Rihanna is officially the youngest self-made billionaire in America with a net worth of $1.4 billion.
The Barbados-born songstress has made history, officially becoming Forbes’ youngest self-made billionaire in America. With an estimated net worth of $1.4 billion, Rihanna is ranked 21 on Forbes’ list of wealthiest self-made women— five places behind Kim Kardashian, who comes in at number 16 with a net worth of $1.8 million.
Before Rihanna secured the spot, Kylie Jenner originally held the title but is no longer considered a billionaire by Forbes due to a discrepancy with net worth claims.
According to Forbes, the singer reached the milestone thanks to the huge success of her cosmetics line — Fenty Beauty, which she founded back on September 8, 2017. Co-owned with multinational and luxury goods conglomerate LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the cosmetics brand generated over $550m in revenue back in 2020.
Rihanna joins other high-profile celebrities on the 2022 Forbes self-made list such as Sandra Bullock ( $225 million), Kris Jenner ( $230 million), Serena Williams ( $260 million), Reese Witherspoon ( $430 million), Taylor Swift ( $570 million), Madonna ( $575 million), Kylie Jenner ( $600 million) and Kim Kardashian ( $1.8 billion).
In an interview with Extra in September 2021, Rihanna opened up about the success of Fenty and the possibility of reaching billionaire status:
“It’s scary. I think about it all the time. I make it a point to think about it, because I get scared when, you know, the pedestal comes into play and we’ll put you up there and they keep wanting to put you up there. I want to be on the ground. I want to feel my feet on the ground. I don’t want to be this icon. I want to remember who I am.”
This comes as no surprise with Rihanna adding “Mother’ to her list of accomplishments back in May, after the birth of her and A$AP Rocky’s first child.
With the Barbados native’s newfound status as the youngest self-made billionaire in America, Forbes has also given the singer a “self-made” score out of 10. The ranking system, ranging from one to ten, indicates how much of their net worth they have built on their own and how much they’ve inherited.
A ranking from one to five is for “someone who inherited some or all of his or her fortune”, while six to ten is for those “who built their own company or established a fortune on his or her own.”
According to Forbes, Rihanna has a self-made score of 10, those who score a 10 “would need to have been born into poverty or the lower middle class, and faced adversity such as abuse, being left an orphan, or forced to work low-paying jobs”.
Even though the youngest self-made billionaire in America has been keeping busy, she has reassured fans that the follow-up album to 2016’s Anti is currently in the works.