Jay-Z purchased shares for his champagne brand to compete with another one due to a snide remark.
There’s no shortage of celebrity-owned anything in the market today. Hollywood’s brightest stars launch companies with their faces and names, from skincare to liquor. Perhaps to stay relevant or make even more millions (maybe they took notes from George Clooney selling his brand for $1 billion).
We look into why some of them did with the many public figures that launched bottles of their favorite alcohol.
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Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson – Teremana
In March 2020, at the height of the pandemic, Johnson launched his own tequila brand, something he says he’s always wanted to do. Despite the already crowded market, the former professional wrestler didn’t mind that and was able to make his new favorite spirit and share it with people everywhere.
“Tequila has always been a big part of my family, so there were brands out there that I did enjoy, and I still do, though not as much as Teremana,” he told Rolling Stone. “It was also really important to me to go into the spirits industry with my hat in hand and to respectfully approach the entire process with reverence.”
You can order here.
Nick Jonas – Villa One Tequila
Jonas co-founded Villa One Tequila with fashion designer John Varvatos. They come from the worlds of music and fashion, respectively, and come together “over a love for tequila.”
Reposado, Silver, and Añejo are the three variants offered. In Jalisco, Mexico, each bottle is made in Villa One’s own craft distillery named Fabrica de Tequilas Finos.
You can order here.
Haig Club – David Beckham
The football Premier League Hall of Famer partnered with multinational alcohol giant Diageo to join the whiskey company in 2014. “Over the years, I’ve had brands come to me wanting me to be involved in certain things, and I know whether it’s right or wrong straight away,” Beckham says on the brand’s website.
“Meeting Diageo, as soon as they told me about Haig Club, the Haig family, and the history behind the whisky with Haig, I was in.” In fact, Haig Club is a heritage brand and has been around for over 400 years.
You can order here.
George Clooney – Casamigos Tequila
In 2013, the Oscar-winning actor founded Casamigos, and it became one of the fastest-growing tequila brands globally. However, five years later, Clooney decided to sell his company.
Casamigos was sold for $1 billion to Diageo. The sale made Clooney the highest-paid actor of 2017, despite not appearing in a movie that year.
You can order here.
Jay-Z – Armand De Brignac Champagne
Jay-Z, whose given name is Shawn Carter, has had a relationship with Armand De Brignac Champagne since 2014. Interestingly, it was primarily due to a snide remark made by Cristal Champagne’s company director Frederic Rouzaud.
Rouzaud was asked his thoughts about rappers adding Cristal’s name in their songs, and he responded, “what can we do? We can’t forbid people from buying it.”
In 2019, the rapper’s bubbly brand sold more than 500,000 bottles. Two years later, Carter sold 50 percent of the company to Moet Hennessy, the wine and spirits division of conglomerate LVMH.
You can order here.
Banner photo from @villaone on Instagram.
