Sir Paul McCartney becomes billionaire and 'third richest musician in the world'
The Beatles legend Sir Paul McCartney reportedly has a net worth of over a billion dollars.
Sir Paul McCartney has reportedly become a billionaire.
The 84-year-old Beatles legend is said to have become the third-richest musician in the world, behind only Taylor Swift and Jay-Z.
According to Forbes, McCartney has a net worth of at least $1.4 billion, with Swift just ahead at $2 billion, and Jay-Z topping the rich list at $2.8 billion.
The Hey Jude hitmaker's continued rise in wealth has been credited in part to his MPL Communications publishing company.
Established in 1969, before the Fab Four split and went their separate ways, the company is said to be worth at least a quarter of a billion dollars.
Although McCartney has declined to comment on the outlet's estimates, it's said he likely pulls in tens of millions of dollars every year in revenue.
As well as classic songs like Blue Suede Shoes and festive hits like It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas, he also owns musical scores, meaning he gets royalties whenever high school productions of shows like Grease are performed.
Adding to the royalty cheques, his net worth is further bolstered by his lucrative music catalogues, hundreds of millions in earnings from world tours, real estate in the UK, and an art collection including items by Pablo Picasso.
Sir Paul previously insisted he considers himself a “playaholic”, because he never thinks of his music career as work.
He told Zane Lowe in an interview for Apple Music: "People say, ‘Oh you’re a workaholic’ and I say, ‘We don’t work music, we play it, so I’m a playaholic!
“I hate it when making music starts to feel like work.”
The music icon has given his thoughts on the kind of music that’s being released these days.
He told Amy Poehler on her Good Hang podcast: “Billie Eilish is cool, but I don’t think I’d want to have written her songs. A lot of songs these days are breakup songs, and I’m married!
“Back in the day, I used to wish I’d written Billy Joel’s Just the Way You Are. I always thought that was the kind of song I felt I could have written.
“Nowadays, some of [the popular songs] are very banal…”
As for what he likes to listen to these days, Sir Paul has become more of a fan of The Beatles as time has gone on.
He laughed: “I’m a fan. The more we go on, I’m a bigger fan. I’m a Beatles fan. I’ll hear something we did and I’ll remember writing it with John, and think, ‘Wow, I was really lucky to sit down and write with someone and he happens to be John Lennon.’ And I think the same for him with me.
“I’ve become more a fan the more I think about them.”
