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The rich really do get richer…
Forbes just released this year’s list of the world’s celebrity billionaires. Star Wars’ Jedi Master supreme George Lucas tops the list.
George Lucas has been on the list since 1997.
Out of the 14 on the list, 10 became billionaires in the last four years. Taylor Swift joined what the magazine calls the three-comma-club in October 2023. In January this year, television mogul Dick Wolf joined the ranks.
Most of the names on the list made their billions from their ventures outside of show business. Rihanna became a billionaire due to her stake in her makeup brand Fenty Beauty, which is a joint venture with the luxury company LVMH, and the lingerie enterprise Savage X Fenty.
Jay-Z’s, the first hip hop billionaire, wealth comes from two alcohol companies D’Usse Cognac and Armand de Brignac Champagne. Michael Jordan may have made less than $100 million from his legendary basketball career, but his deals with Nike made him a billionaire. However, his biggest earnings come from selling his majority stake in the NBA team Charlotte Hornet for a $3 billion valuation.
Let’s take a look at this year’s celebrity billionaires, both the familiar and the new. The published net worths are as of March 8. Their combined wealth totals $31 billion.
14. Taylor Swift
The 34-year-old pop superstar is currently worth $1.1 billion. She finished 2023 as one of the most culturally and financially influential musicians. She earned an estimated $190 million after tax from her Eras Tour last year. Swift is also the first to become a billionaire based only on her songwriting and performances.
13. Dick Wolf
The 77-year-old crime show impresario famous for Law & Order and FBI earned $1.9 billion in pretax from his 30-year production career. His current net worth is at $1.2 billion.
12. Magic Johnson
The 64-year-old NBA Hall of Famer made his fortune in partnership with other billionaires. He currently own stakes in the National Football League’s Washington Commanders with Justin Harris, the Major League Baseball’s Los Angeles Dodgers with Todd Boehly, the Women’s National Basketball Association’s Los Angeles Sparks and Major League Soccer’s LAFC. The majority of his wealth comes from his investments in EquiTrust, the insurance provider based in Iowa.
11. LeBron James
The 39-year-old Los Angeles Lakers billionaire has a net worth of $1.2 billion from his earnings on and off the court. He has investments in real estate, businesses such as Blaze Pizza, his own entertainment and production company SpringHill, and, of course, from being in the NBA. He also owns a stake in Fenway Sports group which owns the MLB’s Boston Red Sox. He also has stakes in the National Hockey League’s Pittburgh Penguins and the football (soccer to Americans) club Liverpool.
10. Tiger Woods
The 48-year-old five-time Masters winner has something billionaire-y in common with James: they’re the only two athletes who became members of the three-comma club while still playing in their respective sports. The pro golfer’s net worth is at $1.3 billion, most of it from his endorsements. His most profitable and longest (almost 30 years) deal with Nike ended January this year. He then announced his own clothing line, Sun Day Red.
9. Rihanna
The 36-year-old Barbadian pop star as mentioned before has investments in two billion-dollar companies: her cosmetics brand Fenty beauty which she also owns with LVMH and lingerie company Savage X Fenty. Fenty comes from the singer’s real name Robyn Fenty, whose net worth is currently at $1.4 billion.
8. Tyler Perry
The 54-year-old entertainment mogul has earned $1.4 billion dollars through his TV shows, movies and stage plays. He let Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, borrow one of his LA homes when the couple decided to step down as senior members of the British royal family and move to the US.
7. Peter Jackson
The 62-year-old Kiwi filmmaker, most famous for the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies, made most of his $1.5 billion net worth from his visual effects studio, Weta Digital. He sold some of its assets to Unity Software in 2021 for almost $1 billion in both cash and stock.
6. Kim Kardashian
The 43-year-old reality superstar earned her billions from her beauty and clothing brands. SKIMS, her shapewear line, was valued at $4 billion during its 2023 round of funding. Her $1.7 billion net worth also stems from selling 20% of her KKW Beauty cosmetics brand to Coty for $200 million. She has shut down KKW Beauty.
5. Jay-Z
The 54-year-old is the hip-hop world’s first billionaire. Jay-Z sold half of his interest in his champagne brand Armand de Brignac to LVMH in 2021. This earned him at least $300 million. Another sale of another of his alcohol brands, the cognac D’Usse to Bacardi reportedly earned him $750 million. The rapper also has investments in Uber and Block. His $2.5 billion net worth does not include his wife Beyoncé’s $500 million fortune.
4. Oprah Winfrey
In 2003, the 70-year-old media mogul became the first black female billionaire. Since then, she has had investments in real estate as well as her own production company Harpo Studios. Winfrey recently announced that she’s parting ways with WeightWatchers after revealing that she had been taking weight-loss medications. Her current net worth is at $2.8 billion.
3. Michael Jordan
In 2015, the 61-year-old NBA Hall of Famer became the first billionaire athlete. However, his wealth didn’t come from his legendary game on the basketball court. His brand partnerships contributed to his $3.2 billion net worth. The most famous of these partnerships is with Nike and his own Jordan brand. He bought the Charlotte Hornets in 2010 and sold it in 2023 for $3 billion dollars.
2. Steven Spielberg
The 77-year-old director joined the three-comma club in 1994, the first filmmaker to join it after his movies became big hits: Jaws in 1975 ($477.2 million worldwide), Jurassic Park ($1.1 billion) and Schindler’s List in 1993 ($322.2 million). He became a billionaire three years earlier than fellow filmmaker George Lucas. These contributed to his current net worth of $4.8 billion.
He told Forbes when he first joined the list that he hasn’t taken a salary for almost 10 years. The interview was 30 years ago, so a quick math says Spielberg hasn’t been taking a salary for his movies for four decades now. Instead, he gets a percentage of his movies’ gross sales. He also receives a portion of the tickets sold at Universal Studios’ theme parks due to his Indiana Jones series.
1. George Lucas
The 79-year-old filmmaker and Star Wars creator, currently Disney’s biggest individual shareholder, is at number one with a $5.5 billion net worth. Lucas first joined the list in 1997. He sold LucasFilm to Disney in 2012 for over $4 billion in both cash and stock. Aside from LucasFilm, he also founded LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX.
Lucas was involved with 10 of the 100 highest-earning films at the North American box office. He is also thought to be the father of the modern blockbuster. Despite the big money involved, George Lucas has largely remained an independent filmmaker for most of his career.
