Forbes List 2022: Rihanna Is The Richest Female Musician And Barbados’ First Billionaire

By Ebenezer Donkoh On Apr 6, 2022

LONDON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 02: Rihanna arrives at The Fashion Awards 2019 held at Royal Albert Hall on December 02, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/BFC/Getty Images)

Barbadian pop and Rhythm-And-Blues (R&B) singer Rihanna just made her debut on the Forbes Billionaires list 2022.

There are 87 fewer billionaires in the world this year, according to Forbes’ 2022 World’s Billionaires list. But even as countries like Russia, where the invasion of Ukraine and subsequent sanctions have sent markets plummeting, and China, which has cracked down on tech companies, are shedding billionaires, others are gaining them.

That includes four countries that got their first-ever billionaires over the past year: Barbados, Bulgaria, Estonia and Uruguay.

The most high-profile newcomer among these is musician turned-cosmetics mogul Rihanna, who became the first billionaire from the Caribbean island nation of Barbados in August. She also became the country’s 11th “National Hero” at a ceremony in the capital of Bridgetown in November, on the same day Barbados became a republic.

Rihanna

Net worth: $1.7 billion

Source of wealth: cosmetics, music

Rihanna may be most famous for her musical career, but it’s her 50% stake in cosmetics brand Fenty Beauty—which she co-owns with luxury conglomerate LVMH—that earned her a spot among the billionaires. She also owns an estimated 30% of the Savage X Fenty lingerie line, which raised $125 million in January and is now reportedly weighing an IPO at a $3 billion valuation.

RiRi comes in at No. 1,729 on the 36th annual list, and is the world’s richest female musician.

Forbes Billionaire 2022 Rihanna