The National - News

SPIELBERG SIGNS OFF 2023 AS THE WORLD’S RICHEST ENTERTAINE­R

▶ George Lucas, Michael Jordan, Oprah Winfrey, Jay-Z, Tom Ford and new billionair­e Taylor Swift are among the 10 wealthiest celebritie­s, writes

- Keith Fernandez

1. Steven Spielberg

Director Steven Spielberg ends 2023 as the world’s richest celebrity. Bloomberg put his total net worth at $8.3 billion as of December 21, ranking him 291 on its real-time Billionair­es Index.

The Oscar-winning director’s net worth climbed an estimated $1.25 billion in 2023. The bulk of his assets are in cash.

He has a lifelong consulting agreement with Universal Studios theme parks. The value of the agreement at the end of last year was $1.1 billion, Bloomberg reported.

In addition, he has personal property worth $300 million.

Spielberg, 77, is the principal partner in film production company DreamWorks Studios. He has produced about 150 films, including Jaws, Jurassic Park and Schindler’s List.

He and his wife, actor Kate Capshaw, own or have owned properties in Malibu and the Pacific Palisades in California, as well as a 6,000-square-foot apartment in New York and a four-hectare estate in East Hampton, New York, according to wealth tracking website Celebrity Net Worth.

He owns a superyacht worth $250 million and avidly collects film memorabili­a and art.

2. George Lucas

The man behind the Star Wars and Indiana Jones movie franchises has a net worth of $6.92 billion, according to Bloomberg’s Billionair­es Index. That is an increase of about 12.4 per cent or $761 million over the previous year.

The filmmaker, 79, is the world’s 360th richest person.

Most of his wealth has come from entertainm­ent – specifical­ly, from selling the rights of his Lucasfilm and special effects business Industrial Light and Magic to Disney for $4.1 billion in cash and stock in 2012.

The deal included 37.1 million Disney shares and made him the entertainm­ent company’s second-largest individual shareholde­r after Laurene Powell Jobs, the billionair­e widow of Apple founder Steve Jobs.

Lucas’s major investment is in farmland. His Skywalker Properties owns about 2,470 hectares of ranches in and around Marin County, California.

3. Michael Jordan

Former basketball star Michael Jordan ends the year with a net worth of $3 billion, according to Forbes. The magazine ranks him as the 1,042nd richest billionair­e.

Jordan, 60, has seen his net worth nearly double from $1.7 billion last year.

Many regard him as the greatest NBA player of all time. He played in the league for 15 seasons, from 1984 to 2003, and earned $90 million.

Off court, he has earned another $2.4 billion before taxes from partnershi­ps with brands including Gatorade, Hanes and, perhaps most importantl­y, Nike. The $2.5 million, five-year contract he signed with the sports apparel retailer in 1984 also awarded him a percentage of all shoes sold with his likeness.

The shoe brand Air Jordans earned $5.1 billion last year, with Jordan taking 5 per cent, according to Front Office Sports. This year, Jordan banked additional income from selling the Charlotte Hornets basketball team at a valuation of $3 billion.

He has also invested in headphone brand Muzik and esports company aXiomatic, while he also co-owns Nascar team 23XI, along with several restaurant­s.

4. Oprah Winfrey

The richest woman on our list this year is Oprah Winfrey. Despite a net worth of $2.8 billion, she ranks well outside the world’s top 1,000 billionair­es, at 1,121 on Forbes magazine’s real-time list.

The entreprene­ur and philanthro­pist ended 2022 with a net worth of $2.5 billion, down from $2.7 billion in 2021.

Besides her eponymous talk show, which ran for 25 years, Winfrey, 69, has also profited from films including Beloved and Selma, through her Harpo Production­s company.

Reinvested, the profits from these entertainm­ent properties total more than $2 billion, Forbes reports. Her current projects include the Oprah Daily website and the musical retelling of the 1982 book The Color Purple. This film adaptation releases in cinemas around the world today.

5. Jay-Z

Music mogul Jay-Z now has a net worth of $2.5 billion, according to Forbes.

At the end of 2022, his net worth was reported as $1.3 billion.

The difference probably comes down to his beverage business. Luxury goods company LVMH purchased a 50 per cent stake in his Armand de Brignac brand in 2021. This year, he sold a majority of his D’Usse brand to Bacardi.

The 54-year-old, whose real name is Shawn Corey Carter, also owns entertainm­ent company Roc Nation, which was founded in 2008.

As an investor, Jay-Z has stakes in companies including Block, Uber and Therabody.

6. Tom Ford

Fashion designer Tom Ford catapulted to billionair­e status last year after he sold his eponymous label and a separate fragrance and cosmetics business to Estee Lauder.

Forbes magazine puts his net worth at $2.2 billion.

He founded the label in 2005 and owned 63.7 per cent of the company, according to Forbes.

Ford, 62, also owns a film-production company, Fade to Black.

He has a real estate portfolio, with homes in Paris, Los Angeles, London, New York and Santa Fe, New Mexico.

In August, he bought former US first lady Jackie Kennedy’s childhood holiday home for $52 million.

7. Kim Kardashian

Reality TV star Kim Kardashian, 43, has a net worth of $1.7 billion, most of which is from her stake in clothing brand Skims.

The company has been valued at $4 billion after a funding round this year, raising Kardashian’s net worth. It is on track to make about $750 million this year, The New York Times reported. She also owns a high-end skincare line, SKKN by Kim, and a private equity firm, SKKY Partners.

8. Peter Jackson

Holding steady at $1.5 billion is director Peter Jackson. The New Zealander is best known for the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit trilogies.

Jackson, 62, became a billionair­e when he sold his Weta Digital special effects studio to Unity Software for $1.6 billion in cash and stock in 2021.

His investment­s include $150 million in real estate, according to Celebrity Net Worth.

An aviation fan, he owns a Gulfstream G650 private jet, more than 40 airworthy First World War-era warbirds and Wingnut Wings, a scale modelling company specialisi­ng in First World War subjects.

9. Magic Johnson

Former basketball star Magic Johnson joined the billionair­es’ circle this year. In October, Forbes put his net worth at $1.2 billion.

He earned $40 million over 13 seasons in the NBA. Outside basketball, he has investment­s and partnershi­ps in cinemas, Starbucks franchises, real estate, health care and other companies.

The largest share of his fortune comes from a 60 per cent ownership stake in life insurance company Equitrust, which has $26 billion in assets under management.

Johnson, 64, also owns stakes in several sports teams, including the Los Angeles Dodgers.

10. Taylor Swift

Singer Taylor Swift is perhaps the most notable newcomer to this year’s billionair­e list, following the success of her Eras concert tour (and film).

Her net worth is $1.1 billion, according to Forbes.

The tour could earn her as much as $4.1 billion when it closes next year, The Washington Post reported.

The 12-time Grammy winner was also the year’s most streamed artist on Spotify, earning $131 million from 26.1 global streams over the 11 months to November.

The 33-year-old has more than 182 million in total equivalent album sales over her career. Swift is one of the world’s richest selfmade women. She is also one of the world’s youngest self-made billionair­es.

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Tom Ford

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