Celebrity Business Moves This Week: Famous Faces Are Trading Endorsements for Equity
From Kendall Jenner buying into TRIP to Sydney Sweeney taking equity in Novig, this week’s celebrity business moves show stars want ownership—not just endorsement checks.
Celebrity Endorsements Are Getting an Upgrade
Once upon a time, the celebrity business formula was beautifully simple. Famous person holds product. Famous person smiles. Famous person gets enormous check. Apparently, that's no longer enough. This week, several celebrities made moves involving equity, ownership, board seats and joint ventures, suggesting Hollywood and sports stars increasingly want a piece of the company instead of just a piece of the advertising budget. If you’re going to convince millions of people to buy something, owning part of the thing does seem like the rather obvious next step.
Kendall Jenner Wants a Piece of TRIP
Kendall Jenner joined functional beverage company TRIP as both a global ambassador and an equity shareholder, making this more than another celebrity-meets-beverage photo shoot. TRIP has been expanding aggressively in the functional-drinks market and is reportedly on track for roughly $200 million in 2026 revenue, after reaching $100 million in 2025. Jenner’s deal means that if all those cans of calming magnesium drinks keep flying off shelves, she participates in the upside rather than only collecting a campaign fee. Relaxation, but make it capitalism.
Sydney Sweeney Bets on Novig—Literally and Figuratively
Sydney Sweeney also went beyond the spokesperson role this week, becoming a strategic partner and equity holder in Novig, a sports prediction-market company. She stars in the company’s attention-grabbing national campaign, but the ownership component is the interesting part. According to reporting about the partnership, Sweeney approached Novig about an equity relationship, meaning the actress is renting out her enormous audience and has a financial interest in what happens after everybody clicks. That's a considerably more interesting business model than “here is a celebrity, please download our app.”
Chris Paul Is Building the Media Company, Not Just Appearing on It
NBA star and entrepreneur Chris Paul took the ownership idea into media. Genius Sports, Paul’s Ohh Dip!!! Entertainment and Words + Pictures launched a new athlete-led sports media company on September 8. The joint venture plans to create original programming built around athletes and creators while incorporating Genius Sports data, AI and technology. Instead of waiting for a television network to decide what athlete-driven content should look like, Paul is helping build the company that makes it. Somewhere, a television executive just adjusted their tie nervously.
Micah Parsons Went From Brand Ambassador to the Boardroom
NFL star Micah Parsons joined regenerative-wellness company RejuvStem this week as an investor, board member and brand ambassador. That combination matters. Plenty of athletes endorse wellness and recovery products, but Parsons taking an equity stake and board seat puts him considerably closer to the actual business. RejuvStem says he will advise on brand growth, strategy and marketing as the company attempts to expand its presence in the wellness market. The celebrity spokesperson now gets a chair at the meeting where everyone discusses what the celebrity spokesperson should do. Efficiency.
Hailey Bieber Keeps Turning Rhode Into More Than Skincare
Meanwhile, Hailey Bieber’s Rhode continues stretching the definition of a beauty company. This week brought details of the upcoming Pocket Pearl collection, launching September 15, which packages miniature beauty products alongside charms and accessories. Clever strategy. Rhode is increasingly making cosmetics feel like collectible fashion objects rather than products destined to disappear quietly inside a bathroom drawer. Forbes described the approach as part of Rhode’s broader effort to create a complete brand world around its products. Beauty company? Fashion brand? Lifestyle empire? At this rate, give it six months and Rhode may be selling furniture... but nice.
The Bigger Trend: Attention Is Becoming Ownership
The most interesting celebrity business story this week isn’t really any single deal. It’s the pattern. Celebrities used to monetize attention primarily through endorsement checks. Increasingly, they're using that attention as investment capital—negotiating equity, launching joint ventures, joining boards and building businesses where their promotional power can increase the value of something they actually own. That changes the economics dramatically. If a celebrity can move millions of consumers toward a brand, why accept one check when you can own part of the cash register?
Celebrity entrepreneurship has matured well beyond slapping somebody’s name on perfume and hoping airport duty-free shoppers cooperate. The smartest moves now connect audience + distribution + ownership. Kendall Jenner gets equity. Sydney Sweeney gets equity. Micah Parsons gets equity and a board seat. Chris Paul helps create the media company itself. The most valuable talent may increasingly expect to become partners rather than billboards.
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References
The Times — Sept. 8, 2026: “Kendall Jenner buys stake in UK drink and supplements brand Trip.”
Inc. — Sept. 8, 2026: “Kendall Jenner Joins Trip as the Calming-Drink Brand Heads Toward $200 Million in Revenue.”
New York Post — Sept. 10, 2026: Reporting on Sydney Sweeney’s equity partnership with Novig.
Genius Sports — Sept. 8, 2026: “Genius Sports, NBA All-Star Chris Paul and Words + Pictures launch new athlete-led sports media company.”
PR Newswire / RejuvStem — Sept. 8, 2026: “Micah Parsons Joins RejuvStem as Investor and Brand Ambassador.”
Forbes — Sept. 9, 2026: “Inside Rhode’s Brand-Building Playbook With Cofounder Lauren Ratner.”
Byrdie — Sept. 9, 2026: Coverage of Rhode’s Pocket Pearl launch.
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