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The Top Celebrity Investors, and What We Can Learn From Them

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The Top Celebrity Investors, and What We Can Learn From Them

Image courtesy of: CB Insights

The Top Celebrity Investors, and What We Can Learn From Them

Celebrities – they’re just like us! Except that they’re famous, and usually quite wealthy, too. So it’s perhaps not surprising that they would choose to expand their investment portfolios beyond luxury yachts and Hollywood Hills mansions.

Yet, you might be surprised to learn that celebrities have quietly been funding some of today’s fastest-growing startups. Today’s infographic from CB Insights ranks celebrity investors based on the number of private tech companies they’ve invested in over the last decade.

After delving a little deeper into the investment activities of these tech-savvy celebs, we came up with a few key takeaways.

Diversity is Key

Holding down the top spot on the list is Ashton Kutcher. The former model turned actor, once known for playing lovable stoners on screen (That 70s Show; Dude, Where’s My Car?) has since proven he’s a skilled entrepreneur and investor.

Kutcher co-founded venture fund A-Grade Investments along with Ron Burkle and Guy Oseary in 2010, building a diverse portfolio that includes Spotify, Skype, Airbnb, Foursquare, and Uber, to name a few companies.

According to Forbes, the fund has grown from $30 million to $250 million over the last six years, representing a nearly 8.5x investment multiple, and making the actor somewhat of a legend among Silicon Valley VCs. Kutcher also co-founded A Plus, a viral media site that has reportedly amassed nearly 50 million global monthly unique visitors since its soft launch in 2014, and was acquired by Chicken Soup for the Soul in September 2016.

Coming in at a close second on the list is hip-hop recording artist Nas, AKA Nasir Jones, with a total of 42 investments into 36 companies. Nas co-founded Queensbridge Venture Partners along with manager and business partner Anthony Saleh in 2014. The VC firm has made 128 investments into 118 companies spanning media, health care, retail, Bitcoin, and cyber security, with a portfolio that includes heavyweights such as Lyft and Dropbox.

Find Opportunities Within Your Network

Casper, the NYC-based online manufacturer of foldable memory foam beds, appears on this list a total of five times, having received funding from Ashton Kutcher, Nas, Scooter Braun, Steve Nash, and Leonardo DiCaprio. The startup famously generated $1 million in sales within its first 28 days of business.

The company is backed by other celebrities off the above list as well, showing that Casper has tapped into somewhat of a celebrity network effect. Tobey Maguire and Adam Levine joined the party, putting money into the Series B round for $55 million.

Casper recently surpassed $100 million in cumulative sales, has launched a line of sheets and pillows, and forayed into dog beds. The company, which is planning to expand internationally, has reportedly raised a total of $72 million, with a total valuation of $550 million.

Invest in Your Passions

Calvin Broadus Jr, the pot-loving multi-platinum hip-hop recording artist also known as Snoop Dogg, founded Casa Verde Capital in 2015. The marijuana-centric investment firm’s repertoire of weed-based ventures includes Merry Jane, an online media channel dedicated to cannabis culture; Funksac, a manufacturer of recyclable packaging for medical and recreational marijuana; and Eaze, an online medical marijuana delivery service.

Recently he partnered with Canadian medical marijuana producer Tweed, and launched his own cannabis line called Leafs by Snoop. However, the rapper is clearly diversifying his portfolio; he’s also invested in online media company Reddit along with Jared Leto, and zero-commission stock trading app Robinhood along with Leto and Nas.

The World's Most Famous Case of Hyperinflation

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AI

Visualizing the Top U.S. States for AI Jobs

Nearly 800,000 AI jobs were posted in the U.S. throughout 2022. View this graphic to see a breakdown by state.

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Visualizing the Top U.S. States for AI Jobs

Much ink has been spilled over fears that artificial intelligence (AI) will eliminate jobs in the economy. While some of those fears may be well-founded, red-hot interest in AI innovation is creating new jobs as well.

This graphic visualizes data from Lightcast, a labor market analytics firm, which shows how many AI-related jobs were posted in each state throughout 2022.

In total there were 795,624 AI jobs posted throughout the year, of which 469,925 (59%) were in the top 10. The full tally is included in the table below.

RankStateNumber of job postings% of total
1California142,15417.9%
2Texas66,6248.4%
3New York43,8995.5%
4Massachusetts34,6034.3%
5Virginia34,2214.3%
6Florida33,5854.2%
7Illinois31,5694.0%
8Washington31,2843.9%
9Georgia26,6203.3%
10Michigan25,3663.2%
11North Carolina23,8543.0%
12New Jersey23,4472.9%
13Colorado20,4212.6%
14Pennsylvania20,3972.6%
15Arizona19,5142.5%
16Ohio19,2082.4%
17Maryland16,7692.1%
18Minnesota11,8081.5%
19Tennessee11,1731.4%
20Missouri10,9901.4%
21Oregon10,8111.4%
22Washington, D.C.9,6061.2%
23Indiana9,2471.2%
24Connecticut8,9601.1%
25Wisconsin8,8791.1%
26Alabama7,8661.0%
27Kansas7,6831.0%
28Arkansas7,2470.9%
29Utah6,8850.9%
30Nevada6,8130.9%
31Idaho6,1090.8%
32Oklahoma5,7190.7%
33Iowa5,6700.7%
34South Carolina4,9280.6%
35Louisiana4,8060.6%
36Kentucky4,5360.6%
37Nebraska4,0320.5%
38Delaware3,5030.4%
39New Mexico3,3570.4%
40Rhode Island2,9650.4%
41New Hampshire2,7190.3%
42Hawaii2,5500.3%
43Mississippi2,5480.3%
44Maine2,2270.3%
45South Dakota2,1950.3%
46Vermont1,5710.2%
47North Dakota1,2270.2%
48Alaska9700.1%
49West Virginia8870.1%
50Montana8330.1%
51Wyoming7690.1%

The following chart adds some context to these numbers. It shows how the percentage of AI job postings in some of the top states has changed since 2010.

We can see that California quickly became the primary destination for AI jobs in the early 2010s, presumably as Silicon Valley companies began developing the technology.

California’s share has since declined, with a significant number of jobs seemingly moving to Texas. In fact, many tech companies are relocating to Texas to avoid California’s relatively higher taxes and cost of living.

The 10 Most In-Demand Specialized Skills

Lightcast also captured the top 10 specialized skills that were required for AI-related jobs. These are listed in the table below.

SkillFrequency (number of postings)Frequency (% of postings)
Python296,66237%
Computer Science260,33333%
SQL185,80723%
Data Analysis159,80120%
Data Science157,85520%
Amazon Web Services155,61519%
Agile Methodology152,96519%
Automation138,79117%
Java133,85617%
Software Engineering133,28617%

If you’re interested in a career that focuses on AI, becoming proficient in Python is likely to be a good first step.

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