Fenty Beauty — the brand Rihanna built into a category-changer on radical shade inclusivity — is a 50/50 joint venture between the artist and the French luxury group LVMH. Launched in 2017 with LVMH's beauty incubator Kendo Brands, Rihanna (via Roraj Trade) and LVMH each hold half 1. Unusually for a celebrity brand, she secured real equity and creative control — but LVMH runs the manufacturing, distribution and Sephora retail, and owns the other half.
That balance is now in play: in 2025 LVMH began exploring a sale of its 50% stake, with the brand valued at perhaps $1–2bn 2. Diaspora-authored, half French-owned, and possibly about to change hands — Fenty is the beauty chapter of the authorship-versus-ownership question. See the full ledger.
