Rihanna has officially become the richest female musician even though the money is not coming exactly from performances. Robyn Fenty (Rihana) has a successful career as an entrepreneur and this was exactly what led her to raise a fortune of $1.7 billion, according to Forbes.
Rihanna launched Fenty Beauty back in 2017, a cosmetics company whose aim was to make women everywhere feel included. The brand has an extensive range of colors, including harder-to-find shades for women of color –foundations reach 50 different shades. Also, the advertising is done with an equally diverse group of models.
Forbes confirmed she owns 50% of the brand, while French luxury goods conglomerate LVMH (run by Bernard Arnault, the world’s second-richest person) has the remaining half.
Only by 2018, before the pandemic and its first full calendar year, the line was generating more than $550 million in annual revenues, according to LVMH. Overall, Fenty Beauty is worth a conservative $2.8 billion, Forbes estimates.
But Rihanna also has other sources of income that made her become a recent billionaire. She also has the lingerie company Savage x Fenty, worth an estimated $270 million.
The company, which was recently born in 2018, was launched as a joint venture with TechStyle Fashion Group, blue-chip investors like Jay-Z’s Marcy Venture Partners and private equity firm L. Catterton as shareholders. Forbes estimates that Rihanna maintains a 30% ownership stake.
In February the lingerie line raised $115 million in funding at a $1 billion valuation.
Finally, she also has earnings from her career as a musician and actress, although she has not released a new album since 2016’s Anti. Previously, she used to release an album almost every year.
With this billionaire achievement, Rihana is now the wealthiest female musician in the world and second only to Oprah Winfrey.
