Forbes recently published an article detailing the alleged financial woes of Selena Gomez’s startup, Wondermind via Buzzfeed.
Wondermind, co-founded by Selena and her mom, Mandy Teefey, is a “mental fitness” outlet that was launched in 2021. As per to Forbes, the company employs around 15 people — and while it raised $5 million at a $100 million valuation in 2022, it’s currently “in the midst of a crisis.”
Forbes has alleged that Wondermind failed to pay its staff on more than one occasion. They reported that two anonymous employees claimed that the company owes $60,000 to a firm it worked with in the past, while another alleged that tens of thousands of dollars are owed to freelance writers. Most recently, Forbes alleged that Wondermind missed payroll on April 30th, and that employees have not been paid since.
As well as employees allegedly missing multiple paychecks, the outlet claimed that health benefits were suddenly slashed a couple of months ago.
Selena’s mom purportedly told employees that she took out a loan against her home to pay back the company’s outstanding debts. An insider has since alleged to People that this claim is false.
The Forbes article has also sparked huge criticism online, especially amid Selena’s extremely wealthy status as one of America’s richest self-made entrepreneurs.
Last October, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index estimated that Selena is now worth upwards of $1 billion — namely due to her brand Rare Beauty, which accounts for a large majority of her wealth. The recent piece from Forbes estimates that she’s worth $700 million.
