How These Stars Really Make Their Money

Today's celebrities are known for doing more than one job. Actors, musicians and more across Hollywood have brought new meanings to the terms Renaissance man and Renaissance woman. From Ashton Kutcher launching an investment fund to Jessica Simpson owning a fashion empire that could rival the sales of Gucci, learn how these stars actually make their dough.

The music industry knows and applauds Jay Z for his contributions. From iconic albums to number one songs like "Empire State of Mind," there isn't anything he can't do. The New York Native, 47, has brought that same sense of enthusiasm and success to his businesses. Over the years, Jay Z, who's married to Beyoncé and is expecting twins in 2017, has had a number of investments which have earned him big dollars. In 2004, he purchased a stake in the NBA team The Nets, pouring in one million of his own money, reports Forbes. He sold his share in 2013 after announcing plans to represent athletes with his company Roc Nation Sports.

Then in 2015 came the launch of Tidal, a music streaming service that would rival both Apple and Spotify. According to a separate Forbes report, it's now valued at $600 million. As recently as February, there were several reports the legendary rapper was starting a venture capital fund that will lend cash to tech startups — lining his pockets with even more greenbacks.

But his efforts to earn money aren't always with businesses, sometimes it aligns with the arts. He's produced a number of block-buster hits including the 2014 remake of Annie, starring Jamie Foxx. In all, the film grossed nearly $86 million, according to Box Office Mojo. Up next, Jay Z will team up with the Weinstein Co. to produce a docuseries on the tragic life of Kalief Browder, reports Variety. And according to Playbill.com, he'll also produce a film version of Lin-Manuel Miranda's In the Heights.

While Jessica Alba's Hollywood career has slowed down in recent years, she made the right decision to dump her time, energy and money into launching the Honest Company. She started the brand with Christopher Gavigan, Sean Kane and Brian Lee in 2011. Their goal was to have a company that developed and sold natural, sustainable home and beauty products that are fit for both kids and adults, according to E! News.

It's taken off making enormous growth in recent years and it's earned the attention of other big name companies too. According to the Wall Street Journal, Unilever PLC, which guides a number of household items, is in talks to buy the Honest Company, which is evaluated at over one billion dollars. "Everything is a chemical. Water is a chemical," Alba, 35, explained about her company to Allure. "I'm not against chemicals. I care about human health, and I want whatever is safest and healthiest. Some people can have very extreme points of view. I created the Honest Company because I'm not extreme. I couldn't identify with people who wanted to do everything completely 100 percent from nature. I don't have a garden growing my own organic fruits and vegetables. I don't have an organic farm where I'm raising my own livestock. That's not my reality. So I want the best options that work for me without me feeling like I want to compromise on health or safety. Honest is about that happy medium, and not extreme."

And as she described to the magazine, she puts in long hours and doesn't leave the hard decisions up to others. "When you're a founder of a company, there's really nothing going on that you're not part of," Alba detailed. "So when it comes to the design of the site, the display ads, our marketing strategy, I'm part of all those discussions and involved in all those creative assets."

She's a comedian, actress and talk show host, but did you know Ellen DeGeneres owns a real estate and interior design empire? DeGeneres, 59, who according to Forbes, has bought and sold more than seven homes in the last 10 years. Her portfolio includes a million dollar treehouse and a $40 million mansion and she always manages to earn a profit. She's also sold homes to her celebrity friends like Nick Jonas and Ryan Seacrest to name a few. DeGeneres is always on the hunt and moving around the Los Angeles area as she and wife Portia De Rossi sold their Hollywood Hills home for $9.9 million in the summer of 2016, reports Forbes.

But the homes she sells don't come empty, she furnishes them as well! It's seemingly part of a larger plan for the star, who according to Apartment Therapy, is taking her ED by Ellen line to new heights in 2017. The brand will roll out three new lines including furniture, rugs and tabletop items.

Per a People interview about her interior design book, Home, DeGeneres has always been in love with creating beautiful spaces. "When I'm in a room, I want everything I'm looking at to make me happy," she said. "I've gotten better over the years. This didn't happen to me right away. I shop a lot and I study a lot and I look at a lot of books and magazines. I just learned what I like." Her passion for design even struck her early in life while living in New Orleans saying, "I had taste before money. But I just knew I had to get in the market. It's like jumping into a moving jump rope. You're kind of scared to death to do it but you have to get in there."

From That '70s Show geek to Demi Moore's much-younger husband to dad and now tech investor, Ashton Kutcher has been many things to many people. But it's his most recent title of venture capitalist that is finally earning him the big bucks. According to a Forbes profile, Kutcher, 39, and his business partners Guy Oseary, and Ron Burkle, run a $250 million portfolio with investments in brands and products that everyone knows and loves. Their company name is A-Grade Investments. According to the magazine, the men have more than 70 investments in big-name companies such as Skype, AirBnB, Spotify and the eye-frame company Warby Parker. But it seems his most savvy investment came with Uber. Kutcher and Oseary pumped $500,000 into the on-demand car app in 2011. The profits in the company are now 100 times that amount.

As a successful actor in Hollywood, things changed for Kutcher after witnessing rapper 50 Cent earn $100 million from a Vitaminwater deal, in which he not only became the spokesperson but took home a large stake in the company. "I had done a [traditional endorsement] deal for Nikon at the time," Kutcher said. "I'm like, 'Whoa, hold on, wait a second. I've got to figure out how to get in the equity game, because it just makes so much more sense.'"

According to a previous Forbes piece, Kutcher doesn't overthink where he put his money. Rather, he looks for companies and products that bring both happiness and makes life easier. "If we can create efficiencies in that which is mundane, then we accelerate our paths to happiness," he said. "The companies that will ultimately do well are the companies that chase happiness. If you find a way to help people find love, or health or friendship, the dollar will chase that."

In 2014, Kim Kardashian leaped from television screens and onto mobile devices with the launch of "Kim Kardashian: Hollywood." She was an overnight success commanding attention from every business and tech insider. When her app first started in the summer of that year, CNN reported it was pulling in a jaw-dropping $700,000 a day. The app, which costs users $1.99, mimics the reality star's life giving them the opportunity to gain fame and rise from the E-list to A-list. In-app purchases also helped pull in the dough.

Two years later, Kardashian found herself on the cover of Forbes magazine. The publication reported the app, which was downloaded more than 45 million times, earned a whopping $160 million since it went public. In all, Kanye West's wife pocketed a cool $45 million from the tech deal. "I became really intrigued with the tech world," Kardashian told the magazine. "I started spending a lot of time in San Francisco. I realized this is really going to be the next cycle of my career and this is what I want to focus on."

From there, Kardashian expanded her growing tech empire to include an app that provides updates to her life and gives users, who pay $2.99 a month, exclusive access to photos, personal notes and opportunities to shop her closet. She's also launched a successful line of "Kimojis," which bear her likeness and other cool things about her life. Sure a sextape and a reality show were ways to earn cash, but jumping into the tech world seems far more lucrative than a television deal.