Taylor Swift Becomes the First Billionaire Musician: How She Built a $1.6B Empire| Celebrity news
aylor Swift is the first musician to reach billionaire status off of her music earnings primarily
Taylor Swift's nearly two-decade-long career has culminated in the past couple of years, cementing her status as not only one of the most iconic pop singers, but also the wealthiest female musician ever.
The "Cruel Summer" singer has amassed an impressive net worth of $1.6 billion as of October 2024, according to Forbes. While other female musicians have broken the billionaire rank, such as Rihanna, Swift is the first to do it off of primarily her music.
Swift's highly successful Eras tour and impressive music catalog — especially since she started re-releasing her albums in 2019 — have contributed to $1.2 billion of her wealth, while her real estate portfolio has reportedly contributed $125 million.
When it comes to breaking records and glass ceilings, Swift told TIME in December 2023 that she hopes her success will inspire people to invest more in women.
"What has existed since the dawn of time? A patriarchal society. What fuels a patriarchal society? Money, flow of revenue, the economy," she said. "So actually, if we’re going to look at this in the most cynical way possible, feminine ideas becoming lucrative means that more female art will get made. It’s extremely heartening.”
From the whopping success of her musical career to her real estate portfolio, here's everything to know about how Taylor Swift amassed her net worth.
Taylor Swift's nearly two-decade-long career has culminated in the past couple of years, cementing her status as not only one of the most iconic pop singers, but also the wealthiest female musician ever.
The "Cruel Summer" singer has amassed an impressive net worth of $1.6 billion as of October 2024, according to Forbes. While other female musicians have broken the billionaire rank, such as Rihanna, Swift is the first to do it off of primarily her music.
Swift's highly successful Eras tour and impressive music catalog — especially since she started re-releasing her albums in 2019 — have contributed to $1.2 billion of her wealth, while her real estate portfolio has reportedly contributed $125 million.
When it comes to breaking records and glass ceilings, Swift told TIME in December 2023 that she hopes her success will inspire people to invest more in women.
"What has existed since the dawn of time? A patriarchal society. What fuels a patriarchal society? Money, flow of revenue, the economy," she said. "So actually, if we’re going to look at this in the most cynical way possible, feminine ideas becoming lucrative means that more female art will get made. It’s extremely heartening.”
From the whopping success of her musical career to her real estate portfolio, here's everything to know about how Taylor Swift amassed her net worth.
Category
✨
PeopleTranscript
00:00Taylor Swift is the first musician to reach billionaire status off of her music earnings
00:05primarily.
00:07Taylor Swift's nearly two-decade-long career has culminated in the past couple of years,
00:12cementing her status as not only one of the most iconic pop singers, but also the wealthiest
00:17female musician ever.
00:20The cruel summer singer has amassed an impressive net worth of $1.6 billion as of October 2024,
00:27according to Forbes, while other female musicians have broken the billionaire rank, such as
00:31Rihanna, Swift is the first to do it off of primarily her music.
00:36Swift's highly successful heiress tour and impressive music catalog, especially since
00:41she started re-releasing her albums in 2019, have contributed to $1.2 billion of her wealth,
00:48while her real estate portfolio has reportedly contributed $125 million.
00:55When it comes to breaking records and glass ceilings, Swift told Time in December 2023
01:00that she hopes her success will inspire people to invest more in women.
01:05What has existed since the dawn of time?
01:07A patriarchal society.
01:10What fuels a patriarchal society?
01:12Money, flow of revenue, the economy, she said.
01:16So actually, if we're going to look at this in the most cynical way possible, feminine
01:20ideas becoming lucrative means that more female art will get made.
01:24It's extremely heartening.
01:27From the whopping success of her musical career to her real estate portfolio, here's everything
01:32to know about how Taylor Swift amassed her net worth.
01:36How much is Taylor Swift worth?
01:40According to Forbes, Swift is worth $1.6 billion, making her the richest female musician in
01:45the world as of October 2024.
01:48She has amassed $600 million from royalties and touring and another estimated $600 million
01:54from her music catalog.
01:56She also is estimated to have $125 million in real estate.
02:02The 14-time Grammy Award winner has been releasing music since she was 15 years old and has 11
02:08original studio albums.
02:10In 2019, she began re-recording her older music after her previous label, Big Machine
02:16Records, sold the company including the rights to Swift's master recordings to Scooter Braun.
02:23So far, she has re-released four albums, starting with Fearless Taylor's version in
02:27April 2021.
02:29The album featured re-recordings of all the original songs and six new songs from the
02:33vault that weren't in the original record.
02:36The album went No, won and had the biggest opening week of any 2021 album at that point.
02:43The other three releases since 2021's Red Taylor's version, 2023's Speak Now Taylor's
02:49version and 2023's 1989 Taylor's version have all been met with equally massive success,
02:55in addition to the five new albums Swift has released in that time.
03:00In March 2023, Swift embarked on her Eris tour, which will end in December 2024.
03:06The show spans decades of Swift's work, resulting in a 3.5 hour 44 song setlist across 10 studio
03:13albums, not including 2024's The Tortured Poet Department.
03:18What are Taylor Swift's album and tour sales?
03:21Swift has broken several records with her tour and album sales.
03:25In December 2023, the Eris tour became the highest grossing tour of all time, amassing
03:30over $1 billion, dethroning Elton John's years-long Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour per Rolling
03:36Stone.
03:38The tour's ticket gross sales were larger than the two second highest grossing tours
03:42combined per data from Polster.
03:46In addition to the tour, Swift released an accompanying concert film which premiered
03:51in October 2023 and was the biggest concert film debut ever, bringing in $92.3 million
03:58at the box office opening weekend and $200 million globally the following weekend.
04:04Swift's album sales have also cemented her icon status, with the re-release of 1989 in
04:09November 2023 marking Swift's biggest album debut of her career at the time.
04:14The album skyrocketed to the No, one spot on the Billboard charts and sold 1.6 million
04:19units in the U.S. and over 3.5 million units worldwide, breaking the record Swift previously
04:26set for herself with the original release of the album in 2014 at 1.287 million units.
04:34Swift beat her own record again with the release of 2024's The Tortured Poet Department, which
04:40sold 2.61 million album units in its first week, according to Variety.
04:45The album spent 15 non-consecutive weeks at the No, one spot on the Billboard charts,
04:52largely thanks to the numerous different versions Swift released weekly.
04:57What Has Taylor Swift Donated to Charity?
04:59The Shake It Off
05:02Singer has quietly donated to various causes throughout her career, from contributing $100,000
05:07to the family of a woman killed at the Kansas City Chiefs Superbowl parade in February 2024
05:12to donating $1 million for natural disaster relief after storms in Tennessee in December
05:172023.
05:20Throughout the era's tour, Swift donated money to food banks in many of the cities in which
05:24her show stopped, including the Edinburgh Food Project and the Arizona Food Bank Network.
05:31The singer has not only been generous with food banks across the world, but she's also
05:35given large bonuses to every person working who worked on her massive tour.
05:41In August 2023, sources confirmed to People that the pop star gave bonuses totaling over
05:46$50 million to every staff member of her team, from her dancers to riggers, sound technicians
05:52and catering.
05:54What Has Taylor Swift Said About Her Worth?
05:57Swift has been open about how other stars taking a chance on her when she was starting
06:01out in her career afforded her the opportunity to grow as a singer and how she wants to do
06:06the same for women globally.
06:09In her December 2023 interview with Time, Swift reflected on how a check from country
06:14star Kenny Chesney changed her life after she was unable to join him on tour when she
06:18was 17.
06:20The singer felt bad, so he sent her the money for her 18th birthday a few months later.
06:26It was for more money than I'd ever seen in my life, Swift said.
06:29I was able to pay my band bonuses.
06:31I was able to pay for my tour buses.
06:34I was able to fuel my dreams.
06:36Now, Swift hopes to inspire women to fight their wealth in a patriarchal world.
06:43If we have to speak stereotypically about the feminine and the masculine, women have
06:47been fed the message that what we naturally gravitate toward, things that are more frivolous
06:52than the things that stereotypically gendered men gravitate toward, right?
06:57She said.