Business

Rihanna’s Savage X Fenty considers IPO at a $3 billion valuation

March 12, 2022

Yahoo Finance’s Allie Canal reports on Rihanna’s lingerie company, Savage X Fenty, eyeing an IPO.

Video Transcript

– Welcome back, everyone. Nine-time Grammy award winner, billionaire status, baby on board, and perhaps add founder of a publicly-traded company to the list. Yahoo Finance entertainment reporter, Ashley Kahn now standing by with what you need to know about the Savage X Fenty IPO. Ali, take it away.

FTA CHANNEL: Yeah. Rihanna is really going to have to take a bow after this one. I’m sorry, I had to get in there. I heard you guys doing puns throughout the whole show. But this news was announced last night by Bloomberg that Rihanna and her team are potentially eyeing an IPO for Savage X Fenty. Now, if this were to happen, it would value the company at a whopping $3 billion, and could come as soon as this year.

Rihanna maintains a 30% stake of that company, which has been doing very well. They’ve expanded into brick and mortar locations throughout California and Las Vegas. They just raised $125 million in its latest funding round in January. We also have the annual fashion show, which airs on Amazon Prime Video that’s always super popular. And this is one of those companies that really helped Rihanna enter the billionaire’s club last August.

According to Forbes, Queen Riri has a net worth of $1.7 billion. That makes her the wealthiest female musician, and second only to Oprah Winfrey as the wealthiest female entertainer. And although we all know and love Rihanna for her music, it’s really these booming businesses that have pushed her to the top. We’ve noted Savage X Fenty, but also her cosmetics line Fenty Beauty. This is a 50-50 joint venture with LVMH, and has actually contributed the most to the singer’s wealth, an estimated 1.4 billion according to Forbes.

Now, Fenty Beauty if you remember when that cosmetics line debuted in 2017, it was a disruptor in this market. It gained instant fame for its inclusivity of all skin tones, generated more than $550 million in annual revenue in its first calendar year. So Rihanna, she’s got multiple successful businesses, a potential IPO on the horizon, a baby on the way with her boyfriend A$AP Rocky. I mean, my girl, she’s killing it.

– OK. And so this is amazing as we think about what the potential looks like for Savage X Fenty and the continued building of the brand Rihanna has. So this news, it comes amid an explosion of celebrity beauty brands with Kim K, Jessica Alba, Scarlett Johansson all putting their names behind big makeup and skin care lines. How does Rihanna stack up?

FTA CHANNEL: Well, Rihanna is actually the wealthiest among the A-list pack. But you do bring up an interesting point when it comes to this narrative of female entrepreneurs in Hollywood. Last year, Reese Witherspoon, she sold her production company, Hello Sunshine in a deal that valued it at roughly $900 million. Before that we saw Jessica Alba’s the Honest Company make its debut on the NASDAQ. Now, those shares skyrocketed in that first day of trading.

But they have since nosedived and given up those gains. The stock is down roughly 35% year-to-date. But the company still has a valuation of about $500 million. Yesterday, I know you guys were talking about Kim Kardashian and her controversial advice to women in business to just get up and do the work.

But no matter where you stand on that debate, she is the founder of several multimillion dollar businesses like KKW Beauty, like Skims, which similar to Rihanna, also helped her reach billionaire status last year. So there’s this very obvious trend happening right now with these celebrities who can really see big returns from these ancillary businesses, and that’s where they’re making the most money not necessarily what they’re known for in Hollywood.

So a potential IPO for Savage X Fenty is certainly something that we’re going to be watching. Of course, tracking Rihanna, all of her business moves, all of her music moves, her baby moves. We’re obsessed with her here. So that’s something that I’m closely keeping an eye on.

– Ale, I’m still waiting for a new album, although I don’t know how likely that is now with this potential IPO on the horizon.

FTA CHANNEL: She’s teased it. You never know. She’s teased it.

– I know she does. She is hanging here with that. But Yahoo Finance’s own, Alle Canal, thank you so much for that breakdown.