Taylor Swift has joined the list of the world’s richest individuals. The American pop star made her debut appearance on Forbes’ World’s Billionaires List, earning $1.1 billion, alongside Sam Altman, the creator of the AI chatbot ChatGPT, who made $1 billion.
LVMH French luxury goods mogul Bernard Arnault and his family topped the list, with an estimated $233 billion (£185 billion).
Forbes reported a record 2,781 billionaires in 2024.
The total is 141 more than last year and 26 more than the previous record, achieved in 2021. Forbes stated that the wealthiest were wealthier than ever, with an overall wealth of $14.2 trillion.
Taylor Swift’s success extends beyond music
Singer-songwriter Swift stole the show at this year’s Grammys, becoming the first artist to win the award for album of the year four times.
Her album 1989 (Taylor’s Version) was also the best-selling vinyl album of the year.
Swift’s success extends beyond music. Her mere attendance at American football games to support her boyfriend Travis Kelce has been credited with increasing NFL viewership.
An “amazing” year for the world’s richest people
When it comes to the world’s top ten richest people, eight are from the United States.
Following Arnault and his family, Elon Musk, the owner of Tesla and X, previously Twitter, is placed second, with an estimated net worth of $195 billion.
Jeff Bezos, the owner of Amazon, ranks third.
Musk’s fortunes are up 8% from last year, but lower than his net worth in November 2021, when he became the first person to be worth $300 billion.
Basketball legend Magic Johnson, worth $1.2 billion, and TV producer Dick Wolf, who created the US Law and Order and Chicago PD programs, are also on Forbes’ list.
Chase Peterson-Withorn, Forbes’ senior wealth editor, described it as an “amazing” year for the world’s richest 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,” he said.
