In September 2024, Forbes reported that Selena Gomez had officially become a billionaire. The internet was shocked. Wait—Selena Gomez? The Disney kid? The one with lupus? The one who was always crying about Justin Bieber?
That's exactly the point. While everyone was focused on her health crises, her relationship drama, and her mental health struggles, Selena was quietly building one of the most successful beauty brands in history.
Rare Beauty, the company she founded in 2020, is now valued at over $2 billion. And Selena owns 100% of it.
The Health Crisis Nobody Understood (2017-2020)
To understand Selena's business success, you need to understand what she survived first.
In 2017, Selena received a kidney transplant due to complications from lupus. The surgery was life-threatening. Her recovery was brutal.
Then came the mental health spiral:
- Multiple treatment facility stays
- Public breakdowns documented by paparazzi
- A hiatus from social media
- Revelation that she has bipolar disorder
During this period, most people wrote her off. She was "troubled." She was "fragile." She was another former child star falling apart.
What nobody knew: she was planning a beauty company.
The Rare Beauty Concept
Selena didn't want to create another celebrity beauty line. She wanted to create a brand built on her actual values:
Mental Health at the Core
- 1% of all sales go to the Rare Impact Fund
- The fund provides mental health resources in underserved communities
- Products are named after mental health affirmations ("Positive Light," "Always an Optimist")
Accessibility
- Products designed for people with limited mobility (she has shaky hands from lupus)
- Soft-touch packaging that's easy to grip
- Lightweight formulas that are easy to apply
- Price points accessible to young consumers
Authenticity
- Selena doesn't Photoshop her campaigns
- She talks openly about her health issues
- She admits she doesn't always feel beautiful
- The brand is explicitly about self-acceptance, not transformation
The Launch Nobody Expected to Work (2020)
Rare Beauty launched in September 2020—in the middle of a pandemic. Industry experts predicted it would fail:
- Sephora was mostly closed
- Nobody was wearing makeup in lockdown
- Celebrity beauty lines were oversaturated
- Selena was "too controversial"
It became the most successful makeup launch in Sephora history.
The Soft Pinch Liquid Blush alone became a cultural phenomenon—it went viral on TikTok, sold out repeatedly, and remains one of the bestselling blushes in the world.
Why It Actually Worked
The TikTok Factor Rare Beauty launched right as beauty TikTok exploded. Selena's products were perfect for the format:
- Satisfying textures that filmed well
- Small amounts created big impact
- Accessible prices meant anyone could try them
- The brand story was compelling content
Genuine Quality Celebrity beauty brands are often just licensing deals with mediocre products. Rare Beauty was different—Selena actually developed the formulas. She spent two years in labs. The products were legitimately good.
The Community Angle Selena didn't just sell makeup—she built a community around mental health. Her fans felt like they were buying into a movement, not just products. The Rare Impact Fund made purchases feel meaningful.
Selena's Authenticity Most celebrity founders pretend they use their own products. Selena actually does—and she looks like it. She posts bare-faced. She talks about bad skin days. She's honest about not feeling beautiful. That resonance is impossible to fake.
The Numbers That Shocked Everyone
By 2024, Rare Beauty was:
- Valued at over $2 billion
- Sold in 30+ countries
- The #1 brand at Sephora in multiple categories
- Generating $400+ million in annual revenue
- Still 100% owned by Selena
That last point is crucial. Most celebrity founders take minority stakes or sell equity early. Selena kept it all. When the valuation hit $2 billion, she hit $1 billion in personal wealth.
The Rare Impact Fund
What sets Selena's business apart is the Rare Impact Fund:
- $100+ million raised for mental health services
- Partnerships with schools and community centers
- Training programs for mental health first responders
- Services targeted at underserved communities
Selena has said she wants to raise $100 million in 10 years. She's ahead of schedule.
The Other Business Moves
Rare Beauty isn't Selena's only asset:
- Wondermind: mental health media company she co-founded
- Acting career still generating significant income
- Music: her album "Rare" was a major hit
- Production company: her show Only Murders in the Building is a hit
- Social media: 430 million followers = massive ad value
But Rare Beauty is the foundation. It's the asset that made her a billionaire.
What She Did Differently
Selena approached business differently than most celebrities:
She Built for the Long Term While other celebrity brands chase quick sales, Selena built infrastructure. Supply chain. Product development. Brand identity. She treated it like a real company, not a cash grab.
She Stayed Involved Most celebrity founders show up for launches and disappear. Selena is in the office regularly. She reviews products. She meets with teams. She's an actual operator.
She Aligned Values and Commerce The mental health focus isn't marketing—it's core to the business. Every decision asks: "Does this help our community?" That authenticity is impossible to replicate.
She Kept Ownership The easiest money would have been selling equity early. Selena refused. She took the risk. Now she has the reward.
The Revenge Nobody Expected
Here's the delicious part: everyone who dismissed Selena was wrong.
The tabloids that called her fragile? She built a billion-dollar company. The critics who said she couldn't hack it without Disney? She became more successful than anyone from that era. The people who only saw her relationship drama? They missed the business genius.
Selena Gomez became a billionaire while people pitied her. That's the best revenge there is.
Where She Goes From Here
At 32, Selena's next moves might include:
- Taking Rare Beauty public (massive payday)
- Expanding into skincare, haircare, wellness
- More production deals in Hollywood
- Scaling Wondermind into a mental health empire
- Philanthropy on an even larger scale
She's said her goal isn't more money—it's more impact. Given her track record, nobody should doubt her.
The Lesson
Selena Gomez's story is about transformation—but not the beauty kind.
She transformed pain into purpose. Stigma into strength. Dismissal into dominance.
While the world watched her struggle, she was building an empire. And now she's a billionaire.
Never underestimate someone the world has written off. They might be working on something you can't see.
