Rihanna is now worth $1.7 billion, making her the wealthiest female musician in the world and second only to Oprah Winfrey as the richest female entertainer, according to Forbes.
Rihanna, the pop superstar of hits such as Umbrella, diamond, we Found Love turned beauty and beauty mogul has quite recently broken into a class commonly populated by white men, breaking more records like turning into the world’s first black female billionaire musician.
Most of her acquired wealth didn’t come from her music career but from her cosmetic empire (Fenty Beauty) confirmed by Forbes to own 50% of the shares. Much of the rest lies in her stake in her lingerie company, Savage x Fenty, worth an estimated $270 million, and her earnings from her career as a chart-topping musician and actress.
While Barbados-born Rihanna is the most successful beauty entrepreneur to capitalize on her social media presence—she has 101 million followers on Instagram and 102.5 million on Twitter—to build a beauty brand.
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Accessible on the web and at Sephora stores, which are likewise possessed by LVMH, the items were a moment’s achievement. By 2018, its first full schedule year, the line was getting more than $550 million in yearly incomes, as indicated by LVMH, demolishing other VIP established brands like Kylie Jenner’s Kylie Cosmetics, Kim Kardashian West’s KKW Beauty, and Jessica Alba’s Honest Co.
Fenty Beauty isn’t Rihanna’s only billion-dollar brand. In February her lingerie line Savage x Fenty raised $115 million in funding at a $1 billion valuation. The company, which launched in 2018 as a joint venture with TechStyle Fashion Group, counts blue-chip investors like Jay-Z’s Marcy Venture Partners and private equity firm L. Catterton (in which Bernard Arnault is an investor) as shareholders. Rihanna maintains a 30% ownership stake, Forbes estimates. The latest round of funding will reportedly be used for customer acquisition and retail expansion.
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Not that everything Rihanna touches turns to gold. In February, LVMH and Rihanna confirmed in a statement to Forbes that they had shut down their other venture, a high-end fashion and accessories house also called Fenty. Launched in 2019, Fenty sought to extend Rihanna’s brand of inclusivity and offer styles in a range of sizes. But like many luxury fashion brands, the high-priced line suffered during the pandemic, releasing its last collection in November 2020.
The only complaint some fans may have about her career as a fashion and beauty mogul? It keeps her busy. The singer, who used to release an album almost every year, hasn’t released a new album since 2016’s Anti.