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by Donovan Watkis
Music icons Dr. Dre and Beyoncé Knowles-Carter are among the most high-profile newcomers to join the ranks of the world’s billionaires this year, according to Forbes’ annual list of the planet’s wealthiest individuals.
Their arrival highlights a broader surge in global wealth creation that added 390 new billionaires over the past year—an average of more than one every day.
Beyoncé has built an estimated $1 billion fortune through decades of chart-topping music, sold-out global tours and lucrative business ventures, as well as a valuable art collection shared with her husband, fellow billionaire Jay-Z, whose net worth is estimated at $2.8 billion. She is the first and only black artist to build her weather to billionaire status through music primarily.
Dre’s billionaire status with an estimated $1 billion net worth, comes than a decade after selling his Beats by Dre headphone company to Apple in 2014 for roughly $3 billion in cash and stock.
Their inclusion comes during one of the strongest years ever recorded for new billionaires. According to Forbes, the addition of 390 newcomers marks the second-highest total in history, surpassed only by 2021, when a pandemic-driven economic rebound pushed 493 people into the three-comma club for the first time.
Together, this year’s new billionaire class spans 40 countries and territories and holds a combined estimated wealth of $755 billion. On average, each newcomer is worth about $1.9 billion, underscoring the continued expansion of wealth across industries such as technology, entertainment, finance and manufacturing.
Source: worldmusicviews.com
