Celebrities Lineup Invest in the “Perfect Mattress” Company, Casper. Do They Always Make Investments Together?

by CHEN WANG  |  August 17, 2017

It is not a surprise to see Bill Gates, Elon Musk, or Warren Buffett’s names on the list of the most influential startup investors. But what about seeing LeBron James, Justin Bieber, and Stephen Curry not far behind them?

We identified 56 celebrity investors out of the top 500 investors on Crunchbase, one of the biggest business information platform. These 56 celebrity investors have made 139 investments in 153 companies. The earliest investments were conducted back to 1999, yet it was until 2011 that the investments became more frequent.

How do celebrities come up an investment idea? A conversation on a banquet? Some advices from his/her financial advisors? Or linked by some executive from the company they both work for?

Funded by a NBA forward, an NFL quarterback, and an MLB shortstop in 2007, Weplay was a social networking site for youth athletes ages 6-16 as well as a team management application for their parents and coaches. It was acquired by TeamSnap, a group organization platform in 2013. Derek Jeter is also the co-founder of The Players’ Tribune (https://www.theplayerstribune.com/), a media platform that connects fans with the players and games they love. The Players’ Tribune received $5.5 million in 2015 and $40 million in 2017 from Bryant Sitbel Investment, a venture capital co-founded by Kobe Bryant in 2013.

Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire have a friendship over 30 years since they met at an audition in the late ‘80s. This sleep startup, Casper, is not the only startup investment that Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire have in common. They both participated in the Series A funding of mobli, a real-time visual media platform, in 2011, and this second common investment in Casper happened in 2015.

After failing to agree on an acquisition deal with Target, Casper aims for an initial public offering with the Series C led by Target just conducted on June 18, 2017. Kevin Spacey, Andre Iguodala, as well as Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson and professional snowboarder Shaun White, who are not among the 500 most influence investors of Crunchbase, can be found on the list of this round of funding.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tiger Woods, Shaquille O'Neal, Henry, as well as A. Kissinger, who is not on the list, were lucky enough to own a sliver of Google.

Jared Leto’s reputation as one of the smartest and most active investors in Hollywood has been far and wide. Actually, his activeness in the venture capital area might still be underestimated, as he has been keeping some investments low-key.