During the weekend, Forbes He published a report on Wondermind’s financial problems, a mental health startup co -founded by actress and magnate Selena Gomez, who did not pay her employees, self -employed or suppliers in recent weeks. On Monday, a source with knowledge of the situation confirmed that nine employees were fired and received two weeks of compensation, being only four alive.
A forbes report He revealed that the startup, which Gomez founded in 2021 with his mother, Mandy Teefey, and the entrepreneur of newsletters, Daniella Pierson (who retired in 2023), had tens of thousands of dollars, if not more, in pending debts, which the company claims to have resulted. In a target conversation shared with ForbesTeefey, who is also the executive director of Wondermind, informed her employees that she had requested a loan with her own home as a guarantee to keep the startup afloat, which is going through difficulties.
Also read: Selena Gomez’s mental health startup could not pay her employees last month
It is not surprising that the news of the problems in Wondermind has unleashed a heated online debate: how much can Gomez be worth if a startup that co -founded cannot pay its workers or their invoices?
In September 2024, Bloomberg He informed that Gómez’s Net Heritage was 1.3 billion dollars thanks to its makeup line, Rare Beauty, which was founded in 2019 and was launched in 2020. Since then, several media have also described Gomez, 32, multimillionaire.
According to reports of Forbes Gomez is very rich, but it is estimated that his net assets is approximately 700 million dollars. This figure places it among the richest self -taught entrepreneurs, and one of the richest celebrities. However, the breakdown of your fortune helps to explain why it could have limitations regarding the amount of money that can or is willing to invest in Wondermind.
Contrary to reports about his fortune, why Selena Gomez is not a multimillionaire
Gomez’s greatest asset is his estimated 51% participation in Rare Beauty. The only other investors known in Rare Beauty are the private capital firm New Theory Ventures, founded by Nikki Eslami, and Rare Beauty executive director, Scott Friedman. Friedman, executive director of the company since its foundation, directed Nyx Cosmetics, of Toni Ko, a member of the list of women who made themselves, until 2017, when he helped her sell it to L’Oréal for 500 million dollars. A 2021 document presented to the city of Southaven, Mississippi, includes the Holding societies of Gomez, Eslami and Friedman, as partners at Rare Beauty LLC. He also appoints Julius Salerno, co -founder of Bellami, the old ESMAMI hair extensions, although it is not clear if he has participation. (Eslami and Friedman did not respond to the requests for comments; Salerno could not be contacted to comment).
The cosmetics firm sells its products exclusively in Sephora and through the Rare Beauty website. It became a success in large part thanks to the popularity of its liquid rubles. In a statement before the State of California, Rare Beauty reported revenues of 367 million dollars in 2023, the most recent year that information is available. In total, Forbes The company values in approximately 1.3 billion dollars, based on the opinion of analysts of the beauty industry, who recommended competitive multiples to consider the growth of the company in 2024, but pointed out that the valuations have fallen in recent months.
“The current market situation is exerting some downward pressure on the valuation,” says Morningstar analyst, give their. “And, honestly, makeup is a category, in my opinion, where the entrance barrier is relatively low. Therefore, there is a lot of competition.”
In addition to Rare Beauty, Gomez has obtained approximately $ 90 million in gross profits over the years thanks to its television, music programs, brands of brands and tours. This includes 30 million dollars that he obtained for his 2017 collaboration with Puma and approximately 24 million for his profits from the Hulu comedy series, winner of an Emmy, “Only Murders in the Building”, of which she is an executive producer and protagonist with Steve Martin and Martin Short. He also had an outstanding role in the Oscar -nominated film “Emilia Pérez”, for which she was nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress. And she was an executive producer of the controversial Netflix success series “13 Reasons Why”.
In 2020, Gomez paid almost 5 million dollars for his home in Encino, where he filmed the first three seasons of his kitchen program, “Selena + Chef”. Recently, he bought a property of 35 million dollars in Beverly Hills with his fiance and music producer, Benny Blanco. Gomez representatives refused to comment on the breakdown of their net assets According to Forbes.
Gómez, who is now 32 years old, began his career at age 10 when he was chosen to play Gianna in the series “Barney and her friends” from 2002 to 2004. His great opportunity arrived three years later, in 2007, when he got Alex Russo’s leading role in “The Waverly Place’s sorcerers” by Disney Channel.
Like many former Disney stakes, Gomez dedicated himself to music. He released his first album in 2008 and has published six more since then. His most recent is a collaboration with Blanco, launched in March. Even so, Gomez, who has not made a musical tour since 2016, has not admitted as much money and other wealthy artists, such as Taylor Swift and Beyoncé, who have accumulated hundreds of millions of dollars over the years, especially on tours, according to estimates of Forbes .
It is not known with certainty how much money Gomez has invested of his own pocket in Wondermind over the years. In 2022, a year after its launch, the company raised 5 million dollars, with an assessment of 100 million, in a series of serial financing a led by Serena Ventures, by Serena Williams, with the participation of the family office of the real estate billionaire Barry Sternicht. (Capital Sequoia and Lightspeed Ventures also appeared in Pitchbook and other media as investors, but on Monday both firms informed Forbes that this information was not exact).
Wondermind has had difficulties in obtaining additional external financing since then. According to a former employee, who spoke on condition of anonymity, Teefey told her that she and Gomez had contributed 8 million dollars from her own capital to the company in mid -2023. More recently, Teefey informed employees that the company was about to close a series B financing round, but that it has not been completed.
Everything reached its peak on March 31, when employees did not receive their payroll and received an email informing that their medical benefits had been canceled two weeks before. The company failed to comply with the payroll on April 30, and at a personnel meeting on May 8, Teefey declared that he had asked for a loan with his house as a guarantee to cover debts. All this led to the layoffs of Monday, which, according to a Wondermind spokesman, had nothing to do with several employees had previously spoken with Forbes about the financial difficulties of the company.
Meanwhile, Gomez, who according to some employees was barely involved with the mental health startup, remains up to date with his busy schedule. He has been filming the fifth season of “Only Murders in the Building” in New York and focusing on Rare Beauty. On May 2, Gomez, who has 420 million followers on Instagram, published that he surprised the attendees after attending the mental health summit of Rare Beauty, held in Los Angeles.
Although it is still very involved in the makeup company, industry experts predict that its success will go beyond Gomez’s power as a celebrity. Ashleight Barker, director of beauty and personal care of the Lincoln International investment banking firm, states:
The fact that it is not the beauty brand of Selena Gomez, but Rare Beauty, and that represents something that aligns with Selena, her narrative and the message that she transmits to her followers, but that also goes far beyond her as a person … that the brand can hold on its own without it, I think it is what contributes to its permanence.
As for Gómez, there is no doubt that after 22 years in business and success in so many areas, including a huge and loyal followers base, he is likely to have other chapters ahead.
This article was originally published by Forbes Us.
