Forbes has revealed that Rihanna is officially the richest female musician in the world, with a fortune of $600 million, or over $850 million in dollarydoos.
That makes her richer than Madonna, Celine Dion, and, yes, Beyoncé. I definitely assumed Beyoncé was one of the richest people on the planet, but I think that’s just because she has the loudest fans.
While RiRi’s the richest female musician, she didn’t earn all that money from her music, as catchy as it is. If you’ve been paying any attention at all in the past few years, you’ve probably heard of Fenty Beauty, her beauty brand that has taken Sephora, and also the world, by storm.
Celebrated not just for the quality of the products (they’re amazing) but also the diverse range of shades available, and the diverse models used in their promotional material, Fenty reportedly earned $100 million in the first few weeks following its launch.
Since then, Rihanna has also launched her own brand of lingerie, and was again celebrated for using diverse bodies to promote the line, both on and off the runway.
Most recently, it was announced that Rihanna will be launching her own fashion brand, Fenty Maison, which will be part of the LVMH family alongside Fenty Beauty.
Throughout all of this, Rihanna has continued to come across as incredibly down-to-earth and authentic on social media, thanks to her being so open about her political views, and her love of weed, but also because of the way she’s unafraid to clap back at critics, and the way she interacts and engages with fans.
Whether that appearance of authenticity is indeed authentic doesn’t matter so much as whether people believe it, and people absolutely do.
Googling ‘Rihanna’ and ‘relatable’ pulls up countless results with videos and articles about how Rihanna is ‘relatable AF’ as a result of everything from her being open about weight fluctuation to her giving her younger self advice to sleep more.
Plus, she’s been known to slide into fans’ DMs with advice, and made headlines in 2016 for helping a fan come out to his family.
Writing for Vice, Lauren O’Neill chalked a lot of the love for Rihanna up to the fact that she seems unchanged by fame, to the point that much of her inner circle consists of childhood friends.
Whatever the reason, Rihanna’s relatability and kindness are refreshing in an age where everyone’s social media personas are carefully crafted and every new week sees another celebrity getting outed as a terrible person.
Pls pls guys. Annual reminder that when the revolution comes and we need to eat the rich, we cannot eat Rihanna and Beyonce ??
— Muthoni Maingi (@NonieMG) June 4, 2019
If anyone has to be rich (and under capitalism, that is an inevitability), I’m OK with it being Rihanna.
