Eras Tour helps Swift crack list of celebrity billionaires
Thanks to the overwhelming success of her whirlwind Eras Tour, Taylor Swift has cracked Forbes’ 2024 list of the World’s Celebrity Billionaires.
“Her estimated $190-million (U.S.) post-tax earnings from her historic Eras Tour helped boost the country-and-pop musician into the three-comma club — the first person to do it based solely on songwriting and performing,” the financial publication said of the 34-yearold sensation, who ranked 14th among entertainers in its 10-figure celebrity club.
Swift hit the billion-dollar mark in October, according to both Forbes and Bloomberg.
At that time, Bloomberg reported the singer’s fortune included $370 million from ticket sales and merchandise.
The music she released since 2019 was good for another $400 million. Swift also reportedly owns more than $100 million in property.
Forbes lists her net worth at $1.1 billion.
“Law & Order” creator Dick Wolf joined Swift as a newcomer on Forbes’ 2024 rundown. The 77year-old Manhattan native even outranked Swift, with an estimated net worth of $1.2 billion, putting him in 13th place among celebrity billionaires.
Former NBA star Magic Johnson can also count himself among 2024’s rookies, thanks to $1.2 billion generated by investments in professional sports teams, movie theatres and other ventures. The 64year-old debuted at No. 12 among the world’s richest entertainers.
The 14 celebrities on the list are worth a collective $31 billion. The list is topped by George Lucas, whose “Star Wars” franchise helped him achieve a net worth of $5.5 billion.
Along with Swift, the other musicians in the lineup are singer Rihanna and rapper Jay-Z, who respectively rank ninth and fifth.
Rihanna’s stakes in Fenty Beauty and luxury brand LVMH help make her net worth $1.4 billion. The 36year-old “Diamonds” singer was first deemed a Forbes billionaire in 2021.
Meanwhile, Jay-Z — “hip hop’s first billionaire” — joined the club in 2019 and has since doubled his value, according to Forbes. His 50 per cent share in the Armand de Brignac liquor brand is largely to thank for the 54-year-old Brooklyn native’s growing bank account. JayZ’s combined music and business ventures make him worth an estimated $2.5 billion.
Forbes also released its rundown of all the world’s billionaires, led by entrepreneurs literally operating in a different stratosphere.
French luxury brand owner Bernard Arnault topped the World’s Billionaires List with a net worth of $233 billion.
Elon Musk, who’s made a fortune by manufacturing aerospace technology and electric cars — while losing billions on his dubious social media platform X — is worth $195 billion, according to Forbes.
Forbes said there are currently 2,781 billionaires in the world, which is the most there’s ever been. That includes 265 newcomers who joined the ranks in 2024.