When Rihanna launched Fenty Beauty in 2017, she didn’t just enter the beauty industry—she forced it to change.
The brand arrived with 40 foundation shades at launch, a range that exposed how badly major beauty companies had underserved deeper and more diverse skin tones for decades. Fenty’s message was simple: inclusion could not be a seasonal campaign or an afterthought. It had to be the product.
Now, Fenty Beauty may be entering its biggest business shift since launch.
According to Puck News, Jay-Z’s MarcyPen Capital Partners is nearing a deal to acquire LVMH’s 50% stake in Fenty Beauty. If completed, the agreement would create a 50-50 ownership structure between MarcyPen and Rihanna, giving Jay-Z’s firm a major role in the future of one of the most influential celebrity-founded beauty brands in the world.
Sources told Puck that the deal could close within the next three to four weeks. Terms have not been publicly disclosed.
MarcyPen was formed in 2024 through the merger of Jay-Z’s Marcy Venture Partners and Pendulum Opportunities, the firm co-founded by D’Rita and Robbie Robinson. The firm already has history with Rihanna’s business empire: Marcy Venture Partners invested in Savage X Fenty in 2019 and 2022.
That history matters. Jay Brown, Roc Nation executive and MarcyPen co-founder, also helped co-found both Fenty Beauty and Savage X Fenty. This is not an outside investor discovering Rihanna’s brand—it is a longtime business partner stepping into a larger ownership role.
Fenty Beauty was launched in 2017 through Kendo Brands, the LVMH-owned beauty incubator. Its inclusive foundation range quickly became a cultural and commercial turning point, pushing competitors to expand their own shade ranges and rethink how they marketed beauty to Black, brown, and underrepresented consumers.
The brand helped turn “inclusive beauty” from a talking point into a business standard.
But the reported deal is about more than makeup. It reflects a larger shift in Black entrepreneurship: moving from being the face of major brands to owning larger stakes in the companies built around their influence.
Jay-Z’s portfolio already includes music, sports, spirits, real estate, media, and talent management through Roc Nation. If MarcyPen closes the Fenty deal, it would add one of beauty’s most recognizable brands to that ecosystem.
Fenty Beauty was once valued at more than $2 billion, though later estimates have placed it closer to $1 billion. Even at that lower figure, it remains a major asset—and a powerful example of how culture, product innovation, and ownership can reshape an industry.
If the deal closes as expected, Rihanna would no longer be simply the founder and face of Fenty Beauty. She would be co-leading its next chapter alongside one of the most powerful business figures in entertainment.
And that could change the beauty industry again.
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Editor’s Note: Dive deeper into the entrepreneurial journeys and business philosophy of Black founders with our curated collection of Black literature and memoirs on business, innovation, and cultural leadership.
