Taylor Swift and Magic Johnson join the Forbes billionaires list in 2024 | Economy

American singer Taylor Swift and NBA businessman Earvin Johnson – Magic Johnson – joined the list of the richest in the world in 2024, according to the Forbes list of billionaires, released this Tuesday (2).

Taylor accumulates a fortune of US$1.1 billion (R$5.56 billion) after the success of her musical tour “The Eras Tour”, while Magic Johnson has an estimated net worth of US$1.2 billion (R$6 .1 billion).

The two are part of a select group of 265 people, divided into 32 countries. who joined the Forbes list of billionaires in 2024, with an accumulated fortune of US$510 billion (around R$2.6 trillion).

Despite the significant value, the assets of the new billionaires represent only 3.6% of the entire value accumulated by the 2,781 richest in the world: US$ 14.2 trillion (around R$ 71.9 trillion).

In addition to Taylor and Magic Johnson, other prominent names also joined the list in 2024, such as the founders of retailer Shein and Brazilian Livia Voigt, just 19 years old and heir to Weg.

Among the best known names are:

• Taylor Swiftsinger, with fortune of US$1.1 billion
• Magic Johnsonbusinessman, with a fortune of US$1.2 billion
• Maggie Gu, Molly Miao and Ren Xiaoqingco-founders of Shein, with fortunes of US$4.2 billion
• Cristina Junqueiraco-founder of Nubank, with a fortune of US$1.4 billion
• Livia Voigtheiress of Weg, with a fortune of US$ 1.1 billion
• Christian Louboutindesigner of Louboutin shoes, with a fortune of US$1.2 billion
• Shunsaku Sagamiyoungest businessman and billionaire to enter the list with income from his own work, with a fortune of US$ 1.9 billion
• Todd Gravesfounder of the fried chicken chain Raising Cane’s, with a fortune of US$9.1 billion

See more details about the highlights among the new billionaires below.

At 34 years old, Taylor Swift is the first singer in history to achieve a billion-dollar fortune solely based on income from her songs and shows.

According to Forbes, the pop darling’s net worth is just over US$1.1 billion, of which US$500 million comes from the rights to her music catalog and another US$500 million from tours and royalties.

Another $125 million comes from real estate owned by Taylor.

Last year alone, the singer’s fortune doubled in size, going from US$570 million to the current US$1.1 billion. A large part of the income even came from the “Eras Tour”, which broke records on all continents and also visited Brazil, with sold-out performances in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.

The famous American businessman, sports commentator and former NBA star, Magic Johnson, joined the group of the richest in the world thanks to a series of successful investments.

In addition to professional sports teams, mainly basketball, the businessman’s assets of US$1.2 billion are divided between franchises of the Starbucks coffee chain, cinemas, real estate and healthcare companies.

China added 31 new billionaires to the list, behind only the United States, with 67. Among the new Chinese names, it is worth highlighting Maggie Gu, Molly Miao and Ren Xiaoqing, who co-founded the retail giant Shein.

With the company’s sales success in all corners of the world, including Brazil, each of them has an estimated fortune of US$4.2 billion (around R$21.3 billion).

Shein’s business model is quite particular. It is still a fast fashion brand – that is, one that quickly consumes and changes clothing items – but its production line is different from the traditional one.

While other older brands in the fashion market create collections with a huge number of pieces (generally more than a thousand units of a single piece) and launch new products, on average, every two months, Shein launches around 10 thousand new pieces every each month, however, with a much smaller quantity, between 100 and 200 units.

The clothes and accessories are launched on the application and, as demand for the product grows, the company starts to manufacture more units of the pieces that had a large volume of purchases. New shipments arrive in stock and are made available within the app and, thus, the cycle continues.

It’s almost like an on-demand order, but with the use of technology to facilitate and grow the business. And this, despite its success due to low prices, has generated a lot of criticism, mainly aimed at environmental causes. But they still weren’t enough to impact the assets of their creators.

Cristina Junqueira, co-founder of Nubank, also joined the list of billionaires in 2024, with an estimated fortune of US$1.5 billion (R$7.6 billion).

At the age of 30, in 2013, Cristina was one of those responsible for creating the fintech that became one of the main banks in Brazil.

Before that, she was credit card portfolio manager at Itaucard, marketing and product leader at LuizaCard, Superintendent at Unibanco and consultant at other financial institutions.

Brazilian Livia Voigt became the youngest billionaire in the world in 2024, overtaking Italian Clemente Del Vecchio, heir to Leonardo Del Vecchio, founder of Luxottica, the largest eyewear brand in the world.

Like Clemente, 19-year-old Livia’s fortune also comes from inheritance. She is one of the heirs of the Weg machinery company, co-founded by her grandfather Werner Ricardo Voigt, alongside Eggon João da Silva and Geraldo Werninghaus.

She has a net worth of US$1.1 billion (R$5.56 billion) with her shareholding in the company. Livia’s older sister, Dora, 26, is also on the list, with a fortune of the same value.

Other heirs of Weg founders are on the list.

Frenchman Christian Louboutin is the designer responsible for the luxury shoes and accessories brand that bears the same name. He has a net worth of US$1.2 billion (R$6.1 billion).

Despite the variety of pieces, the brand became famous, mainly, for its high-heeled shoes with red soles. The pieces were worn by Sarah Jessica Parker’s character, Carrie Bradshaw, in the North American TV series “Sex and the City”.

Today, the brand has hundreds of boutique stores spread across 32 countries. In stores in Brazil, it is possible to find Louboutin products for prices above R$15,000.

Shunsaku Sagami, 33 years old, is the youngest Japanese person to join the list of billionaires today, with an estimated fortune of US$1.9 billion (R$9.6 billion).

In addition to being the youngest richest Japanese in the world, he is also the youngest when it comes to billionaires who founded the very companies that made them rich. According to Forbes, more than half of the people who made the list this year are in this category.

Sagami’s fortune comes from his stake in the company he founded, M&A Research Institute Holdings, a brokerage specializing in mergers and acquisitions of small and medium-sized companies (read more below).

He holds 73% of the company’s shares. And precisely because your assets are closely tied to the performance of these shares, when they go through a period of devaluation, your fortune also decreases significantly.

Leading the list of new billionaires in the United States in 2024, Todd Graves has a net worth of US$9.1 billion (more than R$46 billion).

His fortune comes mainly from the company he founded: the fried chicken chain Raising Cane’s, which became a success on North American soil.

The company is already old, born in 1996, but only added Graves to the list in 2024. Currently, the company’s sales revenue is US$3.3 billion, with 700 stores spread across 37 American states, according to Forbes.

See who are the billionaires who became richest in 2023