The multi-millionaire and US TV star behind some of the Kardashian's biggest brands is joining Dragons' Den. Emma Grede, from London, is a huge name across fashion and business, having co-founded three of the Kardashian's companies including shapewear line Skims.
The viral fashion company sparked international headlines when a 22-year-old American woman claimed her Skims bodysuit saved her life after being shot four times in a mass shooting last year. Now, Emma will now join the hit BBC business show as a special guest alongside Peter Jones, Deborah Meaden, Touker Suleyman, Sara Davies and Steven Bartlett.
It isn't the 41-year-old's first time dishing out advice and investments. Emma became the first black woman investor to appear on Shark Tank, the American version of Dragons' Den, making her debut in 2021. On becoming a Dragon, Emma told The Sun: “I have been watching the show for so many years, so being able to come back to the UK as a Dragon to share my own experience with the budding entrepreneurs entering the Den is very exciting. What I’ve understood in my years in business is so much of it isn’t always about who has the best idea — it’s often who has who has access to the right opportunities."
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We take a look at how Emma made her millions, her net worth and her husband and business partner, Jens Grede. As a teenager, Emma says she had a paper round and would save up to buy fashion magazines including Elle and Vogue.
She enrolled in the London College of Fashion at 16 and secured herself a number of internships - including one at major designer label Gucci. She then dropped out of school to fast-track her career, telling The Standard: "It was the right decision for me. I learnt that I got more out of a couple of months work than I could from a college."
She went on to join Inca Productions, best known for producing shows at London Fashion Week. By 24 years old, she had founded her own marketing and talent management agency, ITB Worldwide. Her clients included the likes of H&M, TikTok, Tommy Hilfiger and YSL Beauty.
Emma then met Kris Jenner at Paris Fashion week and proposed an idea for a denim jeans company. This became Good American, which, launched with Khloe Kardashian in 2016, focuses on size inclusivity and body positivity.
With Emma as CEO, the company pioneered the size 15 jean - an in-between of sizes 14 and 16 - in order to cater to more body types. Good American initially only sold jeans, but now counts dresses, activewear, sleepwear and more among its offerings.
Emma is also a founding partner of Skims, with she launched with her husband Jens Grede and Kim Kardashian in 2019. The shapewear company made headlines when a 22-year-old woman claimed her Skims bodysuit saved her life after being shot four times during a Kansas City mass shooting last year. Skims caters for all genders and sells underwear, loungewear and more.
Along with Kris Jenner and Chrissy Teigen, Emma also co-founded Safely, a brand of plant-based cleaning and self-care products that launched in March 2021.
What is Emma Grede's net worth?
Forbes estimates Emma's net worth to be to be £285 million ($360 million) as of 2022, thanks to her almost 8% stake in Skims, which was valued at more than $4 billion in July last year. The rest of her fortune comes from owning about 23% of Good American, 22% of Safely and less valuable stakes in two companies co-founded by her husband, Frame and Brady.
Frame is a high-end clothing company famed for its jeans, while Brady is football great Tom Brady's athletic line.
Family life
Away from work, Emma and Jens are proud parents to four children: Grey, 10, Lola, 7, and twins Lake and Rafferty, two. The family now reside in Los Angeles and have lived in a £19 million Bel Air mansion since 2017. In 2022, Emma bought Brad Pitt's Malibu holiday home for £27 million.
In an interview with The Standard, Emma admitted she takes help where she can get it - including nannies for her kids and a house cleaner. She said: "I don’t do everything brilliantly and I don’t profess to. I have an enormous amount of help, I have nannies for my kids, I don’t clean my house; something has to give."
On her social life, she said: "I have a limited number of friends, I’m not out having co*cktails. There have been stages of my life which were more about being social, now I’m focused on the businesses. I don’t try to find a great balance."
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She added: "If I have a sick kid, I have a sick kid. If I have a deal to close, I have a deal to close; I don’t believe I’m here to just fulfil the needs of my children. I’m trying to show them self-fulfilment. I want them to see me doing what makes me happy, so that they learn the importance of finding that thing that you love."
Dragons Den continues on BBC One and iPlayer from 8pm on Thursdays.
