Ellie Kanal of Yahoo Finance reports that Rihanna’s lingerie company Savage X Fenty is preparing for an IPO.
Video transcript
– Welcome back, everyone. Nine-time Grammy winner, billionaire status, baby on board, and possibly adding to the roster as a founder of a public company. Yahoo Finance entertainment reporter Ashley Kahn has revealed everything you need to know about the Savage X Fenty IPO. Ali, take it away.
EL CANAL: Yes. Rihanna will really have to take a bow after this. Sorry, I should have gone in there. I heard you guys punning throughout the show. But the news was announced last night by Bloomberg that Rihanna and her team are potentially considering an IPO for Savage X Fenty. Now if that were to happen, it would value the company at a whopping $3 billion and could happen as early as this year.
Rihanna owns a 30% stake in this company, which is doing very well. They expanded into brick and mortar offices throughout California and Las Vegas. They just raised $125 million in their latest funding round in January. We also have an annual fashion show that airs on Amazon Prime Video and is always very popular. And this is one of those companies that really helped Rihanna enter the billionaire club last August.
According to Forbes, Queen Riri is worth $1.7 billion. This makes her the richest female musician and second only to Oprah Winfrey as the richest female artist. And while we all know and love Rihanna for her music, it was actually this booming business that propelled her to the top. We highlighted Savage X Fenty as well as her Fenty Beauty line. It’s a 50-50 joint venture with LVMH and has actually contributed the most to the singer’s $1.4 billion net worth, according to Forbes.
So, Fenty Beauty, if you remember, when this cosmetic line debuted in 2017, it was a breakthrough in this market. It immediately gained notoriety for its ability to use all skin tones and brought in over $550 million in annual revenue in its first calendar year. So, Rihanna has several successful businesses, a potential IPO on the horizon, a baby on the way from her boyfriend A$AP Rocky. I mean, my girl, she kills him.
The story goes on
– OK. And it’s amazing when we think about what the potential of Savage X Fenty looks like and the ongoing development of the Rihanna brand. So, this news comes amid the explosion of celebrity beauty brands, with Kim K, Jessica Alba, Scarlett Johansson all putting their names behind major makeup and skincare lines. What does Rihanna look like?
EL CANAL: Well, Rihanna is actually the richest of the best. But you bring up an interesting point when it comes to the story of female entrepreneurs in Hollywood. Reese Witherspoon sold her production company Hello Sunshine last year in a deal that valued her at around $900 million. Before that, we saw Jessica Alba’s Honest Company debut on the NASDAQ. These shares rose sharply on the first day of trading.
But they have since dived in and abandoned those advances. Shares are down about 35% since the start of the year. But the company is still valued at around $500 million. I know yesterday you guys were talking about Kim Kardashian and her controversial advice to businesswomen to just get up and get the job done.
But no matter how you feel about this debate, she is the founder of several multi-million dollar companies like KKW Beauty, Skims, which, like Rihanna, also helped her reach billionaire status last year. So there’s this very obvious trend right now with celebrities who can really make a lot of profits from these ancillary businesses and that’s where they make the most money, not necessarily what they’re known for in Hollywood.
So a potential Savage X Fenty IPO is something we’ll certainly be keeping an eye on. Tracking Rihanna, of course, all her business moves, all her musical moves, her baby moves. We are obsessed with her here. So that’s something I’m keeping a close eye on.
– Ale, I’m still waiting for the new album, although I don’t know how likely it is now, given that this potential IPO is just around the corner.
EL CANAL: She teased him. You never know. She teased him.
– I know what she’s doing. She’s hanging here with this. But Yahoo Finance, Alle Canal, thank you very much for this breakdown.