How Rihanna Became The Richest Female Musician In The World
Her net worth is insane
Rihanna did get her money after all. After building an empire with a music career, a beauty line, a lingerie brand, and a high-fashion label, the 31-year-old is officially the richest female musician in the world with a net worth of $600 million, according to Forbes.
Here’s what you need to know about BadGalRiri’s wealth:
She’s worth more than Beyoncé.
The 2019 rankings of America’s self-made women puts Rihanna ahead of similar music superstars like Madonna ($570 million), Celine Dion ($450 million) and Beyoncé ($400 million), according to Forbes.
She’s the 37th richest self-made woman in America.
Rihanna follows other power players in Forbes’s annual ranking like Oprah Winfrey (#10 with $2.6 billion), Kylie Jenner (#23 with $1 billion), Tory Burch (#29 with $850 million), and beauty mogul Huda Kattan (#36 with $610 million).
Fenty Beauty made about $570 million in 2018.
Rihanna’s cosmetics company quickly grew after she first launched it in September 2017. According to Forbes, the brand made $100 million in just the first few weeks after launch, and garnered about $570 million in revenue last year. The company as a whole is worth over $3 billion, and Rih is estimated to own about 15 percent of it.
In 2018, WWD reported that Fenty Beauty was poised to outsell fellow celebrity makeup lines Kylie Cosmetics, which helped turned Kylie Jenner into a billionaire, and KKW Beauty, owned by Kim Kardashian.
Part of Fenty Beauty’s success is due to its focus on inclusivity. It launched with an impressive 40-shade range, which was especially appealing for consumers with darker skin tones who didn’t feel represented with typical limited cosmetic shades. “I didn’t care how long it took, I was going to make sure that we covered most skin tones,” Rihanna told BAZAAR.com before launch. “Diversity and inclusivity are important to the brand.”
Most of her money comes from LVMH projects.
Rihanna might’ve made her name as a singer, but she really makes bank off of her retail endeavors. She established her high-fashion label, Fenty, through the French luxury goods conglomerate, which also co-owns her Fenty Beauty brand. LVMH is “a machine,” the singer and designer described to The New York Times. It also houses designers like Louis Vuitton, Dior, Givenchy, and Fendi.
In celebration of Rihanna’s achievement, we’re going to be playing this on repeat: