Rihanna Is Now Officially A Billionaire
How the singer grew to become the richest feminine musician on the world. Trace: It wasn’t from doing.
by Madeline Berg
When Robyn Fenty, recognized to the entire world as Rihanna, introduced Fenty Natural beauty in 2017, she sought to make a cosmetics organization that designed “women in all places (experience) provided.” A probably unintended consequence: The magnificence line has served her enter a single of the world’s most unique ranks: Billionaire.
Rihanna is now really worth $1.7 billion, Forbes estimates—making her the wealthiest female musician in the world and next only to Oprah Winfrey as the richest female entertainer. But it is not her songs that is produced her so rich. The bulk of her fortune (an approximated $1.4 billion) arrives from the benefit of Fenty Natural beauty, of which Forbes can now affirm she owns 50%. Considerably of the rest lies in her stake in her lingerie business, Savage x Fenty, worthy of an approximated $270 million, and her earnings from her occupation as a chart-topping musician and actress.
Although Barbados-born Rihanna isn’t the only superstar to capitalize on her social media presence—she has 101 million followers on Instagram and 102.5 million on Twitter—to develop a natural beauty brand, she is the most prosperous attractiveness entrepreneur to do so. Fenty Splendor, which is a 50-50 joint undertaking with French luxury goods conglomerate LVMH (operate by Bernard Arnault, the world’s 2nd-richest person), released in 2017 with the aim of inclusivity. Its products arrive in a varied assortment of colors—foundation is made available in 50 shades, including more difficult-to-discover darker shades for females of color—and are modeled in its advertising by an similarly various group of people today.
Offered on-line and at Sephora outlets, which are also owned by LVMH, the products and solutions had been an fast good results. By 2018, its 1st whole calendar year, the line was bringing in extra than $550 million in annual revenues, according to LVMH, beating out other movie star-founded brands like Kylie Jenner’s Kylie Cosmetics, Kim Kardashian West’s KKW Attractiveness and Jessica Alba’s Straightforward Co.
“A ton of women of all ages felt there have been no lines out there that catered to their pores and skin tone. It was mild, medium, medium darkish, dim,” claims Shannon Coyne, cofounder of consumer solutions consultancy Bluestock Advisors. “We all know that is not reality. She was a person of the 1st brands that arrived out and mentioned, ‘I want to discuss to all of individuals different persons.’”
A$AP Rocky and Rihanna are witnessed filming a new music video in the Bronx on July 11, 2021.
Raymond Hall/GC Illustrations or photos
While cosmetics income slowed throughout the pandemic, attractiveness businesses are well worth as significantly as ever. Stocks of larger splendor conglomerates like Estée Lauder and L’Oréal have bounced again, achieving all-time highs and investing at impressive 7.5 (or far more) situations yearly revenues. Meanwhile, impartial brand names like Beautycounter and Charlotte Tilbury inked specials with financial commitment companies earlier this year at billion-dollar valuations.
That is fantastic news for Rihanna. Thanks to the remarkable multiples at which elegance firms are buying and selling, Fenty Splendor is really worth a conservative $2.8 billion, Forbes estimates. And all signs stage to the organization continuing to improve. In its yearly report for 2020, LVMH explained Fenty Skin, which introduced previous yr, was off to a “very promising start” and “generated unparalleled excitement,” and that Fenty Splendor “maintained its appeal as a premier makeup model.”
Fenty Magnificence isn’t Rihanna’s only billion-dollar brand. In February her lingerie line Savage x Fenty elevated $115 million in funding at a $1 billion valuation. The organization, which released in 2018 as a joint venture with TechStyle Fashion Group, counts blue-chip investors like Jay-Z’s Marcy Enterprise Companions and personal fairness organization L. Catterton (in which Bernard Arnault is an investor) as shareholders. Rihanna maintains a 30% possession stake, Forbes estimates. The newest round of funding will reportedly be applied for shopper acquisition and retail enlargement.
Not that every little thing Rihanna touches turns to gold. In February, LVMH and Rihanna verified in a assertion to Forbes that they experienced shut down their other undertaking, a higher-close fashion and equipment household also known as Fenty. Launched in 2019, Fenty sought to lengthen Rihanna’s model of inclusivity and offer variations in a assortment of dimensions. But like quite a few luxury style makes, the superior-priced line experienced through the pandemic, releasing its previous assortment in November 2020.
The only grievance some supporters could have about her job as a trend and splendor mogul? It keeps her chaotic. The singer, who made use of to release an album practically just about every calendar year, hasn’t produced a new album considering that 2016’s Anti.
From a financial viewpoint, that could be just high-quality: “She is developing a manufacturer outside the house of herself. It is not just about Rihanna,” claims expert Coyne. “Even if you you should not like her songs, she’s established a actual style in the style and attractiveness space.”
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