Rumors

Former Aspiration CEO Andrei Cherny signed off on the contract with Leonard, though Sanberg brought the Clippers star in, multiple sources said. The sponsorship deal, sources said, was worth significantly more than the endorsement deals Aspiration reached with the musician Drake, who invested $4 million and received carbon credits, and actor Robert Downey Jr., who received less than $2 million in equity. Sanberg also gave Leonard $20 million in equity in the company, The Athletic reported in September.

New York Times

The contract was, however, much richer than Aspiration’s deals with other endorsers, according to the former executive who related that Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert Downey Jr. both received less than $2 million in equity, while Drake invested $4 million but also received carbon offsets.

New York Times

One of the funniest parts about this whole thing is that you had Leonardo DiCaprio, you had Robert Downey Jr., you had Drake—some of the most charismatic communicators in public in our country (Drake notwithstanding these days, but whatever). And the guy making more than four times as much as everybody—including Cindy Crawford, Orlando Bloom, blah blah blah—was the worst of all of the athletes in that regard.

YouTube

A slew of big name entrepreneurs and celebrities are really circling the drain with their latest investment. Led by Greycroft Partners, a who’s who of celebrity investors, including Mark Cuban, Marc Benioff, Iron Man and Pepper Potts (er… Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow), Uber’s chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi, Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, Ashton Kutcher and Guy Oseary’s Sound Ventures, and Code.org founder Hadi Partovi are investing $3 million into the new toilet paper brand Cloud Paper. (Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter Ciara, serial-entrepreneur Grant Ries, Muse Capital, Ashley and Marc Merrill and The Chainsmokers’ Mantis VC are also backing the company) Why? Because they’re hoping to save the environment.

TechCrunch.com