Shawn Carter—that's Jay-Z to you—is a rapper and record producer, yes. But he's also one of the wealthiest musicians and business execs in the country. He owns parts of the 40/40 Club and the Brooklyn Nets, and he cocreated Rocawear. It was announced this spring he's launching his own sports agency, Roc Nation Sports. And h (And let's not forget he's hubby to Beyoncé and dad to Blue Ivy!)
Jessica Simpson has come a long, long way since her chicken-of-the-sea days. The singer and actress has branched out in tons of other directions, including with a line of beauty and hair products, a line of bags and shoes, and fragrances. She's also a family woman—she and fiancé Eric Johnson recently welcomed baby No. 2.
The A-List actress Gwyneth Paltrow has a number of other tricks up her pretty sleeve apart from the movie biz. She's found huge success—and some notoriety—as owner of the lifestyle site Goop, which has translated to major sales for her two cookbooks. She's also the face of Coach—not to mention mom to Apple and Moses and wife to Coldplay's Chris Martin. Pretty much everything she touches turns to gold.
Tina Fey killed it in sketch comedy on SNL (who could forget her Palin impression?), scripted comedy on 30 Rock and in feature-length movies like Mean Girls, Baby Mama and Date Night. Critics loved her book Bossypants, and her cohosting duties with Amy Pohler at the Golden Globes this year. Is there anything the funny woman can't do?
The fearless creator of TV's American Dad and Family Guy, Seth MacFarlane, stepped into feature-length comedy as well with Ted last year—which only became the highest-grossing R-rated comedy ever. He's also a piano player and singer, and hosted a little awards show known as the Oscars this year.
Just try to keep up with Lady Gaga. She keeps just a bit busy with her music and out-of-this-world fashion choices—not to mention her fragrance with Coty and her zillion followers on social media. She's also a humanitarian, deeply involved in LGBT-related activism.
Leave it to James Franco to represent the complete poles of Hollywood entertainment: He's starred in films from the decidedly low-brow Pineapple Express to the dramatic thriller 127 Hours. Not one to rest on his laurels, he also teaches—leading film-related courses at the likes of U.S.C.—and he's currently a Ph. D candidate at Yale. What have you done today?
From his humble beginnings in ‘N Sync, J.T.'s musical career has soared—and that's only the beginning. He's been a breakout star on TV, stealing the show on SNL more than once. He's also a restaurateur and has his own brand of tequila called 901, not to mention a clothing line called William Rast. And he's an amateur golfer and eco-friendly golf course owner to boot.
If you want to second-guess your own accomplishments for a sec, think about everything Beyoncé's done in her career—and then remember she just turned 30 last year. The singer-song-writer-actress has performed for such little events as President Barack Obama's inauguration and the Super Bowl halftime show. NBD, right? She's also earning big bucks with major endorsement deals for H&M and Pepsi.
After rising to fame through reality TV's Laguna Beach and The Hills, L.C. has gone on to other successes on and off the screen. In 2009, she released her New York Times-bestselling first novel, L.A. Candy, with others to come after it. She's birthed fashion and beauty lines—and the PYT is still just 27.
Tyler Perry might be the ultimate entertainment multi-hyphenate. He does it all: acting, directing, screenwriting, producing, songwriting and play writing. (And all of that made him Forbes' highest-paid man in entertainment in 2011.) Last year, he inked a deal with Oprah Winfrey to create scripted TV for her OWN network.
Bono (born Paul David Hewson…and now you know!) is best known as U2's frontman. But he's also well known as a venture capitalist and philanthropist. As a humanitarian, he's involved with much Africa-based activism, including founding various related nonprofits. He was even nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and granted an honorary knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II!
Just try to think of Will Ferrell and not crack a little smile. The funny guy from SNL has made a slew of movies like Talladega Nights and Blades of Glory since those days. And in 2007 he launched the website Funny or Die that continually churns out Internet-based humor hits.
The 27-year-old Lena Dunham is as successful as she is controversial. As the creator and star of HBO's Girls, she's scooped up an array of Emmys and Golden Globes—all with an enviable love-me-or-hate-me attitude. In addition to her TV contributions, Dunham wrote and directed the feature Tiny Furniture—and last year scored a whopping multimillion-dollar book deal with Random House for her memoirs.
In addition to being a rapper and producer, Sean Combs—also known by Diddy and a handful of other aliases over the years—is a big-time entrepreneur. Forbes put his estimated wealth well over $500 million, which would make him the richest rapper in the game. And he might be about to get much richer still: Forbes reports that his network Revolt TV could make him a billionaire when it debuts this fall.
Touched by an Angel actress Roma Downey and big-time reality TV producer Mark Burnett have only been married since 2007, but together they make for a major Hollywood power couple. Burnett is the producer of such smash hits as Survivor and The Voice, and together with Downey, History Channel's The Bible.
Ryan Seacrest has earned himself the nickname "the hardest-working man in Hollywood" for the sheer number of projects with which he's involved. In addition to his long-time role as host of American Idol, he's also a TV producer himself—producing such little bitty shows as Keeping Up With the Kardashians—and host of his own nationally syndicated radio show. And he's a philanthropist to boot, launching the Ryan Seacrest Foundation in 2010 to help ill and injured kids.
Netflix has forged an impressive recovery since it announced badly received changes in 2011. The company's original series House of Cards and revival of fan-favorite Arrested Development has changed the way we view TV—and what the phrase "TV series" even means to us viewers.
It's a big year for Jimmy Fallon: This spring, NBC announced he'd replace Jay Leno as host of the Tonight Show next year. So that's just one more teeny weeny accomplishment this comedian, musician, actor and TV host can add to his resume.
Yes, Will.i.am is one of the founding members of the Black Eyed Peas. But there's a lot more. We get out of breath just trying to go through all the accomplishments in his far-reaching, multimedia career: musician, entrepreneur, record producer, DJ and big-time philanthropist.
Ashton Kutcher went from model to Kelso on That ‘70s Show and prankster on Punk'd to Demi Moore's hubby and ex-hubby—to a big-time entertainment industry player. Kutcher is major producer as well as actor. He's behind Room 401 and Beauty and the Geek, and he stars in Two and a Half Men…all in spite of a few Twitter-related scandals along the way.
You may not know him by name, but you probably know his company: Blake Mycoskie is the founder of TOMS shoes, which famously gives one pair of shoes to folks in need for every one pair of (super cute!) shoes purchased. The company recently expanded the business premise to glasses as well.
In 2000, the former fashion editor Natalie Massenet launched the high-end shopping site Net-a-Porter, which wowed shoppers with its gorgeous goods, presented in the format of a sleek fashion glossy. Massanet sold the site for a cool $350 million in 2010. Haute shot!
The Columbian star Shakira is wildly decorated, with gobs of MTV Video Music Awards, Grammys, Latin Grammys, Billboard Music Awards and Billboard Latin Music Awards. But in addition to her music—she's a singer, songwriter and producer—she's also a major philanthropist, through her own Pies Descalzos Foundation and numerous other groups.