rundown
Beyoncé is now a billionaire, Forbes reported on December 29th. This milestone comes after many years of record-breaking achievements in the music field and successful business ventures.
She joins four other music artists to bear the billionaire title: her husband Jay-Z, Rihanna, Taylor Swift and Bruce Springsteen.
Beyoncé has reached billionaire status. On Monday, Forbes reported that the musician, producer, and entrepreneur has helped her reach the milestone and surpassed the $1 billion mark after a series of tours, releases, and business ventures.
This feat comes after years of high performance and record-setting live performances. Her 2023 Renaissance World Tour grossed nearly $600 million, making it one of the highest-grossing tours of all time. That momentum continued with her 2024 country-inspired album, Cowboy Carter, and subsequent tour this year, which generated more than $400 million in ticket sales and an additional $50 million from merchandise sold at shows, according to Forbes and Pollstar.
At the heart of Beyoncé’s financial success is Parkwood Entertainment, the company she founded in 2010. Parkwood oversees nearly every aspect of her career, from music and touring to films and brand partnerships. According to Forbes, Beyoncé retains ownership of her catalog and secures more profits by funding and producing her own projects.
In a video promoting her 2013 self-titled album, Beyoncé, she explained that she wanted to follow the example of artists who built independent empires rather than relying on outside management. “When I decided to manage it myself, it was important to me not to go to a large management company,” she said. “I felt like I wanted to follow in Madonna’s footsteps and become a powerhouse and build my own empire and show other women that when you get to this point in your career, you don’t have to sign other women and share the money and success, you do it yourself.”
She added: “So I found a team of underdogs, a team of women, a team of people that no one believed in and worked with them.”
Although Beyoncé has diversified into consumer brands such as hair care line Secred and whiskey label Sir Davies, Forbes estimates that the majority of her wealth still comes from music, particularly touring and owning master recordings. In recent years, she has also embraced direct-to-consumer distribution, releasing concert films related to tours and negotiating major streaming and broadcast deals, including a reported eight-figure deal related to the 2024 Christmas NFL Halftime Performance streamed on Netflix.
Beyoncé now joins her husband Jay-Z on a short list of five billionaire musicians, including Rihanna, Taylor Swift and Bruce Springsteen. In her 2019 ELLE cover story, Beyoncé spoke candidly about the importance of autonomy and self-investment. “We all believe in taking chances and betting on ourselves,” she said at the time.
Still, the singer said financial success is not the only measure of her accomplishment. “One of the things I’ve worked very hard on is making sure my kids have as much normal life and privacy as possible and making sure my private life isn’t branded,” she told GQ last year. “It’s so easy for celebrities to turn our lives into performance art. I’ve done my best to protect my boundaries and protect myself and my family. No amount of money is worth my peace.”
