Tech & Business
Shark Tank investor
Biocon founder
Ellevest CEO
Founder of Spanx
Ex-Meta COO
Celebrity tech and business investors
This group made their money building companies, and mostly invest like operators — taking meaningful stakes in things they understand, often with a board seat attached. Sara Blakely bootstrapped Spanx on $5,000 and sold a majority stake at a reported $1.2 billion valuation; Barbara Corcoran built and sold a brokerage before becoming one of the most visible small-business investors in America.
9 profiles in this category
Shark Tank investorBarbara Corcoran
Business8% of Skims
Emma Grede
BusinessNykaa founder
Falguni Nayar
Business£6.2M in TALA's first year
Grace Beverley
Business
Biocon founderKiran Mazumdar-Shaw
Biotech & investing100+ companies backed
Namita Thapar
Business
Ellevest CEOSallie Krawcheck
Fintech & investing
Founder of SpanxSara Blakely
Business
Ex-Meta COOSheryl Sandberg
Technology & investingFrequently asked questions
What makes a business figure a "celebrity investor"?
Fame plus ownership. The people here are recognisable outside finance — from television, from a brand they built, or from a public company they run — and they hold real equity in other businesses rather than simply advising them.
Are these bigger cheques than entertainment investors write?
Often, but not always, and the sizes are rarely disclosed. What tends to differ is structure: business founders more frequently take board seats and negotiated stakes, where entertainers more often come in as founders of their own brands.