There Are 2,781 Billionaires In The World — Here Are 18 Entertainers You'd Never Guess Made The List

According to Forbes, as of 2024, there are 2,781 billionaires in the world, with a combined net worth of about $14.2 trillion. The level of inequality between them and the rest of the world is exasperating — Oxfam International reported that the richest one percent of the global population is wealthier than the poorest 95 percent combined.

Here are 18 billionaires who made their fortunes in entertainment:

Unless otherwise stated, all of the reported net worths will be pulled from Forbes's Real-Time Billionaires List.

1.Kim Kardashian is worth an estimated $1.7 billion. In 2021, Forbes added her to the World's Billionaires List. At the time, the majority of her wealth came from KKW Beauty, the beauty brand she founded in 2017, and from Skims, the shapewear brand she started in 2019. However, she shut down KKW Beauty in 2021, and four years later, she makes most of her money from Skims.

2.Taylor Swift is worth an estimated $1.6 billion. According to Forbes, she's the first musician to achieve billionaire status predominantly through her music and performances. She was added to the list in October 2023, largely because of her music catalog and The Eras Tour.

3.Rihanna's net worth is reportedly $1.4 billion. In 2021, Forbes reported that she achieved billionaire status largely through Fenty Beauty, the makeup brand she launched in partnership with LVMH in 2017. Another large chunk of her wealth — in the neighborhood of $270 million — comes from her stake in Savage x Fenty, the lingerie brand she started in 2018. Per ABC News, in 2022, Rihanna was the youngest self-made billionaire.

4.Jay-Z is reportedly worth $2.5 billion. Per Forbes, in 2019, he became the first hip-hop artist to achieve billionaire status, and since then, he's more than doubled his wealth through his liquor businesses, including Armand de Brignac Champagne and D'Usse cognac. His fortune also comes from his music ventures, such as Roc Nation and Tidal, and his investments in companies like Uber.

Per Rolling Stone, in a 2022 Twitter Space, Jay-Z addressed criticism of his billionaire status. He said, "Yeah, we're not gonna stop. You know, hip-hop is young, we still growing, and we're not falling for that trick-nology whatever, you know, this public puts out there. Before was the American dream, 'Pull yourself by the bootstraps, and you can make yourself…you can make it in America,' all these lies that America told us our whole life. And then when we start getting in, they tried to lock us out of it. They start inventing words like you know, 'capitalist,' you know, things like that." He then named racial slurs he's been called and added, "I don't care; those words y'all come up with. Y'all gotta come up with stronger words."

5.Michael Jordan is reportedly worth $3.5 billion. According to Forbes, before tax, about $2.4 billion of his career earnings have come from endorsement deals with brands like Nike, McDonald's, and Hanes. Per ESPN, in August 2023, he sold his majority stake in the Charlotte Hornets to Rick Schnall and Gabe Plotkin and their group for an estimated $3 billion. The deal made him the first pro athlete to make it onto The Forbes 400, aka the list of the richest people in the US.

6.LeBron James's net worth is an estimated $1.2 billion. Forbes reported that he earned billionaire status in 2022 — and he's the first active NBA player to do so. Most of his money comes from endorsement deals with brands like Nike and PepsiCo. However, a lot of it boils down to his decision to take equity in brands he partners with, such as Blaze Pizza, Lyft, and Tonal.

Back in 2014, LeBron manifested becoming a billionaire. He told GQ, "If it happens. It's my biggest milestone. Obviously. I want to maximize my business. And if I happen to get it, if I happen to be a billion-dollar athlete, ho. Hip hip hooray! Oh, my God, I'm gonna be excited."

7.Bruce Springsteen's net worth is estimated at $1.2 billion. According to Forbes, he sold his catalog to his longtime label, Sony, for $500 million in 2021. Two years later, his tour generated $380 million in revenue, and, per CNN, he has no plans to stop touring. During a 2024 concert in Philadelphia, he reportedly said, "We've been around for 50 fucking years, and we ain't quitting. We ain't doing no farewell tour bullshit. No farewell tour for the E Street Band. Farewell to what? Thousands of people screaming your name? Yeah, I wanna quit that."

8.Arnold Schwarzenegger is worth an estimated $1.1 billion. According to Forbes, the way the actor structured his movie deals to include profit-sharing helped him earn about $500 million. However, even more of his wealth came from investing, most notably his minority stake in Dimensional Fund Advisors. His other investments include commercial real estate, Starbucks, Google, and a Boeing 747 that he purchased then leased to Singapore Airlines.

9.Tiger Woods is reportedly worth $1.3 billion. Per Forbes, he achieved billionaire status in 2022, with most of his money coming from endorsements deals with brands like Nike, Rolex, and Gatorade. Less than ten percent of his net worth comes from golf winnings. Over the course of his career, he's earned an estimated $1.7 billion pre-tax and agent fees.

10.Star Wars and Indiana Jones creator George Lucas is reportedly worth $5 billion. His wealth comes from movies and merchandising through Lucasfilm, the production company he founded in 1971. Per Forbes, in 2012, he sold Lucasfilm to Disney for $4.1 billion (in cash and stock). In 2024, he topped the Forbes list of celebrity billionaires.

11.Oprah Winfrey has an estimated net worth of $3 billion. According to Forbes, the profits from The Oprah Winfrey Show and movies her company Harpo Productions co-produced totaled upwards of $2.5 billion when reinvested. In 2017, she sold a 24.5 percent stake of her cable network, OWN, to Discovery for $70 million, and in 2020, she sold them another 20.5 percent of it for about $36.5 million worth of Discovery stock.

12.Tyler Perry has a reported net worth of $1.4 billion. Per Forbes, the Hollywood titan made his money from the three decades worth of content he's created — which he owns 100 percent of — as well as the cut he receives as a producer.

In 2020, Tyler told Forbes, "I love when people say you come from 'humble beginnings.' [It] means you were poor as hell. Ownership changes everything."

13.Filmmaker Steven Spielberg's net worth is reportedly $5.3 billion. According to Forbes, his films have grossed a total of more than $10 billion. He also makes money from DreamWorks Studios, which he co-founded in 1994, and Universal theme park ticket sales (of which he receives a portion).

14.Magic Johnson's reported net worth is $1.5 billion. According to Forbes, the former NBA player joined the World's Billionaires List in 2023. The majority of this wealth comes from his 60 percent stake in EquiTrust, an Iowa-based life insurance company, which he purchased in 2015. He also owns has stakes in three sports teams — the LA Dodgers (MLB), the LA Sparks (WNBA), and the LAFC (MLS). Additionally, he partnered with Loews to bring movie theaters and Starbucks to bring cafés to Black neighborhoods.

15.Law & Order creator Dick Wolf is reportedly worth $1.2 billion. His money mainly comes from Wolf Entertainment and the many hit shows under it, most notably the Law & Order, FBI, and Chicago franchises. According to Forbes, over his career, he's earned $1.9 billion before agent fees and taxes.

In 2024, he told Forbes, "People ask, 'How did you do this?' I said, 'I did it all myself.' I mean, come on, I've got the best organization that's ever existed in the business."

16.The Lord of the Rings director, writer, and producer Peter Jackson has an estimated net worth of $1.7 billion. Forbes reported that he became a billionaire when he sold some assets from Weta Digital (now Wētā FX), the visual effects company he cofounded in 1993, to Unity Software for $1.6 billion in 2021.

17.Jerry Seinfeld's net worth is reportedly $1.1 billion, though his representative told Forbes the number is "totally inaccurate." He reportedly gets 15 percent of all Seinfeld profits and has made an estimated $400 million off the series since it premiered in 1989. Additionally, he reportedly continues to earn millions as a touring comedian.

18.And finally, Selena Gomez does not appear on the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires List, but in 2024, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index reported that she's worth $1.3 billion. Her wealth began with her acting and music careers, but 81.4% of her fortune comes from Rare Beauty Brands Inc., the makeup brand she founded in 2020. She's one of the youngest American self-made billionaires.

Reacting to her billionaire status, she told Entertainment Tonight, "I'm very grateful. I personally think it's distasteful to talk about money, but I really am giving all the credit to people who buy the products. They're the ones that made this dream of mine come true, so I'm really, really honored and just happy."