KATHRYN GAWINDUSTRY NEWS, NEWS, ANDY MURRAY, EQUI, JAY-Z, KIM KARDASHIAN, LANDBAY, MICHELLE MONE, SEEDRS
Jay-Z was disclosed earlier this month as one of the people behind a multi-million dollar investment in credit-building fintechAltro. But he is far from the first celebrity to have invested in fintech.
Here are five of the most influential – and unexpected – celebrity fintech investors of the last decade…
Jay-Z
Beyonce’s husband got his income in the music industry, but he became a billionaire through a series of wise investments.
Marcy Venture Partners (MVP) was founded in 2019 with the goal of investing in “new enterprises and mass-market brands…with an emphasis on positive effect such asaccessibility, inclusivity, sustainability, empowerment, and health and wellbeing.”
Starting a credit-building business Altro obviously met the requirement, raising a total of $18 million (£14.42 million) in a Series A investment round led by MVP.
Andy Murray
Since joining the advisory board of crowdfunding company Seedrs in 2015, the tennis star has been an enthusiastic lover of finance.
He has also been a regular investor in Landbay, a property financing platform (and former peer-to-peer lender), as well as Revolut and Investly, among other fintech businesses.
Baroness MichelleMone
Back in 2018, the lingerie mogul and gossip rag fixture announced the launch of her own crypto-backed P2P business. Baroness Mone even recruited Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak to join the Equi platform.
However, no further announcements have been made four years later, and Companies House papers indicate that at least one of the firms established at the same time has been dissolved and another is facing a strike-off action.
A$APRocky
A$AP Rocky was named CEO of finance behemoth Klarna for one day only last year. He was then revealed to be an investor in the company and has since participated in a number of Klarna advertising ads.
The pioneer of buy-now, pay-later has received a number of celebrity endorsements, including Snoop Dogg and Tan France endorsing the business throughout the years.
Kim Kardashian
Kim K is one of several social influencers and celebrities who have been smacked on the knuckles by the SEC for encouraging bitcoin investments without adequately communicating the hazards. Kardashian, along with boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. and basketball star Paul Pierce, were paid to promote the Ethereum Max cryptocurrency.
Investors have now filed a lawsuit against the three for “misleadingly advertising and selling” the coin.
Celebrity crypto endorsements have grown so frequent that the Financial Conduct Authority has pointed to Kardashian’s promos as an example of what not to do, vowing to crack down on the practise.