Jennifer Lopez has a lot of titles on her business card these days. At this point in a career stretching back more than two decades, she’s less a musician or actress than a walking lifestyle brand, and a hyper-productive one at that.
Consider Lopez’s current portfolio: She’s a businesswoman, entrepreneur, fashion designer, producer, cable-network programmer, author (her first memoir, “True Love,” arrives in October) and, most importantly to her, mom (Max and Emme, her twins with ex-husband Marc Anthony, turned 6 in March).
It’s no wonder her cumulative earnings totaled an estimated $52 million in 2011, the year she became a judge on “American Idol,” heralding a comeback for Lopez’s career and a new chapter as a lifestyle brand in the vein of Oprah Winfrey or Martha Stewart. As led by Benny Medina, Lopez’s longtime manager and head of The Medina Company, that entails employing some 25 people to oversee Lopez’s ventures day-to-day, as well as dozens of others at her many partners.
How much does Lopez make these days for her many ventures? Billboard explores the relative earnings and many partners that go into the current state of J. Lo, Inc.
“American Idol”
$17.5 million
Lopez scored a hefty pay raise to return to “Idol” for a third season in 2013, from an impressive $12.5 million in 2011 to a whopping $17.5 million for this year’s series. But with ratings at an all-time low, a renewal deadline looms in the coming weeks as her film and touring plans for 2015 also beckon. “We’ll have answers to all that stuff going into July,” says Lopez’s longtime manager Benny Medina, indicating that a return is not a sure thing. “The music business is a day-to-day grind and has the intensity of no other business that we’re in,” he says. Lopez, for her part, was more clear-eyed about her future. “I don’t know what I’m gonna be doing in the next six months. I really don’t. And that’s OK for me. Because what I like is whatever happens is supposed to happen. And I’m good. I can roll with that.”
Coty fragrances
$13.3 million
Glow sold $100 million worth of perfume bottles in 2002, its first year, and roughly accounts for half of the $2 billion in cumulative revenue Lopez has generated for the company across five pillar scents. Lopez’s estimated annual earnings are 7 to 8 percent of Coty’s revenue, or $12.5 million to $13.3 million. Emily Bond, Coty’s VP of marketing who oversees the Lopez business, even goes so far as to credit Lopez and Glow for “reinvent[ing] the celebrity fragrance category,” which for Coty now counts Katy Pery, Lady Gaga, Madonna, Tim McGraw and Enrique Iglesias among its musician partners.
NuvoTV & Fuse
$2 to $3 million stake
Lopez is a minority investor (and the chief creative officer) in the English-language cable network that targets Hispanic millennials. Perhaps the greatest test of Lopez’s multimedia reach will be the new look and feel of Fuse, set to debut later this year as parent company SiTV’s acquisition (for a reported $226 million) becomes finalized in the coming weeks. Lopez has already been involved with meetings from day-to-day production of Nuvo series like “A Step Away” and “The Collective” to meet-and-greets with cable operators who could potentially distribute the still-fledgling network, currently available in 34 million homes. “What has really impressed everyone here is her high degree of focus and commitment – while she’s busy, she’s been very dedicated over the last 12 months,” says NuvoTV CEO Michael Schwimmer.
“The Fosters”
$100,000
Nuyorican Productions, Lopez’s production company with Medina, scored a hit last summer with ABC Family’s “The Fosters,” a family drama featuring same-sex parents. Nuyorican’s producer’s fee is estimated at $50,000 to $100,000 per season. As Lopez re-teams with longtime agent Kevin Huvane at CAA and producer Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas (“Maid In Manhattan”), she’s also developing other TV projects, including a drama for NBC in 2015 in which Lopez may star.
L’Oreal Paris
$6 million
Since 2010, Lopez has been a highly visible face of the cosmetics and haircare company, most recently promoting makeup line True Match in 2013, with a new campaign set to debut later in 2014. “I just did last week another commercial — we were dancing tango,” Lopez reports. The endorsement deal is estimated to earn her $5 to $6 million annually.
Films
$2 million
Lopez has three films due in 2015: the thriller “The Boy Next Door” from producer Jason Blum (“Paranormal Activity,” “Insidious”), the A&E Films-produced drama “Lila & Eve” and the DreamWorks Animation family musical “Home” (co-starring Rihanna.) Once the highest-paid Latina actress in Hollywood history (she was paid a reported $12 million for 2003’s “Gigli”), Lopez’s film salary now starts at $2 million and goes up, sources estimate, depending on the type of film and her share of the back-end.
Viva Movil by Jennifer Lopez
Earnings TBD; 17 locations (since May 2013)
J. Lo went mobile in 2013, launching a flagship retail brand powered by Verizon Wireless with her namesake in Los Angeles, New York and Miami. The company has expanded to 17 locations in its first 12 months, and continues to experiment with new ways to sell devices to the Hispanic consumer.
Kohl’s
5% of revenues
Lopez receives an estimated 5 percent of revenues from her collection with Kohl’s, which has been a bestseller for the retailer since debuting in 2011. And it’s yet another active collaboration. Peggy Eskenasi, Kohl’s senior exec VP of product development, notes that the company’s designers are frequently invited to Lopez’s own home closet to come up with new offerings inspired by clothing and products she uses in her everyday life. “Jennifer’s stylists, Rob and Mariel, also stay in close touch with our design team in between our visits with Jennifer,” Eskenasi adds. “From Hollywood glam to dramatic embellishments, you can see her personal style is reflected in each month’s collection.”
