Forbes declares Beyoncé billionaire

American singer Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter, professionally known as Beyoncé, has officially joined the billionaire class after business magazine Forbes declared that her net worth has crossed the $1bn mark, making her the fifth musician to achieve the milestone.

According to Forbes, the American singer now ranks alongside Taylor Swift, Rihanna, Bruce Springsteen and her husband, Jay-Z, whom Forbes estimates is worth $2.5bn.

The announcement follows years of commercial success across music, touring, film and brand partnerships.

Earlier this month, Forbes had placed Beyoncé’s net worth at $800m and projected that she would soon reach billionaire status. That prediction was realised on the back of multiple high-earning ventures, including her 2023 Renaissance World Tour, which grossed nearly $600m worldwide.

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Beyoncé also produced and distributed a concert film from the tour through a direct deal with AMC Theatres, earning nearly half of the film’s $44m global box office revenue. It was her first solo tour in seven years.

Her 2024 album Cowboy Carter, which explored the Black roots of country music, received widespread critical acclaim and earned her the Grammy Award for Album of the Year — her first win in the category despite four previous nominations.

Forbes further estimates that the Cowboy Carter tour generated more than $400m in ticket sales, alongside an additional $50m in merchandise revenue. The tour featured appearances by Jay-Z, two of their children and former Destiny’s Child bandmates.

Although the tour broke ticket records at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and Paris’ Stade de France, some shows reportedly experienced slow ticket sales, prompting price reductions. Still, Beyoncé recorded the highest top-priced concert ticket in the UK in 2025 at £950, while the cheapest tickets sold for £71.

Additional earnings came from a high-profile halftime show during Netflix’s first Christmas Day NFL game, estimated at $50m, as well as $10m from a series of Levi’s commercials.

Meanwhile, Bloomberg has listed Selena Gomez as a billionaire musician with an estimated net worth of $1.3bn. However, Forbes disputes that figure, valuing Gomez at $700m.

(BBC)