Child star

As a child, Gomez got her start in the spotlight as part of the cast of Barney & Friends. She moved on to star as Alex Russo in the Disney Channel’s Wizards of Waverly Place from 2007 to 2012. It turned into a hit that earned the then-teenaged Gomez around $US3 million in total.

But she really blew up into the public eye after starting a music career, first with the pop-rock band Selena Gomez & the Scene and then as a solo artist. With three studio albums and 44 singles, she won the American Music Award for favourite pop/rock female artist in 2016, and was nominated for two Grammy awards. Her acting career continued to grow as well, with roles in movies such as A Rainy Day in New York and Spring Breakers.

In the process, Gomez generated huge success on social media: With 424 million followers, she’s behind only soccer legends Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi as the most popular person on Instagram. That made her powerful enough not just to promote her own brand, but those of big names such as Puma SE, which signed her to a two year-deal worth a reported $US30 million in 2017. Gomez also earned $US10 million when she was tapped as Coach’s face in 2016, and had a $US10 million agreement with Louis Vuitton.

While music has made her particularly popular, it’s a relatively small source of her wealth. Unlike Swift, Gomez isn’t known as a songwriter and is paid mostly for performance royalties. She would potentially double her music earnings if she wrote her own songs, said Jones.

Loading

Music tours only accounted for less than 5 per cent of Gomez’s wealth, with album and record sales less than 2 per cent. She hasn’t toured since 2016, when she abruptly cancelled her Revival tour after 55 shows, citing mental health struggles. Still, the tour had more than $US30 million in ticket sales.

“It’s smart that she’s kind of created a career that’s not so dependent on music being a big part of the financial piece,” said Carolyn Sloane, a professor at University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy.

Rare success

Most of Gomez’s fortune — roughly $US1.1 billion — comes from her stake in Rare Beauty, which she has kept largely independent. The only known investors are Nikki Eslami’s New Theory Ventures and CEO Scott Friedman, who previously led Nyx Cosmetics and sold it to L’Oréal for $US500 million in 2014. The Bloomberg analysis assumes Gomez holds a 51 per cent majority interest based on her founding role in the company.

In March, Bloomberg reported that Gomez hired advisers to weigh selling Rare Beauty at a $US2 billion valuation, though she later told Time magazine that she has no plans to sell.

Gomez and her team launched the brand in 2020, marketing it as simple, moderately priced makeup.

“I really tried my hardest to create a product that were beyond just me putting my name on something,” she said in a 2023 radio interview. “I wanted the products to be great, and I also wanted the message to be that makeup is meant to be fun.”

Gomez used her own influence to create social media buzz for the products. In the early months following Rare’s launch, she recorded hours of herself doing her makeup for one of her TV shows, the Max cooking series Selena + Chef. Her team then cut those sessions down to clips that often last no longer than a minute. Other snippets feature Gomez on TikTok with commentary about Rare’s products.

Rare’s annual revenue reached $US350 million last year, according to Pitchbook, topping other celebrity-founded brands such as Jessica Alba’s Honest Co. and Haus Labs by Lady Gaga.

Gomez, who has been open about her struggles with bipolar disorder, pledges to donate 1 per cent of all Rare Beauty sales to the Rare Impact Fund for mental health service and education. That type of “worthy cause” makes it even more appealing for fans to support the business, Jones said.

“I have a lot of respect for what Selena and her team built with Rare Beauty Group over a short time,” said Saunders, the Wondermind investor. The combination of celebrity backing, a cause-based mission and quality products is “a really good mix for success,” he said.

When Saunders met Gomez for the first time to talk about investing in Wondermind at private club Zero Bond in New York, he said it didn’t feel like a business pitch. “I wasn’t asking for projections or return on investment. We really talked about bringing more awareness and make people feel they are not alone.”

Gomez co-founded Wondermind with her mother, Hollywood producer Mandy Teefey, and Daniella Pierson, the founder of pop culture newsletter The Newsette. The platform — which includes mental-health tools, interviews and a newsletter — was valued at $US100 million in 2022. It attracted investments from Lightspeed Venture Partners, Sequoia Capital and tennis icon Serena Williams’s venture fund, Serena Ventures.

Gomez is now in focus for her turn as Mabel Mora on Only Murders in the Building, which co-stars Steve Martin and Martin Short and started its fourth season on August 27. She takes home at least $US6 million per season from the show and is up for an Emmy award for lead actress in a comedy series later this month.

Loading

The star hasn’t disclosed specific plans on her music and new shows but she expressed her inclination toward acting on a January episode of the SmartLess podcast: “I do feel like I have one more album in me,” she said. “But I would probably choose acting.”

As for Rare Beauty, high valuations might be transitory and celebrity attachment is no guarantee of a forever hit. Consumers can be fickle, and lots of brands tied to famous people have fizzled after a strong start. Last year, Kristen Bell shut down her skincare line. Sephora stopped selling the brands of TikTok celebrities Addison Rae and Hyram Yarbro. Ariana Grande paid $US15 million to buy the physical assets of her company, r.e.m. beauty, from Forma Brands, whose big bet on celebrity influencers soured and pushed it into bankruptcy.

For Gomez, diversifying her business into multiple avenues might prepare her better for later years, said Sloane.

“What she’s doing is pretty smart,” she said. “There has been this big shift throughout her career towards what fits her more authentically, which turns out to be better investment decisions.”

Bloomberg

The Business Briefing newsletter delivers major stories, exclusive coverage and expert opinion. Sign up to get it every weekday morning.