September 12, 2026
The actor and his wife invested in the company years before Danone agreed to acquire it for nearly $1.15 billion.
Idris Elba’s latest business win is less about Hollywood and more about getting in early.
The actor and his wife, Sabrina Elba, were among the investors who backed Huel, a British plant-based nutrition company, before it grew into a global brand and attracted a nearly $1.15 billion acquisition offer from French food giant Danone, reports AfroTech.
Founded in 2015, Huel has reportedly sold more than 270 million meals and expanded beyond its original meal-replacement powders into ready-to-drink beverages, snacks, and hot meals. In 2022, Highland Europe led a $24 million funding round designed in part to accelerate the company’s U.S. growth. Elba, Sabrina Elba, British television host Jonathan Ross, and entrepreneur Grace Beverley participated in the round.
For Elba, the investment was rooted in more than celebrity star power. In a video shared by Forbes Family Group, he explained that he liked Huel’s products and its CEO, James McMaster, whom he called a “smart guy” with a vision.
“It was an opportunity to work with Huel in their very early stages, and they just wanted someone to help them put some eyeballs on Huel. I like the product. I like the CEO … So 4 years ago, I get this call. I said, ‘OK, let me take a look at it.’ And it was a very light lift for me from an investment perspective,” said the Luther star. “For me, it was sweat equity. I feel very lucky to have been a part of that deal.”
The 54-year-old British actor also said the investment reflected his interest in supporting healthier, lower-carbon diets and agricultural development in Sierra Leone, which is his father’s native country. That early bet on the company is now reaping major benefits.
Danone agreed to acquire Huel for nearly 1 billion euros, or about $1.15 billion, while bringing the independent nutrition brand under one of the world’s largest food companies. Elba acknowledged that his stake was relatively small but still significant enough to benefit from the sale.
“I didn’t get massively rich, but it’s a very big, very big sale, and I got a small portion of that,” he said.
The Huel deal underscores a growing lane for celebrities with capital, influence, and access, who become early-stage investors rather than simply endorsing products. For Elba, the strategy appears straightforward — back a product he believes in, contribute his visibility, and let the company’s growth create the upside.
RELATED CONTENT: Idris Elba Invests $1M To Equip 100K African Creators With AI
!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)
{if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?
n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};
if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';
n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;
t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];
s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,'script',
'https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js');
fbq('init', '709767812947612');
fbq('track', 'PageView');