By dint of stringing together hits and making the whole world hum, it was inevitable. That’s it, Taylor Swift, or “Tay Tay” to those in the know, has entered the annual ranking of billionaires by the very serious American magazine Forbes.
A presence (far behind, but still) alongside Bernard Arnault (cocorico) or Bill Gates which is not surprising. Because the country steamroller is also an exceptional cash machine. The proof in four graphs.
One of the rare billionaire music artists
Of the 2,700 billionaires on the planet, according to the Forbes ranking, music is not on the rise. There are only… five singers to reach the ten-figure sum. Including “Tay Tay”, you will have understood.
A fortune almost exclusively musical
Where the singer of “Shake it off” hits very hard is that she is the first artist – men and women combined – to own a billion from her musical creativity alone. If his total fortune weighs 1.1 billion dollars, count “only” 125 million in real estate and 10 million for the small private jet which is a pleasure. The remaining billion? His concerts and royalties, 500 million, and his musical catalog, 500 million.
A lucrative tour like never before
Before “Eras Tour” – Taylor Swift’s world tour, which will notably pass through France –, never had a tour exceeded the symbolic milestone of a billion dollars in revenue. The former record belonged to Elton John’s farewell tour, which accumulated $939 million in five years of concerts across the planet. In comparison, Beyoncé and her monumental “Renaissance World Tour” pocketed 580 million in 2023.
But Elton John is in the past. “Eras Tour”, which ends this year, is expected to exceed $2 billion, according to projections.
In the top ranks of the number of best-selling records
“Tay Tay” is not number 1 everywheret, and facing the “ King » Elvis Presley and his 500 million sales, even the queen of pop-country must bow. But according to the Guiness Book of Records, Taylor is at the top of the basket. We deliberately kicked out the groups – unfair competition – for these top selling individual artists in history. At around three million, she would even enter the top 10. A milestone which should be largely exceeded with the release of her new album, scheduled for 2024.
Afterwards, “sky is the limit”. Most of the artists in this ranking no longer produce, have died or are at the end of their career. The opportunity for Taylor Swift, Only 34 years old and in the midst of a global explosion, to scrape a few more places.
Come on, we’ll see you in 2045 to do the math and update all that.