Taylor Swift has entered the same spectrum as Elon Musk, and is now ranked among the world’s wealthiest people. Additionally, she is driving vinyl sales to new heights in Australia, the UK and the US.
She has entered the Forbes World’s Billionaires List for the first time, with US1.1 billion (A$1.69 billion), surpassing Sam Altman, creator of ChatGPT, who has U$1 billion.
At the top of the list is LVMH French luxury goods giant Bernard Arnault and his family, with an estimated U$233 billion.
Forbes has said there was a record of 2,781 billionaires for this year.
This figure is 141 more than last year, and 26 more than the last record set, which was in 2021. Forbes added that these people were wealthier than ever, with a collective wealth of U$14.2tn.
Taylor Swift entered the list after she achieved megastar status, stealing the show at the 2024 Grammy Awards, becoming the first performer to win Album of the Year four times.
Her album ‘1989 (Taylor’s Version)’ became the best-selling vinyl LP of last year, as well.
Her success also goes past music, with her presence at American football games to watch her boyfriend Travis Kelce accounting for rising NFL viewing figures.
In the top 10 richest people on the planet, eight were from the US, and six had made their money in technology industries.
Following Mr. Arnault and his family, was Elon Musk, owner of Tesla and X (formerly Twitter). He has an estimated net worth of U$195 billion.
In third place is Jeff Bezos, Amazon owner. Elon’s riches are up 8% from 2023, but down from his net worth in 2021. That year, he became the first person to be worth U$300 billion.
Also on the list is Magic Johnson, with U$1.2 billion, and TV producer Dick Wolf, who created ‘Law & Order’ and ‘Chicago PD.’ He is also worth U$1.2 billion.
The Senior Editor on Wealth for Forbes, Chase Peterson-Withorn said it was an “amazing” year for these people.
“A record-breaking 14 centi-billionaires have 12-figure fortunes. Even during times of financial uncertainty for many, the super-rich continue to thrive.”
Forbes revealed the list of billionaires for this year were 255% richer compared with a decade ago, and are now worth U$2tn, meaning 0.5% of the world’s billionaires hold 14% of all billionaire wealth.
The US still has more billionaires than any other nation, with 813 on the list. China is in second place, followed by India.
For the UK, hedge fund manager Michael Platt is the richest, followed by Sir Jim Ratcliffe, part-owner of Manchester United, and Sir James Dyson, inventor.
Forbes also revealed 189 people fell off the list including 129 from China, due to weak consumer spending and a collapse in the real estate market.
32 billionaires have also passed away, including Mohamed Al-Fayed, Egyptian tycoon, former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, former Chilean President Sebastián Piñera, and singer Jimmy Buffett.
