A-List Angels

How a Band of Actors, Artists, and Athletes Hacked Silicon Valley

By: Zack O'Malley Greenburg

Narrated by: Tristan Wright

How Hollywood cashed in on the latest tech boom - and changed the face of Silicon Valley.

When Ashton Kutcher first heard about 50 Cent's nine-figure Vitaminwater windfall in 2007, the actor realized he'd been missing out. He soon followed the rapper's formula - seeking equity instead of cash for endorsement deals - but with a twist: as the first person to top one million Twitter followers, Kutcher leveraged his social reach to accumulate stakes in a vast range of user-hungry tech startups.

A decade later, Kutcher is perhaps the brightest in a firmament of star investors from Beyoncé and Jay-Z to Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez. Bartering credibility and connections in exchange for early (and often discounted) access to the world's most coveted investment opportunities, this diverse group changed the face of venture capital while amassing portfolios packed with companies like Airbnb, Spotify, and Uber. But how did two once-dissonant universes - Silicon Valley and Hollywood - become intertwined?

Forbes senior editor Zack O'Malley Greenburg told the first chapter of Kutcher's transformation for the magazine's cover story in 2016. Now he offers a lively, enthralling account of how this motley crew of talent managers, venture capitalists, and celebrities helped the creative class forge a brand-new blueprint for generational wealth. Through extensive reporting and exclusive interviews with more than 100 key players - including Shaq, Nas, Joe Montana, Sophia Bush, Steve Aoki, Tony Gonzalez, and dozens of behind-the-scenes power brokers - Greenburg sheds light on the unlikely group that fundamentally transformed the value of fame.

©2020 Zack O'Malley Greenburg (P)2020 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"Another one! Zack's latest book has the keys to securing the bag on the highest level - it's not about cash, it's about getting that equity." (DJ Khaled)

"Exciting, well-researched chronicle of how a group of actors, athletes and artists have emerged as mega-successful venture capitalists. Their stories underscore the inspiring truth that great entrepreneurs can emerge from the most unlikely backgrounds...an un-putdown-able masterpiece." (Steve Forbes)

"An inspirational tale of the unlikely bunch that not only cracked the code for startup investing, but also brought a much-needed infusion of diversity to Silicon Valley. It's an essential read." (Arianna Huffington)

Fascinating look at the nexus of Hollywood & Silicon Valley

This was a well written, action-packed book for anyone who enjoys contemporary business literature. Props for the content!

The narrator’s voice and delivery was great, but I found myself wanting to hurl my phone across the room on numerous occasions because he doesn’t know how to pronounce basic words and clearly no one corrected him. I’m writing this review in hopes that someone can provide better quality control re: this guy in the future.

A narrator should be able to pronounce basic words like buffet, and constituency, and even a French phrase that is used often in American English like ‘de rigueur.’ Not to mention a word that’s very important to a story about investing, which is ‘Benioff.’ And yet this narrator butchers them! Rant over, but I truly hope whoever hires audiobook narrators monitors this narrator better in the future.

The book is ok

Tells the origin of the entertainment industry meeting venture capital. The book has good stories about the luck of the draw with investing in start ups and different ways today's stars were involved.