Selena Gomez: Rich woman is a 'cover', leaked recording of suspected bankruptcy, debt on debt?

Over the weekend, Forbes published a report on the financials at Wondermind, a mental health startup co-founded by business mogul Selena Gomez.

The company has not paid staff, freelancers and suppliers in recent weeks. Then on Monday, a source familiar with the situation confirmed that nine employees had been laid off and given two weeks of severance pay, leaving four people remaining.

The Forbes report revealed that the startup was founded in 2021 by Selena Gomez, along with her mother Mandy Teefey and entrepreneur Daniella Pierson (who left in 2023). Wondermind now owes tens of thousands of dollars — if not more — in outstanding debts, which the company says it has since paid off.

In a recorded conversation shared with Forbes, Wondermind CEO Mandy Teefey told employees that she had mortgaged her home to keep the struggling startup afloat. Unsurprisingly, news of Wondermind’s troubles sparked a heated online debate: How rich can Selena Gomez really be if a startup she co-founded can’t pay its employees or its bills?

In September 2024, Bloomberg reported that Gomez's net worth was $1.3 billion, thanks to her makeup line Rare Beauty, which she founded in 2019 and launched in 2020. Many media outlets have since called Selena Gomez a billionaire. Based on Forbes' report, Gomez is very wealthy, but her estimated net worth is around $700 million. That still puts the former Disney star among the wealthiest self-made women in America—and one of the richest celebrities—but analyzing her assets helps explain why she may have been somewhat limited in how much mone.y she was able or willing to put into Wondermind.

Selena Gomez’s biggest asset is her estimated 51% stake in Rare Beauty. Rare Beauty’s only known investors are private equity firm New Theory Ventures, founded by Nikki Eslami, and Rare Beauty CEO Scott Friedman. As CEO of the company since its inception, Friedman previously led NYX Cosmetics, another member of the self-made woman list, Toni Ko, until 2017, when he helped her sell the company to L’Oréal for $500 million.

A 2021 filing with the city of Southaven, Mississippi, lists Selena Gomez, Eslami, and Friedman’s holding companies as partners in Rare Beauty LLC. It also names Julius Salerno, the co-founder of Eslami’s former hair extension company Bellami, though it’s unclear whether he has any equity. (Eslami and Friedman did not respond to requests for comment; Salerno could not be reached for comment.) The cosmetics company sells its products exclusively at Sephora and through Rare Beauty’s website. It has become a hit largely due to the popularity of its liquid blush. In a California state filing, Rare Beauty reported $367 million in revenue in 2023, the most recent year for which information is available.

Overall, Forbes values Rare Beauty LLC at around $1.3 billion based on feedback from beauty industry analysts, but notes that the valuation has dropped in recent months due to fierce competition from other brands, as makeup is a relatively easy industry to break into.

In addition to Rare Beauty, Selena Gomez has earned an estimated $90 million in total earnings over the years from her TV shows, music, endorsements, and tours. That includes $30 million from her 2017 collaboration with Puma and an estimated $24 million from the Emmy-winning comedy series Only Murders in the Building, where she was both an executive producer and starred alongside Steve Martin and Martin Short. She also had a prominent role in the Oscar-nominated film Emilia Pérez, for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture. And she executive produced the controversial but hit Netflix series 13 Reasons Why.

Selena Gomez's mother-in-law reveals a strange attitude, surprising relationship status? Hoàng Anh17:41:49 09/04/2025In a video Selena Gomez posted on Instagram over the weekend, Benny's mother, Sandra Levin, is seen wearing a heart necklace with a photo of Selena and Benny.