Rihanna is one of the 234 new billionaires to make it onto Forbes’ List for 2022, having officially reached billionaire status in August 2021. The female musician is currently ranked number 1729 in the world, with a net worth of $1.7 million.
How Rihanna Became a Billionaire
Although Robyn Rihanna Fenty, best known as Rihanna, is famed for her musical talents, the Caribbean musician is also a businesswoman. According to Forbes, much of her wealth has in fact come from stakes in the Fenty Beauty cosmetics line valued at an estimated $1.4 billion. While her Savage X Fenty lingerie business contributes another $270 million.
Originally from Barbados, 34-year-old Rihanna will be the first billionaire from the Caribbean island nation. To add to this, the nation declared her a National Hero when Barbados became a republic in November last year.
Other Familiar Names on the List in 2022
Alongside Rihanna, is Jay-Z with a net worth of $1.4 billion, putting him at number 2076. While Kanye West cruises in at number 1513 on the list with an estimated net worth of $2 billion, making him the richest rapper in the world. Although the rapper has disputed this net worth, stating that it is more in the region of $7 billion. Forbes followed up with an investigation and clarified that their numbers were more accurate.
The Youngest to Billionaires to Join the Ranks
This year the two youngest additions to the Forbes list of billionaires were an incredible, 25 and 27 years old.
Pedro Franceschi, 25, and Henrique Dubugras, 26, are each worth an estimated $1.5 billion. They are both co-founders of Brex, a corporate credit card startup valued at $12.3 billion.
Fewer Than Last Year
The state of the planet has undoubtedly hit some of the world’s billionaires a bit as well. Forbes estimates that their collective value is currently at $12.7 trillion, showing a $400 billion drop compared to last year. Plus, despite having added another 237 to the list in 2022, the total number of billionaires is 2668, which is 87 less than in 2021.
Forbes adds that the most dramatic drops have occurred in Russia, where there are 34 fewer billionaires than last year. Following behind Russia is China, with 87 fewer billionaires. Suspected to be due to the Chinese government crackdown on tech companies.