How Rihanna became a billionaire (as she should be) (original) (raw)
All Rihanna sees is dollar signs, as a new report indicates the singer-actress-makeup mogul has officially become a billionaire; however, the icon hasn't released a new album in over five years — so, how exactly did she pour it all up into her bank account?
According to Forbes, the 33-year-old amassed her estimated $1.7 billion net worth thanks largely to the foundation of her Fenty Beauty line in 2017. The company's profits have made Rihanna the wealthiest woman in music, and the second-richest woman in entertainment behind Oprah Winfrey.
Rihanna is now a billionaire, according to a Forbes report. Rihanna/YouTube
The publication notes that Rihanna owns 50 percent of Fenty Beauty (French company LVMH shares the other half), which accounts for 1.4billionofhertotalfortune.TheBarbadianperformer′sstakeintheSavagexFentyfashioncompanyaddsafurther1.4 billion of her total fortune. The Barbadian performer's stake in the Savage x Fenty fashion company adds a further 1.4billionofhertotalfortune.TheBarbadianperformer′sstakeintheSavagexFentyfashioncompanyaddsafurther270 million to the total atop the rest of her earnings as a musician and entertainer.
"A lot of women felt there were no lines out there that catered to their skin tone. It was light, medium, medium dark, dark. We all know that's not reality. She was one of the first brands that came out and said 'I want to speak to all of those different people,'" Shannon Coyne, cofounder of Bluestock Advisors, told Forbes of Rihanna's growing stamp on the business world. "She is creating a brand outside of herself. It's not just about Rihanna. Even if you don't like her music, she's created a real style in the fashion and beauty space."
Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, Rihanna helped put her money to good use. She donated $5 million to the global coronavirus relief fund via her Clara Lionel Foundation, which was split among Direct Relief, Feeding America, Partners in Health, the World Health Organization's COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund, the International Rescue Committee, and more.
Outside of supporting her business ventures, Rihanna's fans have long called for the release of new music, which the singer has repeatedly teased on social media and in interviews since her most recent full-length LP Anti dropped in 2016.
"I can't say when I'm going to drop," she told Vogue in 2020 of potentially releasing her ninth studio album in the future. "But I am very aggressively working on music."
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