Robyn Rihanna Fenty has officially reached billionaire status.
The Barbados-born singer, actress, and entrepreneur is now worth $1.7 billion, Forbes reported this week, making her the richest female musician in the world and the wealthiest female entertainer besides Oprah Winfrey.
Though she's been making hit records since she was 17, most of Rihanna's fortune stems from her business ventures — namely, her makeup and skincare brand, Fenty Beauty, and her lingerie line, Savage X Fenty.
Here's how Rihanna went from one of the world's biggest pop stars to a fashion and beauty mogul in her own right — and, now, a billionaire.
Rihanna grew up around music, but her first big break came in 2003 when she met record producer Evan Rogers while he was on vacation in Barbados. Over the subsequent year, Rogers helped her record a few demos, which were sent off to record labels.
Source: Forbes,The Guardian
She was invited to audition for Def Jam, where she impressed rapper Jay Z — then the label's president — and record executive L.A. Reid. She was signed to the label in 2005 and her first single, "Pon de Replay," became a worldwide hit, reaching No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Source: Billboard,Billboard
She released her first album, "Music of the Sun," in 2005. Since then, she's released seven more albums — most recently, "Anti," which came out in 2016.
Source: Rolling Stone
She's now sold over 60 million albums and won eight Grammy Awards, and has earned millions from her music: In 2016, following the release of "Anti," she took home $2.5 million from music sales and $7.6 million from streaming, according to Billboard.
Source: Roc Nation,Billboard, Insider
Rihanna has also grossed millions from touring. Her 2013 Diamonds World Tour earned her more than $140 million, and ahead of her 2016 Anti World Tour, she signed a $25 million sponsorship deal with Samsung.
Source: Insider
Rihanna's first foray into business came in 2011 when she released her first fragrance, Reb'l Fleur — the scent reportedly garnered $80 million in sales in its first year. She quickly followed up with another scent, Rebelle, and has subsequently released nearly a dozen fragrances in total with another on the way via her beauty brand, Fenty.
Source: The New York Times, The Cut, Rolling Stone
Over the years, she's inked deals with fashion companies like Puma — where she's served as creative director — River Island, Armani, Dior, CoverGirl, and MAC.
In 2015, Rihanna took a stake in music streaming service Tidal. Six years later, Jack Dorsey's Square acquired the company for $297 million, reportedly netting Rihanna and the other artists involved nearly $9 million apiece, according to Variety.
But Rihanna's ascendance to mogul status kicked into high gear in 2017, when she launched Fenty Beauty. The brand's goal from the get-go has been to promote inclusivity in the beauty industry by offering products made for a broad array of skin tones.
Fenty Beauty's immediate popularity sparked a trend in the beauty industry: After the brand introduced foundations and concealers in 40 different shades, other companies followed suit, a major shift for an industry that has often underserved women of color.
Source: Vogue
Rihanna launched Fenty Beauty in partnership with French luxury-goods giant LVMH, which owns half the company. Rihanna previously owned 15% of Fenty Beauty, but has since upped her stake to 50%, according to Forbes.
Source: Forbes
Just a year after launch, Fenty Beauty was bringing in over $550 million in annual revenue. These days, the line is worth at least $2.8 billion, Forbes estimates.
Shortly after launching her beauty empire, Rihanna introduced another venture: Savage X Fenty, a size- and skin-tone-inclusive lingerie line. The brand carries lingerie in sizes up to 3X and includes nude color options in a wide range of shades.
The company's annual fashion show, which is streamed on Amazon Prime Video, consistently includes a diverse cast of models with varying body types and gender expressions, a stark contrast to the Victoria's Secret fashion shows of yore.
Savage X Fenty's investors include Jay Z's Marcy Venture Partners and L. Catterton, a private equity firm that counts LVMH chief executive Bernard Arnault as an investor. Last February, the company raised $115 million in fresh funding at a $1 billion valuation.
Source: Forbes
The company may now be considering expanding in Europe and adding new lines like athleticwear, The New York Times reported last December.
Source: The New York Times
Rihanna's entrepreneurial ventures have had some hiccups along the way. In February 2020, Savage X Fenty was the subject of a complaint filed with the Federal Trade Commission for promoting discounts that are only available to customers who pay a $50 monthly membership fee. A spokesperson for the brand said at the time that the complaint was "based on misconceptions of our business."
Source: The New York Times
In 2019, LVMH announced that Rihanna would launch her own luxury fashion line known simply as "Fenty," making her the first woman to create her own brand at the renowned luxury house. But earlier this year, the brand decided to press pause on the ready-to-wear line "pending better conditions."
Source: The New York Times
The decision came after the pandemic forced Rihanna to stay in Los Angeles rather than fly to Europe to oversee the collection, and amid a wider slow-down in the luxury fashion industry during the pandemic. The line had also struggled to find its footing from the start, with The New York Times describing it as too expensive and "more derivative than groundbreaking."
Source: WWD, The New York Times
Still, those rare missteps seem not to have dented Rihanna's fortune. At just 33, she's amassed a beauty and fashion empire and built a net worth of $1.7 billion.
Source: Forbes