Key Points
- The Eras tour has pushed Taylor Swift into billionaire status.
- The singer has accumulated US$1.1 billion ($1.7 billion).
- Barbadian singer Rihanna also made Forbes magazine's billionaire list.
Global superstar Taylor Swift has become a billionaire for the first time, according to Forbes magazine.
The 34-year-old US pop musician has accumulated US$1.1 billion ($1.7 billion), based on earnings from her Eras tour and the worth of her music catalogue.
"Swift is the first musician to hit 10-figure status solely based on her songs and performances," Forbes said.
Barbadian singer Rihanna made the list due to her beauty brand while Beyonce's husband, the rapper Jay-Z, became hip-hop's first billionaire in 2019 based on his fine art collection, music and shares in companies and drinks brands.
Forbes said there were now more billionaires worldwide than ever, with 2,781 in total and the top 20 accounting for most of the gains in wealth.
"They're richer than ever, worth US$14.2 trillion ($24.8 trillion) in aggregate, up by US$2 trillion ($3.2 trillion) from 2023," Forbes said.
The business magazine believes Swift's wealth is made up of roughly US$500 million ($767.7 million) from royalties and touring and a similar amount from the worth of her musical works. An additional US$125 million ($191.9 million) comes from her property portfolio.
She joins French luxury brand LVMH owner Bernard Arnault, who claims the number one spot as the wealthiest person globally with about US$233 billion ($357.75).
Technology mogul Elon Musk, the chief executive of Tesla and SpaceX, came second on the Forbes' list with an estimated US$195 billion ($299.4 billion).
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos placed third on the list while Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg took the number four spot and Oracle software co-founder Larry Ellison rounded out the top five.
Following Swift's recent music gigs, kicking off in March 2023, she became the first artist to surpass US$1 billion in revenue, breaking the Guinness World Record for the highest-grossing music tour.
The concert film, based on her tour, also generated Vue International's highest ticket sales at the UK and Ireland box office on its opening day.
She also became the biggest-selling global recording artist of 2023, which saw her break another record by topping the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry's (IFPI) global artist chart for a fourth time.
Her albums, 2022's Midnights and 2023 re-releases Speak Now (Taylor's Version) and 1989 (Taylor's Version) have all topped the charts.
Swift has been trying to regain control of her master recordings by re-recording her back catalogue since 2021 with Fearless (Taylor's Version).
