Kanye West Is Now Officially the Highest-Paid Musician in the World
Written by Randy C on June 4, 2020
On Thursday (June 4), Forbes announced the 2020 edition of its annual Celebrity 100 list and revealed Kanye West as the world’s highest-paid musician.
Clocking in with 2020 earnings of $170 million, the rapper ranks at number two, just behind sister-in-law Kylie Jenner, whose billionaire status was called into question last week by the magazine due to discrepancies in the financial statements of her ultra-successful Kylie Cosmetics brand.
According to the magazine, West is now officially worth $1.3 billion. His newly-acquired tax bracket is thanks in large part to the multi-hyphenate’s contract with Adidas for his massively popular sneaker brand Yeezy, which drove in that same seven-figured number in sales in 2019. Adding to West’s net worth are profits from his Yeezy apparel line — the brand of which he owns outright — as well as his music.
Interestingly, the next artist on the list is Elton John (No. 14 with $81 million in yearly earnings), followed closely by Ariana Grande at No. 17 ($72 million) and the Jonas Brothers at No. 20 ($68.5 million). All three entries in the top 20 are results of touring: John’s electric Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour brought in a whopping $212 million in 2019 as the second most successful tour of the year, while Ari’s Sweetener World Tour grossed $146 million. The JoBros’ long-awaited comeback paid major dividends as well, earning the boys more than $1.5 million on each stop of the Happiness Begins Tour.
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