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
Kerry Washington
Washington is an active angel investor (since roughly 2021) who backs early-stage, mostly female- or diversity-led consumer and health startups, often adding an advisory role. She invests personally, deal by deal, with no named fund.
The Wing, $75M Series C led by Sequoia (December 2018)First disclosed investment
Founded 2016; based at ABC Signature on a renewed overall dealSimpson Street
Acquired by Dentsply Sirona for $1.04 billion, closed 31 December 2020Byte outcome
Lead investor on a $550,000 pre-seed (2025) — the round total, not her chequeCheersy
$45M round including a $3.4M SPV of 75 female investors (2022)Solv Series C
None, in any deal on recordDisclosed cheque sizes
Watch
Kerry Washington in her own words
Kerry Washington and Simpson Street's Savone on the Importance of Storytelling · via Bloomberg Live
The thesis
How Kerry Washington invests
Washington's business base is Simpson Street, the production company she founded in 2016 and has kept on an overall deal at ABC Signature, where she owns the work rather than being hired into it. Alongside that she has built a small, deliberate angel portfolio starting with The Wing in 2018 and running through Community, Byte, Aurate, Omaze, Solv, Winx Health, Spill, Equip and Cheersy. The pattern is consistent: women-founded or Black-founded consumer, health and community businesses, usually with an advisory or design role attached rather than a passive cheque. She has said she is not good at having a seat at the table without a voice, and has explicitly chosen individual angel investing over raising a fund or joining a firm. The public record here is partial. No cheque size has ever been disclosed for any of these deals, several are known only from a single interview, and the figures that do exist are round totals or company valuations rather than her own position.
I'm not really good at having a seat at the table without a voice.
In a digital world where marginalized groups, especially Black, Brown, and LGBTQIA folks, rarely feel prioritized, Spill stands out. I'm proud to be part of this community as both a user and an investor.
I'm thrilled to be working so closely with Winx Health. The brand has worked diligently to uphold women's rights to choice and privacy when it comes to their health.
Her production company, named after the Bronx street where her mother grew up, producing film, TV, theatre and audio.
When
Founded in 2016 and based at ABC Studios / ABC Signature ever since, on an overall deal renewed in 2020 and again in 2023.
Why
Ownership of the material rather than being cast in it; the slate leans to stories about women and people of colour that studios had passed on.
Status
Active. Credits include HBO's Confirmation, Broadway and Netflix's American Son, Hulu's Little Fires Everywhere, UnPrisoned and Reasonable Doubt, plus three Audible originals.
Network of women's co-working and community spaces.
When
Her first investment — part of the $75 million Series C led by Sequoia Capital in December 2018, alongside other Time's Up figures and four US women's national soccer team players.
Why
She described it as a bet on an inclusive community of women; the amount was never disclosed.
Status
Failed. IWG took a majority stake in 2021 and the last six locations closed permanently in August 2022.
Named by TechCrunch as one of her investments in 2020; she was also the brand's creative partner and ambassador, and used the product herself.
Why
A product she used, in a category she framed as widening access to affordable orthodontic care.
Status
Exited. Dentsply Sirona acquired Byte for $1.04 billion in an all-cash deal that closed 31 December 2020. Her stake was never disclosed, so the outcome for her is unknown. Forbes described her role as partner and ambassador without confirming equity.
Charity fundraising platform that runs prize campaigns for nonprofits.
When
One of the named individual investors in the $85 million Series C announced September 2021, led by Moore Strategic Ventures, alongside Bono, Tom Brady and Alexis Ohanian.
Why
Fundraising infrastructure built on celebrity reach — a mechanism she was already close to.
Status
Private. The Series C took total funding to $127 million.
Booking and payments platform for same-day and urgent healthcare.
When
Participated in the $45 million Series C announced May 2022, co-led by Acrew Capital and Corner Ventures. She came in through a $3.4 million special purpose vehicle the company created specifically for female investors — 75 of them, 60% women of colour.
Why
The SPV existed to diversify Solv's cap table; individual cheques in it ranged from $1,000 to over $1 million, and hers was not broken out.
Status
Private. Other named SPV investors included Katrina Lake, Toyin Ajayi and Jennifer Tejada.
Direct-to-consumer sexual and reproductive health brand — pregnancy and UTI tests, emergency contraception, supplements, and the Real Talk education platform.
When
Joined as investor and health adviser in June 2024, announced alongside the company's rebrand from Stix.
Why
Reproductive rights and privacy, which she has campaigned on publicly. She called it a brand that has upheld women's right to choice and privacy in their health.
Status
Private and profitable — the company reported reaching profitability in Q1 2024, having raised around $5 million in seed funding since launching in 2019.
Black-owned social platform built as an alternative to X, founded by former Twitter employee Alphonzo Terrell.
When
Invested in autumn 2024, announced 2 October 2024. Amount and round undisclosed.
Why
She had been an active user first, hosting live 'tea party' video sessions on the platform, and framed the investment around marginalised communities rarely being prioritised online.
Status
Private and early-stage. The founder has publicly described her as hands-on rather than a passive name on the cap table.
Joined as investor and adviser in February 2025. Equip declined to disclose the size of her investment.
Why
She has spoken about her own eating disorder and about paying privately for recovery. Her stated draw was founders who understood that eating disorders affect people across sizes, ages and ethnicities.
Status
Private. Equip has raised $110 million from General Catalyst, Tiger Global, Plus Capital and angels including Katie Couric and Alex Morgan.
Photo: PhilipRomano — Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
What the record doesn't say
Read this with the gaps in mind.
The dollar value of Washington's individual stakes is not disclosed for any deal; the only figure on record ($550K) is Cheersy's total round, not her personal cheque.
Kerry Washington has backed Simpson Street, The Wing, Community, Byte, and 7 more. Each one is listed on this page with what the company does and a link to named reporting.
How much has Kerry Washington invested?
Cheque sizes are almost never disclosed, and Kerry Washington'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 Kerry Washington invest?
Washington's business base is Simpson Street, the production company she founded in 2016 and has kept on an overall deal at ABC Signature, where she owns the work rather than being hired into it.
Angel investor