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Beyoncé Becomes Fifth Musician Billionaire

Is Beyoncé's billionaire status proof of hypocritical exploitation, or a blueprint for artistic financial independence?
Beyoncé Becomes Fifth Musician Billionaire
Above: Beyoncé at Paris Fashion Week on June 24, 2025. Image credit: Edward Berthelot/Getty Images

The Spin

Narrative A

Beyoncé earned billionaire status through a groundbreaking business strategy and artistic excellence, self-managing via Parkwood Entertainment and grossing record-breaking tours like Cowboy Carter. Her success proves women can build empires without sharing profits with management companies, creating a blueprint for financial independence in the music industry.

Narrative B

Beyoncé's billionaire status exposes the hypocrisy of wealthy celebrities claiming victimhood while exploiting workers through sweatshops, stealing from artists and betraying causes for profit. These so-called revolutionaries cosplay activism while hoarding wealth, proving capitalism and ethics don't mix, no matter how much they quote MLK.

Cynical narrative

Forbes finally "confirms" Beyoncé’s billionaire status in 2025 — seven years after her father said she and Mark Cuban had already been certified in 2018 — proving the media loves to dress up old facts as breaking news. Wealth settled for years gets spun as a sudden triumph, while spectacle overshadows reality.

Metaculus Prediction


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© 2026 Improve the News Foundation. All rights reserved.Version 6.18.0

© 2026 Improve the News Foundation.

All rights reserved.

Version 6.18.0