Duke and Duchess of Sussex working with Hollywood investor who makes millions for celebrities
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are working with a Hollywood venture capitalist who is famed for making millions of dollars for celebrities.
Adam Lilling founded Plus Capital in 2012, which says it aims to partner “the world’s top influencers – those who can affect more change in a day than most can in a lifetime – with the best entrepreneurs and operators in the world”.
The Sussexes have been working with Mr Lilling for some time, the Telegraph understands.
Plus Capital is an investor in BetterUp, a coaching and mental health firm which employs the Duke as chief impact officer.
In a recent interview, Mr Lilling is said to have named the Duchess's Archetypes as his favourite podcast of 2022. He also praised the first episode on Twitter, describing it as “great”.
The couple are said to have been introduced to him by mutual friend Ellen DeGeneres, a US television host, who is said to have worked with him “forever”.
Wedding vows
The Duke and Duchess and Mr Lilling were spotted among the guests as Ms DeGeneres renewed her wedding vows to Portia de Rossi in California last week.
Mr Lilling has also worked with actor Matthew McConaughey among others.
His online profile describes him as “an entrepreneur, investor, and digital media innovator”.
He built his first company, Pentagon CDs & Tapes, which was one of the first online music and video retailers, in 1994, eventually selling it to Virgin Entertainment Group in 1999.
In 2009, he co-founded LaunchpadLA, a mentor programme that created one of the nation’s first accelerators in 2011 and was ranked fifth on Forbes’ list of Top Startup Incubators and Accelerators the following year.
In 2012, he was named by Forbes as one of the “12 Entrepreneurs Who Are Changing LA Forever.”
Financially independent
When the Sussexes left the UK they spoke of their desire to become financially independent and have lamented the huge cost of their security.
Netflix recently announced the couple’s Harry & Meghan series had become its second-highest-ranked documentary ever, behind The Tinder Swindler.
Meanwhile, the Duke’s memoir, Spare, became the fastest-selling non-fiction book since records began in 1998, according to publishers Transworld, the UK division of Penguin Random House.
