Taylor Swift is now officially a billionaire: the figures that prove it
The artist has become one of the few singers to join the elite club, according to Bloomberg, thanks to her re-recorded music catalog and the global success of ‘The Eras Tour’
Exactly 17 years (and three days) ago, a 16-year-old named Taylor Allison Swift released her first album. Taylor Swift had her name in the title and her signature was on all 11 of the songs. A mix of country and teen pop, it quickly became a success with audiences and critics alike. It sold 40,000 copies in one week; two weeks later it went straight to number 19 on Billboard’s 200 best albums list. It subsequently went platinum seven times and was nominated for Best Album by the Academy of Country Music. A lot has happened since then for that teenager who is now a global superstar with 10 albums to her name and immersed in the most successful tour in the world (now also converted into a film). Throughout this time, millions and millions of dollars have rained down on her, turning Swift into one of the few singers in the world to reach billionaire status.
This much has been certified by Bloomberg, which has dedicated an extensive article on the singer where reporters figured, based on conservative estimates, that Swift has a net worth of more than $1 billion. This fortune has been, to a large extent, driven by The Eras Tour, which has already taken Swift on 50 concerts in the U.S. and Mexico. The artist is still scheduled to travel halfway around the world between now and November 2024 to play almost 100 more concerts.
Bloomberg said their estimate is “conservative and based only on assets and earnings that could be confirmed or traced from publicly disclosed figures.” That is to say, it is very likely that there are additional earnings from investments that they have not been able to trace, as well as in valuable objects such as clothing (on her tour she wears dresses that exceed $20,000 in value), jewelry and vehicles. Analysts based their own figures on the estimated value of her music catalog (that is, of the back catalog that she has re-recorded since 2019, after securing control over the rights that she had lost to her first manager), five homes ($110 million), earnings from streaming deals ($120 million), music sales ($80 million), concert tickets, and merchandise ($370 million).
And Swift still has almost two-thirds of her tour left to go, which means more income. Although she already has the money from the sale of the tickets (which have been sold out for months), there is still all the concert merchandise, priced at $45 for cotton tees and $75 for sweatshirts. Of course, she does not star in fashion or beauty campaigns nor is she the image of any brand. She is only interested in making money with her songs and concerts. And Swift could still choose to expand the tour, as she has done on half a dozen occasions. On the first day that tickets went on sale in the U.S., Swift sold 2.4 million tickets, breaking a record held by Robbie Williams since 2005, according to Variety. The tour, Bloomberg estimates, has already sold more than $700 million in concert tickets, but after paying the corresponding taxes, plus paying her team (she has given away more than $50 million in bonuses), she would keep just over half of that. To this must be added the $164 million in movie ticket sales following the release of the documentary.
Of Swift’s albums, 1989 is the best-selling one, and at midnight on October 27, she released a re-recorded version with five new songs, a handful of formats (collectible CDs, vinyl, cassettes...) and much more merchandise to go with it. During the Covid-19 pandemic, in 2020, Swift released two albums, taking advantage of the fact that music consumption from home was at a peak. A third album arrived in 2022. And now, when everyone is determined to spend money on great experiences following the pandemic lockdowns, she has been able to fully capitalize on her music with a spectacular three-hour tour that brings together her entire career, with 10 set changes, where the average price of a ticket is around $250. Her multigenerational audience is made up mainly of women, including mothers who listened to her 15 years ago, and their daughters.
The value of the Pennsylvania singer’s catalog in 2019 was $400 million, only surpassed by Bruce Springsteen, who sold his almost two years ago for $550 million. But according to Bloomberg, Swift’s catalog coud reach $1 billion taking royalties into account.
It’s not just Swift who has benefited from her tour. So have the cities it has passed through. It is estimated that she has contributed up to $4.3 billion to the U.S. economy, and she still has nine shows left in the U.S. In Los Angeles alone, in six nights, the concerts generated about $150 million, according to The Los Angeles Times. According to estimates made by the Chamber of Commerce of Mexico City, Swift’s four concerts there last August, together with the city marathon, left around $61.5 million in the Mexican capital.
In these 17 years, the winner of 12 Grammy Awards has known how to surround herself with a small but faithful team that has become part of the reason for her success. Her parents, Andrea and Scott, remain very close to her, both at the personal and business level. Her father’s name is linked to 10 companies that manage his daughter’s music, rights, businesses, and assets. Bloomberg says that they also manage all of the real estate assets, as well as their own tour bus and their two private jets. And all this at 33 and with an empire that still has many years left and many possibilities to continue growing.
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