Vanity Fair released its 2013 “New Establishment” list on Wednesday and superstar singer Beyonce and her rap-mogul husband Jay-Z topped the list.
The power couple were up against an impressive list of powerful people, including New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, Walt Disney CEO Bob Igre, and New York Times editor Jill Abramson.
Vanity Fair estimates that Beyonce and Jay-Z earned more than $95 million over the last year. That makes the couple $15 million and $45 million more wealthy than the next two couples on the list.
In Forbes’ list of the top 100 Powerful Musicians of 2013 Beyonce ranked No. 2, behind only Lady Gaga. Beyonce earned more than her superstar husband, despite his new album Magna Carta going platinum (one million sales), before it was even released.
Beyonce and Jay-Z have been helped along by an industry, that despite claims to the contrary, has been experiencing growth in revenues. A recently study published by Torrent Freak has found that digital pirates actually spend more money on legal purchases than non-pirates. That study was backed up by two reports at the London School of Economics.
Here’s a graphic that showcases Beyonce’s high-grossing tour and Jay-Z’s money earned from his Samsung mobile deal for Magna Carta:
Jay-Z and Beyonce continue to push their way into new businesses and with fashion lines, perfumes, and various other products, they are showing no signs of slowing down as we head into 2014.
Are you surprised by the power given to the famous music industry duo? Who do you think should have topped the Vanity Fair ‘New Establishment’ list.
