Taylor Swift Becomes the First Person to Feature on the Forbes World's Billionaires List Based on Songs

With $1.1 billion (£877 million), Taylor Swift became the first person to be listed on Forbes World's Billionaires List. The proceeds from her record-breaking Eras tour, the value of her music library, and her real estate holdings are the main sources of her income. Swift is the first singer to reach the ten-figure mark in wealth only through her songs and performances, according to Forbes. At number 14, Swift, found herself positioned in the middle of the rankings. A record 2,781 billionaires were predicted by Forbes for 2024. 

"Miss Americana capped off one of the most culturally influential years a musician has ever had by becoming a billionaire in October," Forbes stated on April 2. "Her estimated $190 million 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." Rihanna tops the list, and is worth $1.4B, in comparison to Taylor's $1.1B. "[Rihanna] has stakes in two billion-dollar brands: cosmetics company Fenty Beauty, which she owns alongside luxury goods giant LVMH, and lingerie business Savage X Fenty," Forbes stated. "Both are named after the Barbados-born singer, whose real name is Robyn Fenty." 

As per The US Sun, Swifties expressed their excitement on X, "Taylor Swift, the first pure musician billionaire in history," one fan wrote. "The World's First Ethical Billionaire," a second fan exclaimed. "Incredible achievement for Taylor Swift! First musician billionaire built on music & performances. #ForbesList #MusicMogul What a story," a third fan praised. "Superb!!! Taylor Swift, you are number one," a fourth fan said. Following eleven studio albums, four remastered albums, and three live albums, the value of the Lover hitmaker's music catalog has reached about $400 million.  

According to Billboard, Swift was the reason behind 7% of all vinyl albums sold in the United States in 2023. Among her numerous popular vinyl releases, the Blank Space songstress sold 3.484 million records on the format alone. Swift's 1989 (Taylor's Version) was the 2023 American vinyl album with the highest sales volume. In just a few months after its October release, 1.014 million copies of the collection were sold. Last year, it was the only record to reach the million-sale milestone on vinyl. 

According to Rolling Stone, based on data from the live music trade newspaper Pollstar, the Eras Tour is the highest-grossing concert tour of all time and the first to gross $1.04 billion or more. Swift unseats the long-running Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour by Elton John to take the top slot. As per AP News, the concert sold around 4.35 million tickets across 60 tour dates. 

According to Pollstar, the Bad Blood songstress made about $200 million in merchandise sales. Her smash movie, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, which is based on the live tour, is said to have made about $250 million in sales, making it the highest-grossing concert film ever. Pollstar also sees Swift having a significant 2024. According to the magazine, Swift is expected to earn more than $2 billion during the Eras Tour, which is predicted to exceed $1 billion within its eligibility timeframe.