THERE ARE LUXE lifestyles of the rich and famous, and then there are the ridiculously lavish lifestyles of the ultra rich and famous. In other words, those exclusive members of the billion dollar club.
While many celebrities have bucketloads of cash which see them sail across the French Rivieria in super-yachts costing almost $3 million per week (we’re talking about you, Beckhams) or hosting multiple wedding ceremonies across multiple continents à la Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker —only a handful of Hollywood’s elite are actually billionaires.
Each year since 1987, Forbes releases a ranking of the wealthiest individuals in the world. In 2022, they calculated 2,668billionaires —and only eight of them are Tinseltown alum. For clarity of results, Forbes says they interview sources and ask billionaires for documentation of their assets — with private and public stakes in business also taken into account.
Famously, Forbes faced controversy in 2019 when it named Kylie Jenner as the world’s youngest self-made billionaire at 22 years old. A day after publication, the outlet retracted their claims and re-estimated the Kylie Cosmetics founder’s net worth to be around US $900 million.
Nonetheless, Forbes definitely offers a rich understanding of those money-making A-Listers. Below, discover the celebrities who make the billion-dollar list.
Related: 10 celebrities with outrageously opulent houses
Celebrities who are billionaires
1
Tyler Perry
$1 billion (AUD $1.5 billion)
The actor, filmmaker and movie studio owner is most famous for playing Mabel “Madea” Earlene Simmons —the tough, street-smart elderly woman based on his mother and aunty. According to Forbes, the character alone —which has led to multiple television and film franchises, and even stage shows —has amassed more than $660 million (AUD $975 million). With full ownership to all materials in the Madea franchises, as well as complete control over Tyler Perry Studios, he’s grossed approximately $1.4 billion (AUD $2 billion), per Forbes.
In 2020, Perry told the outlet he decided to retain rights to all projects and businesses following the advice of Oprah Winfrey.
2
Taylor Swift
$1.1 billion (AUD $1.7 billion)
She’s officially made the billion-dollar-club. Taylor Swift has now entered the annual Forbes World’s Billionaire List after being first estimated of her billion-dollar-status by Bloomberg on October 2023. Swift is the first musician to reach the “New Billionaires” status on music alone —with a net worth of US $1.1 billion (AUD $1.69 billion). She joins a list of 2,781 billionaires, including another newcomer, Sam Altman, creator of the AI chatbot ChatGPT on US $1 billion (AUD $1.53 billion). LVMH French luxury goods titan Bernard Arnault and his family topped the chart with an estimated $233 billion ($357 billion).
Swift’s billionaire status makes sense given her sell-out 2023/24 Eras tour, as well as her concert film which was released in October 2023, raking in USD$92.8 million on opening weekend). She also made history at the 2024 Grammy Awards, becoming the first artist to win the prize for album of the year four times. Her album 1989 (Taylor’s Version) was also the best-selling album of last year.
3
Jay Z
$1.3 billion (AUD $1.9 billion)
He may be widely considered the GOAT of hiphop and rap (he’s won 24 Grammys after all) —but Jay Z also made much of his wealth from his ventures in the alcohol industry. But let’s go back to the rapper’s roots. In 1995, he forged a music empire when he founded record label Roc-a-Fella, and then entertainment management company Roc Nation in 2008. Years later, he bought into his favourite champagne business Armand de Brignac Champagne —which is also co-owned by luxury goods conglomerate LVMH. According to Forbes, it’s worth around $310 million (AUD $457 million).
Jay Z also partially owns the $100 million (AUD $147 million) D’Usse — which Bacardi have a share in — as well as stakes in Uber and Tidal worth around $70 million (AUD $103 million) and $100 million (AUD $147 million) respectively. Jay Z also has an extensive real-estate portfolio worth around $50 million. Those curious can taste Jay Z’s sweet success by buying his famous Ace of Spades champagne for almost $500 at Dan Murphy’s.
4
Rihanna
$1.7 billion (AUD $2.51 billion)
The multi-hyphenate hasn’t released a new album in seven years since 2016’s Anti, but Rihanna’s sure been busy making money elsewhere. The first Barbadian billionaire made the majority of her wealth from her cosmetics line Fenty Beauty. The 34-year-old has a 50 per cent stake in the company, lauded for its record-breakinginclusivity of all skin colours and skin types, which Forbes calculates to be worth around $1.4 billion (AUD $2 billion). Meanwhile her lingerie brand Savage X Fenty —which recently celebrated its fourth inclusive runway show — is valued at approximately $27- million (AUD $399 million).
5
Kim Kardashian
$1.8 billion (AUD $2.67 billion)
While her youngest sister Kylie Jenner got scrapped from the Forbes list in 2019, Kim Kardashian held her own in 2022. The reality star turned entrepreneur sold a 20 per cent stake of her beauty line KKW to cosmetic company Coty in 2020 for $200 million (AUD $295 million). According to Forbes, the company is worth $1 billion. The outlet also claims she’s made $225 million (AUD $332 million) with her majority stake in her lingerie/athleisure line SKIMS.
She also owns approximately $100 million (AUD $148 million) worth of real-estate with ex-husband Kanye West. The New York Post reported that after their divorce, she paid $23 million (AUD $34 million) for full ownership of their sprawling Calabasas residence. Earlier this year, Kardashian dropped $6.3 million (AUD $9 million)on the ’70s-built house next door with speculation she’ll completely remodel or attempt to merge. She also splashed out a reported $104 million on Cindy Crawford’s former Malibu home.
6
Oprah Winfrey
$2.6 billion (AUD $3.8 billion)
She’s known as the “Queen of All Media” —and in 2003, Oprah Winfrey became the first Black female billionaire. Born to a single mother in rural Mississippi, Winfrey gained notoriety as a local news anchor before hosting her own show, The Oprah Winfrey Show. It ran for 25 years and is the highest-rated daytime talk show in US television history— having interviewed everyone from Michael Jackson to Mike Tyson.
According to Forbes, most of Winfrey’s fortune is, unsurprisingly, from her media empire — valued at $2.6 billion (AUD $3.84 billion). To break it down, she owns 25.5 per cent of her television network OWN, has a 7 per cent stake in WW International, and even has a content creation deal with Apple TV+. Away from television, she’s also made more than $427 million (AUD $631 million) from her share in Weight Watchers International. She also has luxury real estate across Illinois, Florida, Colorado, Tennessee, Indiana, Washington and California.
7
Steven Spielberg
$3.7 billion (AUD $5.5 billion)
He’s among the biggest names in Hollywood,and financially, Steven Spielberg also looms large. Known for creating blockbuster after blockbuster, the three-time Oscar winning director is critically recognised for films such as E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial in 1983, Schindler’s List in 1994 and Saving Private Ryan in 1999. Spielberg has directed 32 films, which have amassed more than $25 billion (AUD $37 billion), per Bloomberg.
It should come as little surprise then that most of his wealth comes from project fees and participation in film and television deals — with the outlet estimating he’s banked more $2.5 billion (AUD $3.7 billion). This includes co-founding DreamWorks Pictures with Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen. In 2016, he sold his stake in DreamWorks Animation to NBCUniversal for $3.8 billion (AUD $5.6 billion) in 2016. Spielberg has also acted as a consultant for the global Universal theme parks.
