They don’t call Beyoncé Queen B for nothing. After starting her career in the girl group Destiny’s Child, Beyoncé’s solo career began in 2003, and 20 years later, she has remained a reliable hitmaker and moneymaker. Beyoncé’s Renaissance singles “Break My Soul” and “Cuff It” became defining hits of 2022. Now, in 2023, her Renaissance World Tour, which kicked off May 10 in Sweden and marks her first tour in five years, could rank among the biggest tours of all time.

However, it isn’t just music that’s fueling Beyoncé’s net worth. She’s also dabbled in various other businesses to build massive wealth, including a popular activewear line with Adidas, an ownership stake in a streaming music service, and even an interest in the cannabis space. With all of that on the table, it’s no surprise that she has racked up a large stack of coins. In fact, on June 1, she was named one of America’s Richest Self-Made Women with an increased net worth — and that doesn’t even include earnings from her latest world tour.

Here’s exactly how Beyoncé became a multi-millionaire, and how she could become a billionaire (just like her billionaire husband Jay-Z).

7 Ways Beyoncé Has Made Millions

1. Music

Beyoncé is still very much an artist first and foremost, though singers and musicians commonly don’t make the bulk of their money from music alone. Still, when you’ve had as long and successful a career as Beyoncé, music sales contribute significantly to the bottom line.

Destiny’s Child officially disbanded in 2006, but the group has reportedly sold more than 60 million albums worldwide. Her solo career hasn’t seen quite as high numbers, especially as the industry moved toward streaming. Her debut album Dangerously In Love sold 11 million albums, 2006’s B’Day and 2008’s I Am…Sasha Fierce sold 8 million each, and 4 sold approximately 3 million.

Beyoncé surprised everyone in 2013 with her self-titled album, which broke iTunes records for most album sales in the first week, and followed that with her 2016 acclaimed visual album Lemonade which became the highest-selling album of the year. Bey has received 88 Grammy nominations throughout her career — the highest of any female artist in Grammy history — and officially became the most-awarded Grammy winner of all time in 2023 when she snagged her 32nd win. In 2019, the London Evening Standard estimated that Beyoncé has made $13 million from album sales — a number that has only since risen with Renaissance.

2. Touring

Beyoncé concerts are events unto themselves, and the singer rakes in a huge chunk of change from ticket sales. In fact, her upcoming Renaissance World Tour is likely to be her highest-earning trek yet. Forbes estimates that the stadium tour could gross anywhere between $275 million and $2.4 billion in just ticket sales alone. The latter estimate is based on an eye-watering but unlikely $700 average ticket price, and if the Renaissance Tour crossed the $1 billion mark, it would be the highest-grossing tour of all time. But even if it only earns the lowest number in that range, it would still be Beyoncé’s biggest tour to date.

Her highest-grossing tour stop before 2023 was when she played Wembley Stadium for the Formation World Tour — the two sold-out shows alone brought in more than $15 million. Beyoncé cashed in more than $250 million for that tour. Other high earners include the 2009-2010 I Am... world tour at $119.5 million, the 2013-2014 Mrs. Carter world tour at $229.7 million, and the two On The Run co-headlining tours with husband Jay-Z which grossed more than $360 million in total.

Beyoncé also headlined the Coachella music festival in 2018, becoming the first Black woman to do so, but her pay from the gig is disputed. Older reports put her pay at $4 million, which is half of what both The Weeknd received for headlining in 2022 when he replaced Kanye West, and what Ariana Grande made for her appearance in 2019. But a Billboard article suggests that Bey’s check was actually between $8 and $12 million.

3. Clothing Lines

Before launching Ivy Park, Beyoncé created a clothing line with her mother. House of Deréon, named after her grandmother, launched in 2006 before closing shop in 2012. Her activewear line Ivy Park was first launched in 2014 in collaboration with Topshop and business partner Sir Philip Green before Bey expanded the clothing line into a standalone company in 2016.

Two years later, Beyoncé took over full ownership of the brand and stewarded a partnership with Adidas. The first drop in January 2020 sold out in just a day. She continued to drop new products with Adidas every few months, with a winter-themed collection Icy Park, also selling out within a few days when it was released in 2021.

Adidas reportedly expected even more profit from Ivy Park than it did from Kanye West’s Yeezy brand, which earned over $1.5 billion in sales in 2019, but the terms of their deal with Beyoncé were never made public. She parted ways from the athletic company in March 2023, with The Hollywood Reporter claiming there were “major creative differences” between the Ivy Park and Adidas camps. However, Bey is reportedly planning to keep Ivy Park alive on her own terms, with THR saying she’s “excitedly looking to reclaim her brand, chart her own path and maintain creative freedom.”

4. Tidal

Tidal, the streaming music service started by Jay-Z, saw a large list of A-list musicians jumping on as early investors, including Madonna, Alicia Keys, Kanye West, Rihanna, and of course, Beyoncé. It seems that strategy has paid dividends for those initial 15 artists. According to Billboard, “each act was gifted 3% in equity of Tidal in an effort to provide exclusive content that would help drive value for the subscription price.” Though streaming exclusives quickly became a thing of the past, the equity deal proved its worth when Jay-Z sold his majority share of Tidal to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey in a $297 million deal, which ended up paying out $8.9 million to each of the initial stakeholders.

5. Endorsements

Beyoncé has been a longtime face of many brands, including L'Oréal and Pepsi. She first appeared with the soda brand in 2004 and re-upped her contract a decade later with a $50 million price tag. Her five-year L'Oréal contract was reportedly worth $4.7 million. The singer has also historically had deals with Tommy Hilfiger, Adidas, H&M, and more.

6. Acting & Film Gigs

While acting is not her primary gig, Beyoncé has starred in several movies and her name has proven to lead to box office success. IMDb reports that her films have a total box office gross of over $3 billion. Of course, she didn’t get to pocket that full amount, but her roles in films ranging from Austin Powers to Obsessed have certainly added to her bottom line. Bey also lent her voice to the 2019 remake of The Lion King, which The Hollywood Reporter speculated earned her $15 million (though Vibe suggests an even higher figure of $25 million).

In 2020, it was reported that Disney was doubling down on their partnership with Bey with a $100 million contract for her work on three more projects, including her Black Is King film that was released later that year. Beyoncé also struck a deal with Netflix to bring her Homecoming tour documentary to the streaming service. The deal is estimated to be worth $60 million and involves two more as-yet-unannounced projects.

7. Other Business Ventures

Beyoncé is the latest celebrity to jump on the cannabis and CBD train, recently announcing that she’s building a hemp and honey farm. “I discovered CBD on my last tour, and I’ve experienced its benefits for soreness and inflammation,” Beyoncé told Harper’s Bazaar in 2021. “It helped with my restless nights and the agitation that comes from not being able to fall asleep. Now I’m building a hemp and a honey farm. I’ve even got hives on my roof!” There’s no word about if and when she’ll start selling to the public, but we know it’ll be flying off of the shelves when she does.

The singer also became a key investor in an Atlanta-based flavored water brand called Lemon Perfect. “I don’t typically enjoy drinks without added sugar, but Lemon Perfect is delicious,” Beyoncé said in a statement on the Lemon Perfect website. “It was an easy decision to invest in something that not only tastes great and is healthy, but also, and most importantly, allows choosing a healthier lifestyle to be affordable and accessible to everyone.” Beyoncé didn’t disclose how much she has invested in the brand, but Lemon Perfect recently received $31 million from a group of investors, upping their total valuation to over $100 million.

What is Beyoncé's Net Worth?

$540 MILLION

As of June 2023, Beyoncé’s net worth is estimated to be $540 million, according to Forbes. However, this does not include earnings from her Renaissance World Tour, which only kicked off in May and has not announced any official grosses yet. Of course, she’s also married to Jay-Z who is worth more than $2.5 billion as of March 2023.

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This article was originally published on July 29, 2022

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