Rihanna's Savage X Fenty raises $125M with new UAE investors

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An Abu Dhabi-based investment firm linked to a top security official in the United Arab Emirates said Thursday it has invested $25 million in Savage X Fenty, the lingerie company co-founded by megastar and business mogul Rihanna.

Savage X Fenty also raised new investment from the Abu Dhabi Growth Fund, owned by the Abu Dhabi government.

It comes as Rihanna’s lingerie brand this week reportedly secured $125 million in a third round of capital raised as it opens its first retail store in Las Vegas. The brand plans to open other brick-and-mortar locations in malls in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Washington D.C. and Houston. It will showcase its range of sizes on mannequins showcasing different body types. The brand's ethos celebrates inclusivity, similar to Rihanna's makeup line that launched with a range of 40 shades of foundation for various skin colors.

In its series C this week, the lingerie brand raised new capital from New York-based LionTree, as well as other private equity firms, including one backed by LVMH’s Bernard Arnault and a venture capital firm co-founded by Jay-Z, who was president of Def Jam when Rihanna was signed to the label in 2005.

The Abu Dhabi-based Multiply Group announced its $25 million investment in a disclosure to Abu Dhabi’s Securities Exchange on Thursday, where the company has been listed since early December of 2021.

According to Forbes, this brings total venture capital funding to $310 million for the lingerie brand, which Robyn “Rihanna” Fenty debuted in 2018. Forbes estimates Rihanna's net worth at $1.7 billion, with makeup line Fenty Beauty worth about $1.4 billion and the remaining $270 million rooted in the the lingerie brand, as well as her music career.

Rihanna, who is from the eastern Caribbean...