Rihanna is the richest female musician in the world, according to Forbes’ annual rich list.
RiRi has an estimated fortune of $600 million (£471m) with the bulk of that coming from her Fenty beauty range, though her last studio album Anti came out in 2016.
The 31-year-old singer has accumulated a $600 million fortune, edging out other famous women in music including Madonna with $570 million, Céline Dion with $450 million and Beyoncé with $400 million.
However, the 31-year-old has been putting her efforts into her beauty, lingerie and clothing ranges.
Rihanna – real name Robyn Rihanna Fenty – launched Fenty Beauty in September 2017 and it’s estimated it racked up sales of $100 million (£78m) in its first few weeks.
Forbes estimates that the company generated $570 million (£448m) last year.
Rihanna’s rise to the top was driven by her Fenty Beauty brand, which earned an estimated $570 million in revenue last year in just 15 months of business. The French luxury goods conglomerate LVMH co-own the makeup brand with Rihanna, with Forbes estimating the company to be worth $3 billion, and that LVMH owns an estimated 50 per cent of the brand while Rihanna owns about 15 per cent.
The singer’s fortunes will only likely grow over the next year, as the singer launches a new, Fenty high-end fashion brand with LVMW, making her the first black woman to run a major luxury fashion house.
The new Fenty line launched with a pop-up in Paris on May 24 and became available on Fenty’s website on May 29, with Rihanna planning to release new products via innovative monthly drops, in which several new items at a time will be available exclusively online.
Since its 2017 launch, Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty collection has continued to disrupt the beauty industry since its launch in 2017, by bringing in more than $500 million by the end of 2018 while challenging other brands to expand their range of offerings for consumers with different skin tones. Fenty Beauty launched with 40 foundations shades and has since expanded to over 50, now seen as a trailblazer within the industry for its inclusive offerings.
Experts say Rihanna’s invested her money wisely.
“Globally the entire beauty industry is worth $480 billion (£377bn) – in 2018 the UK market was valued at $17 billion (£13bn),” says Hannah Symons, global beauty manager at Euromonitor International.
Hannah’s job is to track the growth of the beauty industry – looking for trends.
“Rihanna’s success clearly doesn’t come off the back of the music although that’s how she initially gained fame.
“It’s all about her relevance and how she resonates with customers online. She’s very connected to her fans through social media and she’s always updating them on the newest products and things like launch dates,” Hannah adds.
BBC/Forbes
