Which Celebrities Would You Want To Do Business With? Trump, Kanye, Oprah, Kardashians Make List

Plenty of stars, from Jessica Alba and Kate Hudson, to Ashton Kutcher, and Dr Dre, have started dabbling in entrepreneurship. But, according to a Xero survey of small business owners, maybe some of them should stick to their day jobs. In honor of World Entrepreneur Day, cloud-based accounting software company, Xero, polled small business owners across the globe to find out which celebrity entrepreneurs most inspire them — and which they’d least like to work with. The overall winner? Oprah Winfrey came out on top around the world, while Kim Kardashian hit a new kind of bottom.

Who Would you Most Like to Go Into Business With?

Globally, Oprah Winfrey tops the charts as the celebrity entrepreneur small business owners would “most like to go into business with” – securing almost 40% of the popular vote. With a net worth of more than $3 billion, and a diverse list of business ventures under her sleeve including owning a TV production company, publishing and numerous philanthropic interests, Winfrey is living proof that pursuing multiple endeavors can make good business sense. How did Oprah break down against other celebrities globally? Here are the rankings:

Global Results: “Most Like to Go Into Business With”


1	Oprah Winfrey	39.7 %
2	Gwyneth Paltrow	12.9 %
3	Mark Cuban	12.4 %
4	Kate Hudson	10.9 %
5	Stella McCartney	8.5 %
6	Jay-Z	8.1 %
7	Miranda Kerr	3.9 %
8	Kim Kardashian	3.7 %

Looking at the results by country, in the U.S., Mavericks owner and Shark Tank’s “Mr Nice Guy,” Mark Cuban, narrowly beat Winfrey as the person they’d most like to go into business with, earning favor with 37% of respondents. In third place — country music singer, actress, chef and the inspiration behind Goop, Gwyneth Paltrow. Next up Kate Hudson, followed by Jay Z and coming in last, with a measly 2% of the vote, Kim Kardashian.

U.S. Results: “Most Like to Go Into Business With”
1	Mark Cuban	37.2 %
2	Oprah Winfrey	34.0 %
3	Gwyneth Paltrow	11.2 %
4	Kate Hudson	10.8 %
5	Jay-Z	4.8 %
6	Kim Kardashian	2.0 %

Who Do you Least Admire?

Proving that not all publicity is good publicity, reality TV star and serial entrepreneur Kim Kardashian is resoundingly the ‘least admired’ celebrity entrepreneur by a landslide (56%). Real estate developer, author, TV personality and politician Donald Trump (27%) followed behind Kardashian, despite being in the limelight due to his Presidential candidacy run in the U.S. Homemaker and publisher, Martha Stewart, came in third place followed by Ashton Kutcher in last place. Kutcher therefore wins first place as “least likely to not be admired.”

Who Should Pursue Their Side-Gig Full-Time?

Like many entrepreneurs, celebrities often start their business ventures as a ‘side-gig’ to their primary money-making endeavors. Twenty eight percent (28%) of small business owners felt that Dr. Dre should retire from the spotlight and focus on Beats by Dre, which he sold to Apple for $3 billion.

Actress Jessica Alba, who has been gaining notoriety for The Honest Co., came in second place with nearly 27% of the vote, while Ashton Kutcher came in third with almost a quarter of respondents around the world believing he should step away from the screen and focus on his side-gig of investing in early stage tech companies and restaurants. Trailing the pack, with 18%, was actress and blogger Blake Lively.

It’s All About “The Donald”

Although Donald Trump has a net worth of $4 billion, his corporations have, in fact, filed for bankruptcy four times and small business owners are keen to offer up advice on how this presidential hopeful can stay solvent:

Reconcile your business bank accounts (57%);
Reduce alimony expenses (23%); and
Get a new hairdo (14%)!

World Entrepreneur Day, is an annual event designed to create awareness for and celebrate entrepreneurship, innovation and leadership throughout the world.