10 Black celebrities who built their own liquor empires

The drinks business has always been one of the more reliable paths to building generational wealth, and for a long time, Black celebrities watched from the outside. They showed up in the ads, held the bottles in the videos, got the check and went home. That arrangement made the brands rich and left the talent with nothing durable.

Somewhere around the mid-2010s, the calculation started to shift. A handful of artists and athletes looked at the economics and decided that if they were going to move product with their name and their face, they should own the company doing the moving. What followed was a wave of alcohol ventures that went well beyond vanity labels and endorsement rebrands.

Some of these are serious businesses with institutional backing, major distribution deals and genuine product credibility. Others are still finding their footing. All of them represent a deliberate bet that Black celebrity can translate into Black ownership in an industry that has historically kept those 2 things separate. Here are 10 who made that move.

1. Jay-Z Armand de Brignac Champagne | D'Ussé Cognac

Jay-Z has 2 major alcohol plays and both of them matter. He co-owns Armand de Brignac, the gold-bottle champagne brand he helped turn into one of the most recognisable luxury sparkling wines in the world. LVMH bought a 50% stake in the brand in 2021, which told the market everything it needed to know about the valuation. He also founded D'Ussé, a cognac produced at Chateau de Cognac in France, through a joint venture with Bacardi. Jay-Z has since been in a legal dispute with Bacardi over the valuation and his right to buy the company out. Either way, he built 2 brand-name alcohol businesses from scratch, and only 1 person on this list can say the same thing.

2. Beyoncé SirDavis American Whisky

SirDavis is a blended American whisky that Beyoncé launched in 2024 in partnership with Moët Hennessy, the spirits arm of LVMH. The name honours her great-great-grandfather Davis Hogue, who reportedly ran a whisky still. This is not a celebrity vanity label. The product was developed with master distiller Dr. Bill Lumsden of Glenmorangie, priced at $89 a bottle and positioned squarely in the premium whisky category. It is the kind of launch that says long-term business, not one-off press moment.

3. Dr. Dre Gin and Juice by Dre and Snoop

Gin and Juice, named after the classic 1993 Snoop track, is a canned cocktail brand the 2 artists co-founded together. It launched in 2024 and is distributed by Beats and Brews, a joint venture with spirits company Broadbent. The line includes gin and juice cocktails, and their credibility as founders of West Coast rap culture gives the brand an authenticity that is impossible to manufacture.

4. Kevin Hart Gran Coramino Tequila

Gran Coramino is a tequila brand Hart co-founded in 2022 with master tequilero Juan Domingo Beckmann, 11th-generation heir to the Jose Cuervo tequila dynasty. The brand produces cristalino tequila and has grown fast since launch, winning awards and distribution across the US. Hart has been visibly involved in the business and treats it as a serious commercial venture rather than a side project.

5. LeBron James Lobos 1707 Tequila and Mezcal

LeBron invested in Lobos 1707, a tequila and mezcal brand, in 2021. He came in as a partner and investor, not just a face on a bottle, and has been involved in the brand's growth strategy. Lobos 1707 uses a distinctive finishing process in Pedro Ximenez wine barrels, giving it a flavour profile that stands apart from standard premium tequila. His involvement helped raise the brand's profile significantly in its first 2 years.

6. Dwyane Wade Wade Cellars

Wade Cellars is a Napa Valley wine label Wade founded in 2014 with winemaker Pahlmeyer. He has been hands-on with the winemaking process, visiting the vineyard and participating in blending decisions, to the point that serious wine writers have covered the brand on its merits rather than just its celebrity connection. Wade Cellars produces Cabernet Sauvignon and rosé under Wade's name and has developed a genuine reputation in American wine.

7. Idris Elba Porte Noire Wine and Champagne

Porte Noire, meaning "Black door" in French, is a wine and champagne brand Elba co-founded in 2021 with his business partner Ravi Kulasingam. The range includes champagne, red and white wine sourced from French wine regions, and has been picked up by retailers and restaurants in the UK and US. Elba has been vocal about wanting to build it into a serious wine brand, not a celebrity label that disappears after a few years.

8. 50 Cent Effen Vodka (former stake) | Luc Belaire Champagne

50 Cent's most famous alcohol move was Effen Vodka, a Dutch vodka brand he became an investor in around 2014 and eventually sold his stake in to Beam Suntory for a figure he put at $60 million, though the exact terms were not publicly confirmed. The Effen deal was one of the cleaner celebrity brand exits in the business because he actually sold equity at a profit, not just an endorsement arrangement. He has since been involved in champagne ventures under the Luc Belaire umbrella.

9. Issa Rae Viarae Prosecco

Viarae is a Prosecco brand Rae co-created with Moët Hennessy, the same LVMH spirits division behind Beyoncé's whisky. The brand targets a younger, more diverse consumer and launched in 2022. Rae, best known for creating and starring in HBO's Insecure, has been deliberate about building business interests that reflect her audience, and a prosecco brand co-created with one of the world's largest wine and spirits groups fits that strategy.

10. Rick Ross Luc Belaire | Bumbu Rum

Rick Ross has worked closely with the Luc Belaire brand, the French sparkling wine label distributed by Sovereign Brands, as a brand partner and investor. He has also been associated with Bumbu, a Barbadian craft rum brand he backed. Both arrangements have included equity components rather than pure endorsement deals, and his consistent visibility at Belaire events and in brand marketing has made him one of the more effective celebrity partners in the premium spirits space.