Paul McCartney becomes a billionaire and world’s third richest musician

According to a new analysis by Forbes, the former Beatle now has a net worth of $1.4bn, placing him behind Jay-Z and Taylor Swift

Paul McCartney has joined the ranks of the world’s billionaires. Forbes has valued the former Beatle’s net worth at $1.4bn (£1.04bn), making him the world’s third richest musician behind Jay-Z at $2.8bn (£2.01bn) and Taylor Swift at $2bn (£1.49bn).

The magazine attributed McCartney’s wealth to his musical catalog, legal maneuvers, tours and art collection. The 84-year-old derives the bulk of his fortune from MPL Communications, the publishing company he founded in 1969 that manages his own catalog and those of other artists.

The company’s acquisition of copyrights from artists such as Buddy Holly, as well as Broadway musical scores and Christmas standards such as It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas or The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire), accounts for nearly a quarter of a billion dollars. Every time a high school performs Grease or someone streams the song Blue Suede Shoes, McCartney makes money, according to Forbes.

Additionally, as a former member of the Beatles, McCartney receives 25% of earnings from the band’s Apple Corps holding company, which generates about $50m (£37.2m) annually from streaming residuals and sales of vinyl and merchandise. He also makes around $10m (£7.4m) per year from the band’s songwriting copyrights, a treasure in the music publishing that he fought for in both US and UK courts over the past two decades, and the publication estimates it is worth $200m (£148.8m).

The magazine’s estimates for McCartney’s fortune also include revenue from his touring, most recently 79 shows for his Got Back tour between 2022 and 2025, as well as real estate around the world and paintings from such high-value luminaries as Magritte and Picasso.

McCartney is still an active musician into his 80s, with the release of his most recent album, The Boys of Dungeon Lane, this past May. He appeared as the musical guest for that month’s season finale of Saturday Night Live, and performed the Beatles standard I Want to Hold Your Hand for the first time in 60 years in July as part of fellow billionaire Swift’s star-studded wedding to Travis Kelce at Madison Square Garden.

McCartney was also the subject this year of Man on the Run, a documentary directed by Morgan Neville, about his life after his departure from the Beatles.