When Rihanna took a break from music to focus on fashion and beauty, most of her fans were not happy, but today, they commend her smart business moves.
The “Work” hitmaker is named on Forbes’s America’s Richest Self-made Women list. Although her music has been successful, Riri made most of her fortune from her make-up brand, Fenty Beauty, which she co-owns with luxury goods group LVMH. She also co-owns the Savage X Fenty lingerie line with investors, including online fashion firm TechStyle Fashion Group.
Ranking number 33, she is one of the most publicly charitable celebrities. This year, she donated more than $8 million (R132m) to coronavirus relief efforts. She also gave away $1m (R16.5m) to needy people of New York, $2.1m (R34.5m) to abuse victims in Los Angeles and $5m (R82m) to other charities through her Clara Lionel Foundation.
Rihanna is ranked with the likes of Diane Hendricks, the co-founder of ABC Supply, who has been in the No 1 spot for three years in a row. Debuting on this year’s list is Zoom Video Communications’ finance chief Kelly Steckelberg, who made it big after Zoom became one of the most used apps thanks to the huge number of people working from home due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Rihanna also launched Savage x Fenty for men with Christian Combes at a fashion show she hosted in New York recently.