It’s in fact, no longer news that famous American singer/songwriter and actress, Taylor Swift is one of the world’s highest-paid celebrities. Starting off her career in her teens, it took Swift just about a decade to become one of the most famous singers in the world. With numerous chart-topping songs and albums to her credit, she has garnered a plethora of prestigious awards including no less than 10 Grammys. With a whopping net worth of $360 million, Taylor apparently has the world at her feet when it comes to affluence.
Taylor Swift’s Net Worth Over The Years
Born on the 13th of December, 1989, Taylor Swift officially kicked off her career in 2004 after she became the youngest artist to sign with SONY Entertainment at 15. Since then, she has worked her way up the ladder of wealth without looking back.
Fast forward to 2015, Forbes revealed that Taylor made an annual income of $170 million between June 2015 and June 2016, emerging the highest-earning musician at the time. In 2017, she became the youngest on Forbes‘ list of Richest American Female Entertainers with a net worth of $280 million. Taylor Swift’s net worth subsequently rose from this figure to hit $320 million in 2018; and after earning an estimated $185 million (pretax) between July 2018 and July 2019, Taylor Swift’s net worth hit $360 million, making her the highest-paid celebrity in the world.
Earnings from Record Sales
As of 2019, Taylor Swift has released seven albums. Her 1989 album of 2014 has so far sold over 10 million copies. Other previous albums such as Speak Now (2010) and Red (2012) each sold up to one million in their first weeks of release. Reputation (2017) has also sold over 2 million records. In 2018, Billboard revealed that Taylor earned an estimated sum of $5 million from the sales of her record for the year.
In addition to record sales, Swift also earns enormously from streaming her music videos as well as from publishing royalties. Billboard’s 2018 report showed she accumulated $4.4 million from the two sources in the year under review.
Swift’s Earnings from Tours and Concerts
Reliable records such as the Business Insider reveal that a large chunk of Taylor Swift’s net worth comes from her tours and concerts. Her first was for her 2008 album, Fearless which brought in around $75 million. In 2015, Swift embarked on a tour for her 1989 album which grossed over $250 million.
In July 2018, she pulled off a three-day concert at the iconic MetLife Stadium in New York for her 2017 album, Reputation. The show ended up the highest-grossing tour in the history of the US. It sold up to 2 million tickets and brought in $266.1 million. The Reputation tour eventually brought in a total of $345.7 million after 53 concerts in 36 cities of the US. With her rise in popularity, Taylor’s concert tickets have only become costlier, explaining the boost in proceeds. To crown it all, Billboard says merchandise worth an estimated $17 gets sold per ticket concert patrons purchased; and Swift reportedly receives between 50 to 60 percent of every show’s gross income.
Other Businesses and Endorsement Deals
In addition to music, Taylor Swift also pockets large sums of money from other businesses. One of the businesses Taylor Swift is meaningfully involved in is real estate, and it holds a large chunk of her $360 million net worth. According to respected property evaluator Trulia, Taylor Swift owns properties worth up to a total of $84 million in real estate as of 2018. The singer-songwriter’s real estate assets comprise eight properties in Tennessee, California, Rhode Island, and New York.
In Nashville, Tennessee, Taylor Swift owns a $3 million apartment and a $2.5 million Greek Revival estate. In Watch Hill, Rhode Island, Swift owns a massive estate worth up to $6.65 million and measuring up to $12,000 square feet. She also has a $30 million mansion and another home which she put out for $2.85 million in 2018 in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles. Taylor Swift as well owns a massive property consisting of a four-story townhouse and a huge duplex penthouse in Tribeca, New York. Both are reportedly worth up to $40 million.
In addition, the 1989 singer has numerous longstanding contracts with big brands such as Keds, Coca Cola, CoverGirl, At&T, Target, and Apple. Swift has been the brand ambassador Diet Coke since 2013, a tremendously rewarding job to which she is highly committed. She also reportedly holds a $200 million contract with Universal.
How Does Taylor Swift Spend Her Net Worth of $360 Million?
As earlier mentioned, Taylor Swift’s net worth of $360 million offers her nothing less than prodigious affluence. Let’s have a detailed look at the things she spends her fortunes on.
Travels and Vacations
One area Taylor Swift splurges millions is in travels. To ease her schedules, the famous musician who is always on the move reportedly makes use of two customized Dassault jets, both of which privately belong to her. Although the media has not yet laid hands on the exact costs of the jets, their model suggests they could both worth over a hundred million.
On the side of vacationing, Swift is always swift to jet out of the US in search of relaxation, luxury, and comfort. Among her many luxurious destinations is a luxury resort on the Turks ad Caicos Island. When she is around New York, Taylor also spends thousands of dollars eating out with friends and pals at various prestigious restaurants such as L’Asso, The Fat Radish, Sarabeth’s, and The Spotted Pig.
Meanwhile, Taylor is not at all selfish in her holiday spendings. Vanity Fair revealed that the singer spoiled her 125-member band/crew with a vacation in Australia to enable them to wind down after their 1989 World Tour in 2015.
Clothing, Jewelry and Accessories
Of course, we cannot skip what Taylor Swift puts on while talking about how she spends her fortune. Taking a good chunk of Swift’s earnings is the money she spends on clothing, shoes, jewelry, hair, and other adornments. Taylor obviously loves high-end couture; and she patronizes famous brands like Saint Laurent, Christian Louboutin, Elie Saab, Steve Madden, and so on.
Insurance and Maintenance
A celebrity of Swift’s caliber is sure to plunge fortunes annually into insurance and maintenance of both herself and her numerous assets. She must also be spending a whole lot on employee salary, from personal drivers to other service staff.
Without being told, we know that Taylor also spends thousands of dollars in maintaining her good looks, from hair to toe. But have you heard that she insured the famous gems she has in form of legs for a whopping $40 million? A 2015 New York Post report said so!
Philanthropy
Aside from material things, Taylor Swift has shown her generosity in more significant causes as charity. Back in 2011, Swift raised $750,000 to relief the southern US tornadoes victims. She would later support Nashville Symphony with $100,000 in 2013. That was on her 24th birthday. Following the Louisiana floods of 2016, Taylor brought in a million dollars to help victims of the disaster. She had also sent in half a million for the relief of victims in the case of the Nashville floods in 2010.
The music star also established the Taylor Swift Education Center through which she tremendously supports education causes. In 2015, she donated $50,000 to public schools in New York City. All these do not include donations Swift has so far made to numerous charities, individuals, fans, and friends going through diverse difficulties. Just a few among them is her $10,000 support towards the provision of a service dog to assist a boy living with autism, and a $50,000 donation to help pay up the medical bills of one of her back up dancers’ nephew who was fighting cancer.