These self-made stars sold out stadiums, broke records and saw their fortunes surge in the past year.
It was a record-breaking year for the rich and famous on Forbes’ 2024 list of America’s Richest Self-Made Women: The 15 celebrities on the 100-person list are worth a combined $13.3 billion, up 23% from last year, and include a who’s who of pop stars, TV hosts and producers, from Beyonce and Madonna to Ellen DeGeneres, Judge Judy and Reese Witherspoon.
Newcomer Katy Perry catapulted herself onto the list for the first time with a nine-figure deal: Last fall the superstar sold her master recordings royalties and publishing rights to Carlyle-backed Litmus Music for a reported $225 million. The deal was one of the biggest music sales of 2023 and included five of Perry’s six studio albums. Earlier this year the star announced that her seventh season as a judge on the TV singing competition series American Idol, where she reportedly earns $25 million a year, will be her last, but teased that she is working on new music.
Taylor Swift, whom Forbes first called a billionaire last October, is now even richer thanks to her ongoing Eras tour. She’s worth an estimated $1.3 billion–up from $1.1 billion last fall and $740 million in June last year. Her Eras Tour pulled in over $1 billion in ticket sales in 2023, making her the first artist to ever accomplish such a feat. As if that wasn’t enough, the tour is expected to bring in another $1 billion in ticket sales by the time it ends in December.
But the singer-songwriter, who last month released her eleventh studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, and a deluxe version that broke the 2022 streaming record she had previously set, isn’t the only pop star with high tour earnings over the past year: Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour, had nearly $580 million in sales; plus a companion movie that generated an additional $44 million in theaters. Beyonce’s fortune grew to an estimated $760 million this year as a result, up by $220 million from a year ago. Madonna’s Celebration Tour grossed over $225 million, making her the first female artist with six tours grossing more than $100 million.
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Together, the three pop icons generated over $1.8 billion from their latest tours alone, a stunning figure. Out of the 15 stars on the list, seven made their fortunes in the music industry, four in film and television, and three in cosmetics and skincare (including singer Rihanna, whose wealth stems mostly from her 50% stake in cosmetics line Fenty Beauty). Tennis legend Serena Williams is the only professional athlete among the top 100; she earned $95 million in prize money during her career and more than that from endorsements over the years. And she’s invested in dozens of companies and launched her own venture capital firm, Serena Ventures.
The threshold for making the list – and staying on it – is high: Contenders had to be worth at least $300 million to gain a spot among the top 100, up from $225 million last year. Almost all of the list’s stars got richer – only Reese Witherspoon and Rihanna’s net worth stayed the same, while producer and screenwriter Shonda Rhimes, who made her debut on the 2023 list thanks to her hit shows like Grey’s Anatomy and Bridgerton, missed the cut this year. The threshold for making the list – and staying on it – is high: Contenders had to be worth at least $300 million to gain a spot among the top 100, up from $225 million last year. Almost all of the list’s stars got richer – only Reese Witherspoon and Rihanna’s net worth stayed the same, while producer and screenwriter Shonda Rhimes, who made her debut on the 2023 list thanks to her hit shows like Grey’s Anatomy and Bridgerton, missed the cut this year.
The youngest celebrity as well as the youngest list member is Kylie Jenner at age 26; she’s been the youngest since first making it on the list in 2018. At the opposite end of the spectrum, Barbra Streisand, 82, and Judy Sheindlin, 81, are the oldest celebrities on the list.
Here are the celebrities on Forbes’ 2024 Self-Made Women list
Net worths as of May 3, 2024. All figures are in USD.
Oprah Winfrey
Net worth: $3 billion
Self-made score: 10
Age: 70
After publicly sharing her experience with an unspecified weight loss drug, the former TV host announced she was leaving the WeightWatchers board in February after nine years and donating her company stock to the National Museum of African American History and Culture. She owns over 2,100 acres of land in Hawaii and several houses in Santa Barbara, California.
Kim Kardashian
Net worth: $1.7 billion
Self-made score: 7
Age: 43
The richest Kardashian added $500 million to her fortune last July, when her shapewear line, Skims, raised $270 million from private investors at a $4 billion valuation. In January, her SKKN By Kim skin care brand launched a makeup line that “significantly exceeded” partner Coty Inc.’s expectations, it said in February. Things appear less rosy at her SKKY Partners private equity shop, which had raised just $121 million in capital as of March, well short of its reported $1 billion target.
Rihanna
Net worth: $1.4 billion
Self-made score: 10
Age: 36
The Barbados-born pop star gave birth to her second child, Riot Rose, nearly six months after she revealed her pregnancy onstage at the Super Bowl halftime show. Most of her wealth comes from her 50% stake in cosmetics line Fenty Beauty, her joint venture with Sephora owner LVMH; Fenty launched a new mascara last year.
Taylor Swift
Net worth: $1.3 billion
Self-made score: 8
Age: 34
Music’s most powerful star dominated the concert business—and became a billionaire—in the fall of 2023. Her Eras Tour set a record in December as the first ever to gross over $1 billion in ticket sales, according to Pollstar; it’s expected to bring in more than $2 billion by the time it wraps later this year. In April, Swift released her latest album, The Tortured Poets Department, whose deluxe version’s 31 songs broke the streaming record set by her own Midnights album from 2022.
Madonna
Net worth: $850 million
Self-made score: 9
Age: 65
The queen of pop kicked off her Celebration Tour, featuring music from across her four decade career, last October after initially delaying it due to health concerns. The tour, which wrapped up in May, earned her an estimated $50 million through April 1.
Beyoncé Knowles
Net worth: $760 million
Self-made score: 8
Age: 42
Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour generated the kind of numbers that would inspire any “Diva,” with ticket sales of $579 million, per Pollstar, and a companion movie that pulled in another $44 million at theaters worldwide. While perhaps overshadowed by Taylor Swift, Beyoncé is a dominant force whose fortune increased more than $200 million since last year thanks to tour earnings, the release of album Cowboy Carter and a higher value for her music catalog.
Kylie Jenner
Net worth: $710 million
Self-made score: 7
Age: 26
The youngest Kardashian launched clothing line Khy last fall, then released Sprinter vodka soda and a fragrance called Cosmic in March. Most of her wealth still comes from an estimated 44.1% stake in Kylie Cosmetics, plus cash from selling 51% of the business to French beauty giant Coty in 2020 for $600 million.
Judy Sheindlin
Net worth: $560 million
Self-made score: 8
Age: 81
The longtime television judge now presides over a franchise of legal shows for Amazon Freevee, hosting Judy Justice and executive producing the arbitration show Tribunal Justice with a third series, a docudrama, forthcoming. She has also collected a substantial real estate portfolio, with properties in five states.
Celine Dion
Net worth: $550 million
Self-made score: 8
Age: 56
The acclaimed belter behind hits like “My Heart Will Go On” has canceled all shows through at least the end of 2024 due to complications associated with stiff-person syndrome, an incurable autoimmune and neurological condition.
Barbra Streisand
Net worth: $460 million
Self-made score: 10
Age: 82
The star continued to mine her past with a collection of retrospective work including a nearly 1,000-page memoir, My Name is Barbra, released in November; a soundtrack commemorating the 40th anniversary of her 1983 film, Yentl; and Evergreens, an album celebrating her six decades with Columbia Records.
Ellen DeGeneres
Net worth: $450 million
Self-made score: 8
Age: 66
The former daytime talk show host will hit the road for a standup comedy tour this summer, the first time many have seen the comedian since her program, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, ended in 2022 amid reports of a toxic work environment. She acknowledged the problems and vowed to work on them. In the meantime, the avid home flipper—who has sold at least 10 homes and now owns five—bought a house in Santa Barbara last June for $22.5 million that she sold for $32 million in February.
Dolly Parton
Net worth: $450 million
Self-made score: 10
Age: 78
The singer-songwriter, actor, author and entrepreneur kept up her prolific output with a newly released deluxe version of her Rockstar album and a rerecording of the late Tom Petty’s Southern Accents. Dolly Parton’s Billy the Kid Comes Home for Christmas, a sequel to her 2023 children’s book, is due out before the winter holidays. Her Tennessee theme park upped its game, too, with a new roller coaster and the grand opening of the Dollywood HeartSong Lodge & Resort.
Reese Witherspoon
Net worth: $440 million
Self-made score: 8
Age: 48
Hello Sunshine, the production company she founded in 2016, is worth less than when she sold a majority of it to Blackstone backed Candle Media in 2021; revenue reportedly fell far short of last year’s projections. Still, she remains as busy as ever in front of the camera, starring in Apple’s The Morning Show and the Netflix romantic comedy Your Place or Mine.
Katy Perry
Net worth: $350 million
Self-made score: 9
Age: 39
Perry sold the rights to her songs in a September 2023 deal reportedly valued at $225 million. She has since announced her likely departure from TV singing competition American Idol after seven years as a judge and hinted that she’s working on new music. Her fortune is derived mostly from the income earned selling her catalog as well as from touring.
Serena Williams
Net worth: $340 million
Self-made score: 9
Age: 42
The tennis legend, who retired in 2022, is currently working on a memoir for Random House and a documentary series for ESPN cataloging her Grand Slam– winning career. She invests through her venture capital firm, Serena Ventures, cofounded a skin and muscle care brand, recently entered a licensing deal with Wyn Beauty cosmetics and has a small stake in the NFL’s Miami Dolphins.
