Entertainment
Will Kim Kardashian Follow In These Impressive Celeb-Turned-Tech Mogul Footsteps? She's Made An Excellent Start
Love her or hate her, Kim Kardashian has a knack for staying relevant and staying on top of her game — literally. After her incredibly successful foray into the app world with the highly addictive game Kim Kardashian: Hollywood, Kim Kardashian recently shared with AdWeek that she is keen on having a "bigger presence in the tech world." Of course, she's not the first celeb to move into the tech world and be very successful doing so. Since celebrities often have the luxury of being ahead of the game, it only makes sense that they would invest their time and money into ventures that will make them reach even bigger superstar status, and isn't that what every star wants anyway?
Justin Timberlake
Seems like Timberlake is following in the footsteps of his character, Sean Parker, in The Social Network. Like Parker did with Napster AND Facebook, Timberlake has moved outside of the entertainment world and has heavily invested in the re-launch and rebranding of MySpace. Timberlake recently also stood behind another new startup, AfterMaster.
Dr. Dre
Perhaps no entrance into the tech world can beat the story of Dr. Dre, who co-founded Beats Electronics in 2006. In this day and age, kids are more likely to know him for his eponymous Beats by Dre headphones, which making him the self-proclaimed “first billionaire in hip hop,” than his rapping and producing work for Eminem and other legendary hip hop artists.
Ashton Kutcher
Ashton Kutcher’s Jobs movie didn’t do so well at the box office, but his tech entrepreneurial skills in real life have been a tad bit more successful. Kutcher has highly invested in some start-up tech companies that are making some big bucks now, including Skype, Airbnb, Fab.com, Foursquare, and a dozen more.
Will Ferrell
Will Ferrell is, no doubt, one of the funniest human beings on this planet so he went to the Internet, which is the most acceptable place to spread his hilariousness around the globe. In 2006, his production company, Gary Sanchez Productions, started the hugely popular FunnyOrDie.com, which has launched some of the most viral funny content on the web today. Who can ever forget when Ferrell met his baby landlord?!
Will.I.Am
Will.I.Am is a long time tech enthusiast, and if his stage shows and wild get-ups have anything to say, it’s that he is looking far into the future. In 2011, he was named by Intel as their “chief creative officer” and this allowed him to be involved in the development labs. He subsequently announced the launch of his own I.Am.Plus Electronics LLC, which had its eyes set on developing and releasing a voice-controlled smart watch. After a meeting, billionaire business magnate Rupert Murdoch shared that Will.I.Am is a ”great artist, now turned tech entrepreneur with mind-blowing ideas.” Hey, at least it’s not more music, right?
Bono
Bono is widely known for his philanthropic efforts around the globe, but that hasn’t stopped him from dabbling in some techie business ventures. One of his most notable was through his part in the private equity firm, Elevation Partners, which invested $90 million for a small stake in a little company called Facebook. And when Facebook became a public company in 2013, Bono and his firm made quite a nice amount of cash — a cool $1.5 billion.
