Celebrity net worth: How Virat Kohli is banking on wellness to boost his $86m fortune

In our fortnightly celebrity investor round-up, Drake takes a stake in a fried-chicken chain and Ariana Grande unveils her new beauty brand

Indian cricketer Virat Kohli has invested in wellness company Hyperice and will also be their brand ambassador. Gallo Images / Getty Images

Virat Kohli

Indian cricketer Virat Kohli may be stepping down as captain of the country’s T20 national team when the T20 World Cup comes to an end in Dubai in November, but he continues to have a good innings as an investor.

The top-order batsman has invested in wellness start-up Hyperice and joins the team as a global brand ambassador. He will help steer the company’s expansion into India and other markets outside the US and Europe.

The start-up, launched by amateur basketballer Anthony Katz with an ice and compression sleeve in 2010, now includes several recovery and rehabilitation products. Following the acquisition of mental health company Core, it is now repositioning itself as a holistic high-performance wellness brand.

Kohli, 32, is the latest in a line of elite global athlete-investors, including four-time tennis Grand Slam champion and the world’s highest-paid female athlete Naomi Osaka, global football superstar Erling Haaland, Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes, NBA star Ja Morant and PGA Tour champion Rickie Fowler.

“As athletes, the way we train and compete defines us," Kohli said. "Hyperice has provided me with a suite of innovative products that have continuously helped me optimise my performance and recovery, so it was a no-brainer for me to join the team as both an investor and ambassador. Hyperice is on a mission to help people move better around the world, and I look forward to helping tell their story in my home country of India and beyond.”

The cricketer’s portfolio includes investments in a range of Indian start-ups, including mobile gaming unicorn Mobile Premier League, FinTech unicorn Digit Insurance and fashion company Universal Sportsbiz.

Kohli's net worth is conservatively estimated at $86 million.

American musician Drake has invested in Dave's Hot Chicken, a fried-chicken chain. Duncan Chard for the National

Drake

After investing in vegan chicken earlier this year, Drake is after the real thing – for his investment portfolio, at least. The Canadian musician, 34, has taken a minority stake in Dave’s Hot Chicken, a fried-chicken chain also backed by actor Samuel L. Jackson and Boston Red Sox chairman Tom Werner.

“I tried the food and it was amazing. After meeting the founders and hearing their story, I jumped at the opportunity to invest,” Drake said. He will own less than 50 per cent of the company, but will be among its biggest investors, Bloomberg reported.

Founded in 2017, Dave’s Hot Chicken is a Los Angeles-based street fast casual brand with 22 outlets mostly in California. It hopes to add another 25 restaurants in markets such as Chicago and Houston before the end of the year, on the back of investments worth $10m.

The chain is following a celebrity playbook along the lines of sister company Blaze Pizza, in which NBA superstar LeBron James is an investor.

Dave’s Hot Chicken posted a net loss of $1.9m in 2021 on revenue of nearly $9.1m.

With a menu of sliders, spicy tenders and crinkle-cut fries, the company has sold franchise rights to more than 500 North American locations.

In May, Drake invested in Daring Foods, a vegan brand that aims to reduce the use of chickens in the food ecosystem, as part of a $40m Series B funding round. In 2018, the hip-hop star, whose full name is Aubrey Drake Graham, said he no longer eats meat. Among his other investments are personal finance platform Wealthsimple and sports network Overtime.

US rapper Lil Nas X arrives for the 2021 Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art earlier this month. With just one album out, Lil Nas X is already worth an estimated $7 million. AFP

Lil Nas X

With just one album out, rapper Lil Nas X is already worth an estimated $7m from music sales over the past three years, according to website Celebrity Net Worth. His income comes from two jobs: as a singer and a songwriter.

Nas X purchased the beat for what became his hit debut single, Old Town Road, from Dutch producer YoungKio for just $30. He then posted the song to a website that provides artists with handsome royalties before it went viral on TikTok.

The original version and its famous remix with country veteran Billy Ray Cyrus later reached No 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, which is based on an aggregate measure of sales, radio play and online streaming.

It is now one of only 58 songs in history to be certified diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America. The ranking attests that a tune has moved at least 10 million equivalent units by way of sales and streaming.

The Atlanta, Georgia native – whose full name is Montero Lamar Hill – repeated the feat with Montero (Call Me By Your Name), earlier this year, while four other songs have had varying levels of chart success.

Nas X is the lead songwriter on every track, a move that ensures he gets paid for both jobs, per song as a writer and per performance as a singer.

The 22-year-old dropped his first full-length album this month and was in top place on the charts at the time of going to press – although a mere 2,500 units separated his debut effort from the album in fifth place, according to Billboard data.

Ariana Grande has launched her own makeup line called R.E.M. Courtesy FilmMagic

Ariana Grande

Cosmetic lines have added gloss to the fortunes of numerous celebrities. Joining the likes of Rihanna, Jennifer Lopez and Kendall Jenner is Ariana Grande, who announced the launch of her own beauty brand this month.

Titled R.E.M. after – no, not the 1990s college rock band – a track on her 2018 Grammy-winning album Sweetener, the brand includes eyeliners, liquid eyeshadows and lipsticks inspired by glamour icons from the 1950s to the 1970s, Grande told Allure magazine. A launch date has not been announced.

“You can never have enough make-up, just like you can never have enough music,” she said.

Grande is estimated to be worth $200m, according to Celebrity Net Worth, which assessed her annual income at between $20m to $30m, although she reportedly earned $70m over the 12 months to June 2020. Brand endorsements, appearances in commercials and the sales of seven fragrances round out the earnings of one of the most-streamed female musicians. Grande’s songs are streamed more than 57 million times each month.

Chef Gordon Ramsay has signed a deal with Rupert Murdoch's Fox Entertainment network. AP

Gordon Ramsay

Dubai stalwart Gordon Ramsay will soon be showing up on our screens in a number of new culinary and lifestyle shows after teaming up with Fox Entertainment to launch a new production company called Studio Ramsay Global. The company will develop, produce and distribute lifestyle and cooking shows to markets around the world.

The deal, thought to be worth $150m, involves the Rupert Murdoch-owned network acquiring 100 per cent of Ramsay's current television business, Studio Ramsay, officials said. The new company will operate between London and Los Angeles.

The British chef is currently worth an estimated $220 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.

Sean "Diddy" Combs paid $35 million for a new home on Star Island, off the coast of Miami. Getty / AFP

Sean “Diddy” Combs

Sean “Diddy” Combs has purchased a new home on the wealthy Star Island community off the coast of Miami for $35m, according to celebrity website TMZ. The six-bedroom set of two homes previously belonged to Gloria and Emilio Estefan.

The American rapper and record producer, 51, has owned the home next door to the Estefans since 2003 and is considering combining the two properties.

The new property includes a two-storey main home and a three-bedroom guesthouse. It was first reported as sold to an anonymous limited liability corporation in August.

The Estefans have had the 1.34-acre estate on the market for close to six years. Called Nena’s Villa, it was a home for Emilio Estefan’s mother before her death. The Latin musicians bought it for $1.8m in 1993 – proving once again that few investments appreciate like property.

I'm excited to partner with Salesforce to create a platform that will advance our collective pursuit of economic justice

Sean “Diddy” Combs,
rapper

Celebrities such as sportsmen Alex Rodriguez and Shaquille O’Neal also have homes on Star Island.

Diddy is estimated to be worth $885m. His interests and investments are largely channelled through his company, Combs Enterprises, and lie in television and film production, beverages, garment lines and fragrances. Last year, he teamed up with JP Morgan Chase to help black entrepreneurs gain access to federal US government coronavirus-related corporate loans.

This autumn, he will launch Shop Circulate, a one-stop digital marketplace for black-owned businesses, in partnership with software company Salesforce.

“Building black wealth starts with investing in black-owned businesses and giving entrepreneurs access to the consumers needed to build sustainable companies that can thrive,” Combs said. “I'm excited to partner with Salesforce to create a platform that will advance our collective pursuit of economic justice.”