earning celebrities on this list include Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith, who outside of acting have collectively invested millions worth in real estate. There’s also Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom, the singer-actor couple who made their share of money through tours and property ownership. We can’t forget the legendary Tina Turner and Erwin Bach, who left the U.S. in pursuit of European living, racking up a real estate portfolio of their own.
Stacker took a look at the richest couples in the world and ranked the top 21, according to Celebrity Net Worth. Here’s a look at some of your favorite celebrity couples and how they’ve accumulated their wealth.
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With the pandemic shutting down Hollywood for much of the past year, actors have had more spare time on their hands.
Rather than just isolating at home, many high-profile names have instead tapped into their entrepreneurial passions and set up businesses.
Here, three celebrities who juggle acting with singing careers tell the BBC about their start-ups that have been born out of the lockdowns. They are joined by a best-selling country music artist who has also used the lockdown to flex her business muscles.
Vanessa Hudgens
The 32-year-old actor and singer has just launched a soft drink that contains the juice of cactuses.
Called Caliwater, she has started the brand with her friend and business partner Oliver Trevena.
During the pandemic she has launched a new production company, Content X, which supports social media influencers who are hoping to build their brands.
“It’s definitely been a fascinating process,” she says. “Because of the lockdowns we had to think harder and do lengthy research about when to promote marketing and brand initiatives for Content X.
“People are online at different times during the pandemic era.”
Thorne is also continuing to run a cannabis business, Forbidden Flowers, that she launched at the end of 2019. She says she is grateful that sales of the crop rose strongly during the pandemic.
With Thorne now working on several movies and creating new music, she adds that she has found it quite difficult to balance everything.
“It can be pretty hard,” she says. “There is always a struggle to balance new dates coming on my plate, and there are always new things I want to do.
“It’s all about sectioning off the time to really focus on something. Right now, I get to focus on a month on music before I leave for my next movie, while still focusing on Content X.
“[However], I love ‘mogulism’, I think it’s amazing. I am so flabbergasted, excited and intrigued by people that can do more than one thing.
“I think in life, you are interested in everything, but people don’t give you the chance. They say, ‘Do X or Y.’ Now is the time to do it all!”
“To me, all business is a form of art,” says Brown. “One of the spaces I am passionate about is tech. To find success there you have to constantly be changing and evolving.”
After losing five sets of Apple’s AirPod earbuds, he searched the market to see if there was anything out there that could help him not lose them.
“As a musician and actor, it’s extremely important to me to have them on hand and fully charged,” he says. “When I didn’t find anything [to solve the problem], I created my own.”
Brown developed an AirPod case called Qase, which includes a tracking device. So if you lose it, you can find it again by using an app on your phone.
To gauge interest in the product he spoke to his 4.5 million followers on Instagram.
“I used socials as a test dummy to see if I would be able to sell this product,” says Brown. “I reached out to my fans and asked them questions, creating my own market research.”
Brown, who already has a photo-editing app business called Fresh Crop under his belt, says his ultimate goal is to become a global household name.
“I want to create and align myself with all aspects of business that are relatable to me, to share all my creative sides and connect with people on all different levels,” he says.
“Everything I create has a little piece of me, just like the AirPods case is spelled Qase. Replacing the ‘c’ with a ‘q’ to give it my personal stamp.”
