Celebrity philanthropy has an unfair reputation as being all about posturing.
But there’s a long history of entertainers who are quite dedicated to the causes they support, often through established grantmaking foundations.
The late Kirk Douglas and his wife Anne, for example, launched the Douglas Foundation all the way back in 1964, and it continues steady giving today.
Compared to Douglas’ days as Spartacus, however, the latest generation of entertainers and athletes are amassing more money than ever—and from earlier ages, too.
Consider powerhouses like Taylor Swift and Adele, who are only in their early 30s, and have net worths in the nine-figure range.
And while many of these stars are still very much preoccupied with their careers, some will likely emerge as major philanthropists down the line.
Indeed, some are already on their way.
Consider Barbados-born singer Rihanna, whose net worth is $600 million according to Forbes, making her the world’s richest female musician. Born Robyn Rihanna Fenty, at just 32, she has no fewer than a million hits (well, it seems that way, at least), which have become the soundtrack for my generation. A top-flight musician, she also created Fenty Beauty, and became the first woman of color to sign a deal with LVMH, the French luxury goods giant. The star’s makeup brand reported $100 million in sales in its first few weeks alone, illustrating just how uniquely dedicated her following is.
Rihanna is also starting to make her name as a philanthropist, standing up the Clara Lionel Foundation (CLF) in 2012, which supports education and emergency response programs around the world. CLF sports a small staff and a board that includes Rihanna’s mother Monica and Kawanna Brown, COO of Magic Johnson Enterprises. The foundation was created in honor of her grandparents, Clara and Lionel Braithwaite, and its inaugural investment of $1.75 million created the Clara Braithwaite Center for Oncology and Nuclear Medicine at Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) in Barbados. Her home country clearly still looms large in her life and in her philanthropy.
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