THE BOYBAND RICHER THAN THE BEATLES
They only came third on X Factor. Seven years on, One Direction are worth a quarter of a BILLION. So how do they (and their very glamorous girls) splash the cash . . .
Just seven years ago, they were schoolboys revising for their exams.
Today, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan and Liam Payne – collectively known as One Direction – are worth a staggering £262m. That’s at least £50m each.
This week, records filed at Companies House, the UK’s register of companies, revealed that the X Factor graduates have sold 10 shares in their firm 1D Media, netting them a cool £14m each.
Terrifyingly, all are aged 25 or under, with all five making the Sunday Times’ under-30 Rich List last year.
To put this into context, the Beatles had each made £1.1m at a similar point in their careers. Even taking into account five decades of inflation, this works out at a comparatively paltry £16.7m per Beatle.
In the process of earning all this, the 1D quintet have grown rather more discerning. Gone are the chain-store onesies and the Citroen C3s – the modest hatchback that Horan learned to drive in – and in come the designer suits and luxury convertibles.
To the companies through which the group funnel their earnings – 1D Media, Rollcall Touring and PPM – the money rolls in from music royalties, merchandising, touring as well from as sevenfigure endorsement deals.
CLEMMIE MOODIE looks at how the boyband amassed such vast wealth – and what they have blown it on ...