Beyoncé becomes a billionaire, 5th artist to reach milestone
She’s putting the ‘B’ in billion.
Beyoncé is now a billionaire, making her the fifth musician to reach the nine-digit mark, according to Forbes.
The 44-year-old superstar joined her husband, Jay-Z, along with Taylor Swift, Bruce Springsteen and Rihanna in the $1 billion club, Forbes reported Monday.
While Jay-Z’s wealth comes from a variety of sources, and Rihanna earned most of her fortune through her beauty brand, Fenty, Beyoncé’s wealth comes almost entirely from her music career, according to Forbes.
She is similar to Swift in that she controls almost all aspects of her career, allowing her to reap significant profits from her two recent, extremely popular tours promoting her past two albums, “Renaissance” and “Cowboy Carter.”
“I felt like I wanted to follow the footsteps of Madonna and be a powerhouse and have my own empire and show other women when you get to this point in your career you don’t have to go sign with someone else and share your money and your success — you do it yourself,” she said in a 2013 promotional interview.
The company Beyoncé formed in 2008, Parkwood Entertainment, produces all of her music, concerts and documentaries. While this increases the superstar’s front-end costs, it also gives her a greater share of the profits from all her work — which remains extremely popular.
Forbes estimated the “Renaissance” tour grossed $600 million, while the “Cowboy Carter” tour pulled in $400 million in ticket sales and at least $50 million from merchandise.
Beyoncé previously said “Renaissance” and “Cowboy Carter” were the first two releases in a planned three-album series exploring different genres, meaning her estimated net worth could climb even higher.