American singer Taylor Swift has surpassed Barbadian musician and beauty mogul Rihanna to become the world's wealthiest female singer. According to Forbes, Swift who achieved billionaire status in late 2023, saw her net worth soar thanks to the success of her Eras Tour. The tour set a record for the highest-grossing tour in history, generating over $2 billion from 125 performances, averaging around $16 million per show.
The “Bad Blood” singer is now valued at an estimated $1.6 billion (Ksh. 206 billion) . She is only behind Jay-Z, who is the richest musician in the world with a net worth of $2.5 billion (Ksh. 322 billion).
In addition to her touring success, Swift's wealth has also increased due to her music catalog, which is valued at $600 million (Ksh. 77 billion), along with another $600 million (Ksh. 77 billion) in royalties. She also holds approximately $125 million (Ksh. 16 billion) in real estate, thanks to her various homes across the United States, according to Forbes. Furthermore, her Eras Tour film has performed exceptionally well, grossing over $261 million (Ksh. 33.6 billion) at the box office since its premiere in October 2023.
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Swift made headlines after announcing that she would be re-recording all of her old albums so that she retains the credits, masters, and royalties of her music. Since then, her “Taylor’s Version” recreations of songs have been successful. “I think that artists deserve to own their work,” she said in a 2019 Good Morning America interview. “I just feel very passionately about that.”
The previous title-holder for world’s richest female musician was music and beauty Icon Rihanna.
The R&B singer’s successful cosmetics line Fenty Beauty, and her lingerie line Savage X Fenty account for most of her fortune. Rihanna notably hasn’t released an album in nearly a decade since 2016’s ANTI.
Despite this, Rihanna's 2007 album Good Girl Gone Bad has spent three years on the Billboard 200. Currently, Taylor Swift ranks as the 2,117th wealthiest person in the world, according to Forbes, while Rihanna holds the 2,336th position.