Beyoncé has officially become billionaire. The economic magazine Forbes placed the singer, 44 years old, in the ranking of the very rich, which also includes four other artists: her rapper husband Jay-Zla popstar Taylor Swift, “The Boss” Bruce Springsteen e l’intramontabile Rihanna.
THE BUILDING OF AN EMPIRE
Beyoncé began building a business empire in 2010 with the founding of record label and film production company Parkwood Entertainment, through which she gained control of nearly all aspects of her career. The company, in fact, manages its activities and produces all its music, its documentaries and its concerts, anticipating most of the production costs to thus obtain a greater share of the final profits. “When I decided to manage myself, it was important not to turn to some big management company,” the singer declared in a 2013 interview during the promotion of the album Beyoncé. “I felt like I wanted to follow in Madonna’s footsteps and be a powerhouse and have my own empire and show other women that when you get to this point in your career, you don’t have to sign with someone else and share your money and your success – you can do it on your own.” Queen Bey has expanded her activities into several sectors, as demonstrated by the hair product brand Cécred, the whiskey label SirDavis and the clothing brand Ivi Park (but discontinued in 2024), but her main profits still derive from music, both due to the control of the rights to the catalog and the huge earnings from world tours.
In-depth analysis
Met Gala 2026, Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman e Venus Williams co-chair
FROM THE BEGINNINGS WITH DESTINY’S CHILD AL COWBOY CARTER TOUR
After her separation from Destiny’s Child in the early 2000s, and after her father’s management ended in 2010, Beyoncé has often turned music into real events, such as surprise album releases Beyoncé in 2013 and the visual album Lemonade for HBO in 2016 and headlining performance at Coachella in 2018 for Homecomingwhich attracted 458,000 live viewers on YouTube and inspired a Netflix documentary (also viewable on Sky Glass, Sky Q and via app on NOW Smart Stick) which earned around $60 million. Furthermore, in 2016, the singer was the first female artist to tour entirely in stadiums, while in 2023 she performed in Renaissance World Tourwhich spanned the artist’s discography, grossed nearly $600 million and spawned a concert film that earned $44 million globally. Furthermore, in 2024, Beyoncé released a country album, Cowboy Carterwhich thanks to its Western aesthetic has generated new commercial opportunities such as commercials for Levi’s that brought in around $10 million and a special halftime show for Netflix’s first Christmas National Football League game that brought in around $50 million. The next Cowboy Carter Tourwith a troupe of over 350 employees and a total of 32 shows between Europe and the United States, recalled the immense Eras Tour by Taylor Swift, with fans also traveling between continents to watch the three-hour show featuring flying cars, robotic arms, mechanical bulls and guests such as Jay-Z, his daughters Blue Ivy and Rumi and the members of the former Destiny’s Child. Second Pollstarthe tour grossed over $400 million in tickets, with an additional $50 million in merchandise revenue estimated by Forbes. The magazine calculated that, adding revenues from her music catalog and endorsement deals, the artist would have earned $148 million before taxes in 2025, making her the third highest-paid musician in the world.
