The celebrity money desk Who's really writing the cheques
●SERENA WILLIAMS16 UNICORNS BACKED●REESE WITHERSPOON$900M MEDIA EXIT●OPRAH WINFREY$43M WEIGHT WATCHERS●GWYNETH PALTROW$250M GOOP VALUATION●RIHANNA$1B SAVAGE X FENTY●JESSICA ALBAHONEST CO. · NASDAQ IPO●HALLE BERRYBACKS WOMEN'S HEALTH●BEYONCÉLEMON PERFECT BACKER●JENNIFER LOPEZHIMS & HERS BACKER●KIM KARDASHIANSKKY PARTNERS PE FUND●SELENA GOMEZGOPUFF STRATEGIC PARTNER●PRIYANKA CHOPRABUMBLE EARLY BACKER●DEEPIKA PADUKONEKA ENTERPRISES INVESTOR●SHAKIRAISIMA HAIRCARE FOUNDER●NATALIE PORTMANANGEL CITY CO-FOUNDER●KERRY WASHINGTONANGEL INVESTOR●MINDY KALINGANGEL INVESTOR●EVA LONGORIACASA DEL SOL CO-FOUNDER●CAMERON DIAZAVALINE CO-FOUNDER●DREW BARRYMOREFLOWER BEAUTY FOUNDER●KATE HUDSONFABLETICS CO-FOUNDER●BLAKE LIVELYBETTY BUZZ FOUNDER●VENUS WILLIAMSELEVEN FOUNDER●NAOMI OSAKAHANA KUMA CO-FOUNDER●MARIA SHARAPOVAPROLIFIC WELLNESS ANGEL●TYRA BANKSFIERCE CAPITAL FOUNDER●KARLIE KLOSSBEDFORD MEDIA FOUNDER●ISSA RAETOPICALS & HILLTOP BACKER●KATY PERRYDE SOI CO-FOUNDER●KYLIE JENNER$1.2B KYLIE COSMETICS●BETHENNY FRANKELSKINNYGIRL FOUNDER●MELINDA FRENCH GATESPIVOTAL VENTURES●CATHIE WOODARK INVEST CEO●MELLODY HOBSONARIEL INVESTMENTS CO-CEO●KIRSTEN GREENFORERUNNER VENTURES●SALLIE KRAWCHECKELLEVEST CEO●MARY MEEKERBOND CAPITAL FOUNDER●ARLAN HAMILTONBACKSTAGE CAPITAL●BARBARA CORCORANSHARK TANK INVESTOR●SHERYL SANDBERGEX-META COO●SARA BLAKELYFOUNDER OF SPANX●KATHY XUCAPITAL TODAY FOUNDER●JENNY LEEGRANITE ASIA PARTNER●SOLINA CHAUHORIZONS VENTURES●KIRAN MAZUMDAR-SHAWBIOCON FOUNDER●FALGUNI NAYARNYKAA FOUNDER●MARÍA ASUNCIÓN ARAMBURUZABALATRESALIA CAPITAL●OLIVIA WILDE$500K–$2M CHEQUES●EMMA WATSON2 DOCUMENTED DEALS●PARIS HILTON20+ STARTUP BETS●THE FOSTER SISTERSBUMBLE AND MIRROR EARLY●GRACE BEVERLEY£6.2M IN TALA'S FIRST YEAR●AILEEN LEECOINED "UNICORN"●ANN MIURA-KOSEED INVESTOR IN LYFT●EMMA GREDE8% OF SKIMS●NAMITA THAPAR100+ COMPANIES BACKED●SERENA WILLIAMS16 UNICORNS BACKED●REESE WITHERSPOON$900M MEDIA EXIT●OPRAH WINFREY$43M WEIGHT WATCHERS●GWYNETH PALTROW$250M GOOP VALUATION●RIHANNA$1B SAVAGE X FENTY●JESSICA ALBAHONEST CO. · NASDAQ IPO●HALLE BERRYBACKS WOMEN'S HEALTH●BEYONCÉLEMON PERFECT BACKER●JENNIFER LOPEZHIMS & HERS BACKER●KIM KARDASHIANSKKY PARTNERS PE FUND●SELENA GOMEZGOPUFF STRATEGIC PARTNER●PRIYANKA CHOPRABUMBLE EARLY BACKER●DEEPIKA PADUKONEKA ENTERPRISES INVESTOR●SHAKIRAISIMA HAIRCARE FOUNDER●NATALIE PORTMANANGEL CITY CO-FOUNDER●KERRY WASHINGTONANGEL INVESTOR●MINDY KALINGANGEL INVESTOR●EVA LONGORIACASA DEL SOL CO-FOUNDER●CAMERON DIAZAVALINE CO-FOUNDER●DREW BARRYMOREFLOWER BEAUTY FOUNDER●KATE HUDSONFABLETICS CO-FOUNDER●BLAKE LIVELYBETTY BUZZ FOUNDER●VENUS WILLIAMSELEVEN FOUNDER●NAOMI OSAKAHANA KUMA CO-FOUNDER●MARIA SHARAPOVAPROLIFIC WELLNESS ANGEL●TYRA BANKSFIERCE CAPITAL FOUNDER●KARLIE KLOSSBEDFORD MEDIA FOUNDER●ISSA RAETOPICALS & HILLTOP BACKER●KATY PERRYDE SOI CO-FOUNDER●KYLIE JENNER$1.2B KYLIE COSMETICS●BETHENNY FRANKELSKINNYGIRL FOUNDER●MELINDA FRENCH GATESPIVOTAL VENTURES●CATHIE WOODARK INVEST CEO●MELLODY HOBSONARIEL INVESTMENTS CO-CEO●KIRSTEN GREENFORERUNNER VENTURES●SALLIE KRAWCHECKELLEVEST CEO●MARY MEEKERBOND CAPITAL FOUNDER●ARLAN HAMILTONBACKSTAGE CAPITAL●BARBARA CORCORANSHARK TANK INVESTOR●SHERYL SANDBERGEX-META COO●SARA BLAKELYFOUNDER OF SPANX●KATHY XUCAPITAL TODAY FOUNDER●JENNY LEEGRANITE ASIA PARTNER●SOLINA CHAUHORIZONS VENTURES●KIRAN MAZUMDAR-SHAWBIOCON FOUNDER●FALGUNI NAYARNYKAA FOUNDER●MARÍA ASUNCIÓN ARAMBURUZABALATRESALIA CAPITAL●OLIVIA WILDE$500K–$2M CHEQUES●EMMA WATSON2 DOCUMENTED DEALS●PARIS HILTON20+ STARTUP BETS●THE FOSTER SISTERSBUMBLE AND MIRROR EARLY●GRACE BEVERLEY£6.2M IN TALA'S FIRST YEAR●AILEEN LEECOINED "UNICORN"●ANN MIURA-KOSEED INVESTOR IN LYFT●EMMA GREDE8% OF SKIMS●NAMITA THAPAR100+ COMPANIES BACKED
Film & TV
Blake Lively
Lively's business activity is founding and owning her own consumer brands rather than investing in other companies' startups — the non-alcoholic mixer line Betty Buzz, launched in 2021 and reported in 2025 to have quietly wound down, its canned-cocktail sibling Betty Booze, and the haircare brand Blake Brown.
2.5 million bottles in under seven months, before any marketingBetty Buzz early sales
5,500+ US storesBetty Buzz retail footprint (2022)
Target's biggest hair-care launch on record (August 2024)Blake Brown at Target
Close to $5M in Target salesBlake Brown first 3.5 weeks
56–78% per her legal filing; 87% weekly drop Aug 11–Sep 15, 2024 per internal sourcesBlake Brown sales decline
August 2014 launch to October 9, 2015 shutdownPreserve lifespan
Watch
Blake Lively in her own words
Blake Lively on her Betty Buzz drink brand · via Access Hollywood
The thesis
How Blake Lively invests
Lively is a brand founder, not a startup investor. Her record is four companies she started and owns a piece of — the lifestyle site Preserve, the non-alcoholic mixer line Betty Buzz, its low-ABV sibling Betty Booze, and the Target haircare brand Blake Brown — with no documented angel or venture cheques into anyone else's company. She has been consistent about why: she wants authorship and product control rather than a licensing fee for her name, and she spent three years on Betty Buzz and seven on Blake Brown before either shipped. The results are genuinely mixed. Preserve closed after 14 months, Blake Brown had Target's biggest hair-care launch on record and then lost most of that momentum inside six weeks, and Betty Buzz was reported to have quietly wound down in 2025. She is also routinely credited with her husband Ryan Reynolds' positions — Wrexham AFC, Aviation Gin, Mint Mobile — and no reporting names her as an owner of any of them.
I don't drink. I know that's odd coming from the wife of an infamous gin slinger. Over the past many years of mixing but not drinking cocktails, it became clear mixers are the unsung heroes of the drink world and deserve just as much love as alcohol.
It comes down to quality and conviction, and that's sometimes hard as a woman because you're questioning if you're being difficult or too in your head.
Blake Brown has been more than a 7-year labor of love. I was determined to bottle up a premium, salon-quality haircare line that's cleaner, cruelty free, easier, yummier, more sustainable and more accessible than anything I saw out there.
Non-alcoholic sparkling mixer line — tonic water, grapefruit, Meyer lemon club soda, lemon lime and ginger beer, made with real juice and no artificial sweeteners.
When
Founded and launched September 23, 2021, after roughly three years of development. Named for her father, Ernie Lively, born Ernest Brown Jr.
Why
Lively does not drink and had spent years mixing cocktails she never tasted. She wanted a mixer held to the same standard as the spirit, and she wanted to build it rather than license her name to someone else's brand.
Status
Sold 2.5 million bottles in under seven months with no marketing spend, reached 5,500+ US stores by 2022, expanded to the UK and to 300+ Canadian stores in February 2024, and sponsored Wrexham AFC's 2023–24 training kit. Reported in 2025 to have quietly shut down over profitability, which Lively has not confirmed; the bettybuzz.com domain now redirects to bettybooze.com and the mixers are no longer sold there.
Low-ABV canned cocktails at 4.5% ABV, $14.99 for a four-pack — sparkling tequila and bourbon at launch, later vodka iced teas and a 7% "Extra Boozy" line.
When
Founded and launched June 29, 2023 as the alcoholic sibling to Betty Buzz, under the same holding company.
Why
Her own recipes, put in a can. Her launch line was "These are the recipes I've been making for loved ones for years. But I have 4 kids now. And I'm tired."
Status
Launched exclusively at Total Wine & More, where it reached top-five among spirits-based RTDs, then signed a national distribution deal with Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits in April 2024 to reach Whole Foods and Sprouts. Still operating; it is now the brand the group's web presence points to.
The holding company behind Betty Buzz and Betty Booze.
When
Co-founded with drinks operator Andrew T. Chrisomalis, who serves as co-founder and chairman.
Why
Chrisomalis co-founded Davos Brands, the brand-development house that partnered with Ryan Reynolds on Aviation Gin in 2018 — an operating partner with beverage distribution experience rather than a celebrity endorsement structure.
Status
Active as the parent of Betty Booze. The individual ownership split between Lively and Chrisomalis has never been disclosed.
Eight-piece vegan haircare line — shampoos, pre- and post-wash masks, leave-in conditioner, mousse and dry shampoo — priced $18.99 to $24.99, exclusive to Target.
When
Launched August 4, 2024 as a joint venture with Give Back Beauty, the group that also incubated Millie Bobby Brown's Florence by Mills. Seven years in development.
Why
She wanted salon-quality formulas at a mass price point and deliberately used her birth name rather than Lively so the brand could stand on its own. There is no conditioner in the range because she has not used one in 20 years.
Status
Target's biggest hair-care launch on record: close to $5M in sales in the first three and a half weeks and $16M in earned media value in week one. Weekly sales then fell more than 87% between August 11 and September 15, 2024 amid the Justin Baldoni dispute; her legal filing put the decline at 56–78%. Still operating — new hair and body mists launched at Target in May 2025 under CEO Laura Tedesco.
Lifestyle e-commerce site and digital magazine selling handcrafted and artisanal goods, described in Vogue as part monthly magazine, part shop, part video blog.
When
Founded and launched August 2014, timed to her Vogue cover. Run day to day out of a Manhattan studio apartment.
Why
A showcase for makers and craftspeople, with editorial built around them rather than around product listings.
Status
Closed October 9, 2015, about 14 months in. Lively said they launched before the site was ready and it never caught up to its mission, and that she would not keep putting out a product the team was not proud of. She cited the fixed Vogue date, a hack a week before launch, and a confusing site she compared to a Matryoshka doll. Former employees later alleged a disorganised workplace and delayed pay.
Three businesses regularly attributed to Lively that belong to her husband, Ryan Reynolds.
When
No stake documented in any of them.
Why
Included because the misattribution is common. Wrexham AFC is owned through Wrexham Holdings LLC, majority-owned by The R.R. McReynolds Company, split equally between Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, with the Allyn family, Apollo Sports Capital and a US group led by Al Tylis and Sam Porter as minority holders. Diageo's 2020 announcement of the up-to-$610M Aviation Gin acquisition names Reynolds and does not mention Lively.
Status
Lively's only documented commercial link to Wrexham is a sponsorship, not equity: Betty Buzz was the club's official training kit sponsor for the 2023–24 season.
No external angel or venture investments by Lively are documented in reputable sources — the record shows her founding and owning her own brands. Ownership percentages and revenue are not disclosed.
Blake Lively has backed Betty Buzz, Betty Booze, Betty B Holdings, Blake Brown Beauty, and 2 more. Each one is listed on this page with what the company does and a link to named reporting.
How much has Blake Lively invested?
Cheque sizes are almost never disclosed, and Blake Lively's are mostly private. Where a round size, stake or valuation has been reported we cite the source; otherwise we flag it as undisclosed rather than guess.
How does Blake Lively invest?
Lively is a brand founder, not a startup investor.
Betty Buzz founder