Paul McCartney becomes a billionaire, Forbes estimates his net worth at $1.4bn

A new billionaire on the list

Forbes has put Paul McCartney's net worth at a minimum of $1.4bn, which places the 84-year-old former Beatle third among the world's richest musicians. The estimate was published in the newsletter 'The Billie', and reports on it appeared on 9 November. Jay-Z leads the ranking at $2.8bn, ahead of Taylor Swift at $2bn. McCartney did not comment on the estimate, according to the Independent and stern.

Jay-Z2.8

Taylor Swift2

Paul McCartney1.4

Jay-Z

2.8 $bn

Taylor Swift

2 $bn

Paul McCartney

1.4 $bn

Data from the article text

Where the money comes from

Most of the fortune comes from MPL Communications, a publishing company McCartney founded in 1969, a few months before the Beatles split. The firm manages his own songs as well as the catalogues of other artists. Forbes says the catalogues he acquired, including those of Buddy Holly, Broadway musical scores and Christmas standards, add nearly a quarter of a billion dollars to his wealth. Royalties keep flowing as well: a school staging Grease or a stream of 'Blue Suede Shoes' both generate payments to him, according to Forbes.

Beatles income and songwriting rights

As a former Beatle, McCartney receives 25% of the earnings of Apple Corps, the band's holding company, which brings in around $50m a year from streaming, vinyl and merchandise. Forbes estimates that this income stream is worth more than $150m for each member or their heirs. Separately, McCartney earns about $10m a year from his share of the copyrights to Beatles songs. He spent two decades fighting for those rights in courts in the United States and the United Kingdom, and the magazine values that stake at no less than $200m.

An early deal shaped the fortune

The Beatles earned comparatively little even at the height of Beatlemania, according to stern, under a record deal that paid less than a penny per album sold, while the song rights sat with the publisher Dick James. In a 2017 guest column for Forbes, McCartney described that arrangement as basically a slave contract. He then set up MPL in 1969, a few months before the band broke up, and it became the foundation of the fortune Forbes now estimates.

Tours, property and recent work

The estimate also counts his concert income, most recently the Got Back tour, which played 79 shows between 2022 and 2025. Forbes includes property around the world and an art collection with works by Magritte and Picasso. McCartney remains active as a musician, and his 20th solo album, The Boys of Dungeon Lane, was released in May 2026. He also appeared as musical guest on the season finale of Saturday Night Live that month, and in July he performed I Want to Hold Your Hand at Taylor Swift's wedding to Travis Kelce at Madison Square Garden. The documentary Man on the Run, directed by Morgan Neville, covers his life after the Beatles and the founding of Wings.