How Taylor Swift became a billionaire: Hit music, record-breaking tours, luxury real estate and more
Taylor Swift was officially named a billionaire by Forbes in April 2024 — less than two decades after she made her 2006 music industry debut.
The global pop star had a record-breaking 2023, including boosting the economy with her Eras Tour and being crowned Time’s Person of the Year, but she has been making many smart business moves for many years in order to secure her fortune.
Here’s a look at everything Swift has done to garner a $1.1 billion net worth by the age of 34.
Taylor Swift’s billionaire status has been confirmed by Forbes.Getty Images for TAS Rights Management
The music superstar has a reported net worth of $1.1 billion.Christopher Polk
Music catalog – $400 million
Ahead of Scooter Braun selling Swift’s masters for more than $300 million in a controversial deal, the Grammy winner announced plans to re-record her first five albums.
Swift — who signed with Universal Music Group in 2018 after kicking off her career under Big Machine Records — has since released new “Taylor’s Version” albums for “Fearless,” “Speak Now,” “Red” and “1989.” She is rumored to be dropping the re-recorded version of “Reputation” sometime in 2024.
Aside from her old records, however, Swift has also seen major success with her new albums —Lover (2019), Folklore (2020), Evermore (2020) and Midnights (2022) — under Universal Music Group.
The hard-working pop star recently shocked fans in February when she announced she is releasing another album — “The Tortured Poets Department” — on April 19, 2024.
As of 2019, Swift has earned $400 million from her music catalog alone, Bloomberg reports.
Swift made her Hollywood debut in October 2006 with her self-titled album.NFL
Streaming deals – $160 million
Swift reportedly made close to $130 million from her streams on Spotify alone in 2023.
Per Variety, she accumulated a total of about 26.1 billion streams last year, and based on an average of $0.0035 cents per listen, she would have earned the whopping total sum by that December.
However, it is likely that amount is even larger because — as Billboard previously pointed out — there are other streaming services such as Apple Music, YouTube Music and Amazon Music, pushing that total closer to an estimated $160 million.
Record sales – $80 million
Swift has reportedly made $80 million from her music royalties, according to Bloomberg.
Royalties are accrued when copyrighted music is used in other licensing deals, such as movies and commercials, and therefore a compensatory payment is made to the rights holders such as songwriters, composers and recording artists.
Her songs have been featured in shows such as “Grey’s Anatomy” and “The Summer I Turned Pretty,” and movies including “Fifty Shades Darker” and “The Hunger Games,” as well as various commercials and campaigns.
Swift passed on buying her masters from Scooter Braun in a controversial deal.Getty Images for TAS
She vowed to re-record the albums she released before joining Universal Music Group.Getty Images for TAS Rights Management
Tours – $370 million
Swift’s Eras Tour became the highest grossing tour by any musician of all time, earning more than $1 billion, according to Rolling Stone.
The outlet reported in December 2023 that Swift sold about 4.3 million tickets at an average price of $238.
Bloomberg estimated in October 2023 that the “Wildest Dreams” singer grossed more than $700 million in ticket sales and $225 million in just tour merchandise, making her $370 million in profit after taxes.
Callie Cox, a financial analyst for investment company eToro, told The Post Swift’s Eras Tour show stops have boosted the local economies of each city.
“Every weekend, the city that she visits releases the data around hotel occupancies and just the amount of money generated for each local economy — and it’s in the millions,” Cox said in June 2023.
Swift’s Eras Tour is the highest-grossing tour of all time.Getty Images for TAS Rights Management
The international leg of the Eras Tour and a few additional US dates are still set to take place.Getty Images for TAS Rights Management
Real estate – $150 million
Swift’s impressive real estate portfolio has undoubtedly contributed to her overall wealth.
The “Blank Space” singer owns five homes across the US, totaling approximately $150 million.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Swift’s first investment was a 3,240-square-foot penthouse on Nashville’s Music Row at the Adelicia condominium for $1.9 million, which she bought at age 19.
Swift bought her first home in Nashville in 2009.Getty Images
Swift paid $1.9 million for an apartment in the Adelicia condominium. Splash News
Per property records, she bought a roughly 1,000-square-foot, one-bedroom unit on the floor below for $387,000 through a trust.
The colorful home is featured in her “Miss Americana” documentary, and real estate experts estimate the home would now cost around $8 million.
The colorful Nashville apartment was featured on “Miss Americana.”Netflix
Real estate experts estimate the home would now cost around $8 million.Netflix
In 2011, Swift then bought a larger property in Nashville — a roughly 7,700-square-foot home on about 6 acres known as the Northumberland Estate — for which she paid $2.5 million.
The “Cruel Summer” songstress then set her eyes on an East Coast estate in 2012, when she bought a seven-bedroom house in Hyannis Port, Mass., for $4.8 million. She eventually sold the picturesque property a year later for $5.675 million.
Swift was busy making real estate moves in 2013, because that year she also bought a home in Rhode Island for $17.75 million. The seaside Colonial mansion boasts eight bedrooms, 10 bathrooms and sits on about 5.23 acres with roughly 700 feet of a sandy shoreline.
Real estate experts estimate the Westerly, RI, property to be worth $30 million in present day.
Swift’s home in Rhode Island has beautiful seaside views.Richard Beetham / SplashNews.com
She has been seen spending many summer holidays there.TheImageDirect.com
Despite all of those lavish homes, the “Welcome to New York” singer spends most of her time in the Big Apple, where she owns multiple properties.
In 2014, Swift purchased two penthouses in Tribeca for $19.95 million in the iconic Sugar Loaf building, which combined created a roughly 8,000-square-foot duplex.
Three years later, she bought a three-story townhouse adjacent to her penthouses for $9.75 million and turned them into her personal parking garage.
“She wanted to be able to go from the garage to her apartment without exiting the building,” realtor Andrew Azoulay previously said, per the Wall Street Journal. “It’s probably the most expensive garage there is.”
Swift owns a compound in Tribeca worth an estimated $45 million.Erik Thomas/NY Post
Swift often spends time in the NYC pad with her A-list pals.Taylor Swift/Instagram
Swift’s total Tribeca real estate portfolio is reportedly now worth $45 million.
The superstar has gone through a few different stints of ownership on the West Coast, as well, but she has since sold most of them.
In 2011, Swift bought a four-bedroom house in Beverly Hills, Calif., for $3.55 million, and then sold it for $4 million in 2018.
In 2012, the “Cruel Summer” singer paid $1.775 million for another four-bedroom house in Beverly Hills that she also made a profit off of in 2018 for $2.65 million.
Swift has owned at least three properties in California.CJT / MEGA
Swift’s total real estate portfolio is worth approximately $150 million.Getty Images
Swift seemingly planted her California roots, though, in an 11,000-square-foot house dubbed the Goldwyn estate, which she purchased in 2018 for $25 million.
The beautiful property — with only three other houses on the same street — offers a very private abode which she and boyfriend Travis Kelce retreat to when they’re on the West Coast.
It was built by iconic Hollywood producer Samuel Goldwyn, and Swift petitioned to have the home declared a landmark in 2017. The request was granted that same year.
Endorsement deals
With 283 million followers on Instagram and a loyal fandom dubbed “Swifties,” the power of Swift’s influence is almost immeasurable, which is why many companies pine to involve her in sponsorship deals.
The “Shake It Off” singer has had lucrative endorsement deals over the years with CoverGirl, Keds, AT&T, Target and Sony Electronics.
Although the exact financial details of those deals is unknown, it’s been widely reported that Swift scored a massive $26 million for her long-term partnership with Coca-Cola.
Swift has landed endorsement deals with several major companies.Christopher Polk
She reportedly earned $26 million from her deal with Coca-Cola alone.Splash News
Family wealth
Many consider Swift to be self-made because of her massive career success, but she had a financial cushion with her family given her upper-middle class upbringing.
Her dad, Scott Swift, who worked as a stockbroker at Merrill Lynch, and mom Andrea Swift, who worked as a marketing manager at an advertising agency, reportedly have a net worth of at least $10 million.
