Rihanna joins Forbes billionaire list for first time

The pop star is also the first billionaire in Barbados

Rihanna is expecting her first child with A$AP Rocky (Getty Images for Gucci)

Rihanna has been named on the annual Forbes billionaires list for the first time thanks to the huge success of her makeup line, Fenty Beauty.

The Umbrella singer entered the rankings alongside other newcomers including Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson and Melinda Gates, ex-wife of Bill Gates.

Rihanna, 34, was valued by Forbes at $1.7bn (£1.3bn).

She co-owns Fenty Beauty with French luxury retailer LMVH, and the company generated more than $550m in revenue in 2020.

The pop star also owns a 30 per cent stake in the Savage X Fenty lingerie line, which raised a $1bn valuation in February 2021.

Fenty Beauty’s popularity made Rihanna the first billionaire in Barbados in August 2021, after which she was named the country’s 11th “National Hero” on the same day it became a republic.

Forbes ranked Rihanna at 1,729 on the list of international billionaires, which was released on Tuesday.

Fans reacted with delight to the news, with many praising Rihanna’s success.

“It’s so dope to see Rihanna, a young black single woman from a small island who transitioned from entertaining to business, become a billionaire. Her journey may be the most inspiring in recent memory,” one person wrote.

Another said: “Not Rihanna competing on Forbes billionaire hot 100. Billboard is SO 2010.”

A third added fire emojis to their tweet and wrote: “Rihanna is a billionaire? With a b? Damn!”

The pop star is currently expecting her first child with rapper A$AP Rocky, who she has been dating since 2020.

According to Forbes, this year’s list saw 87 fewer billionaires compared to 2021. The 2,668 people on this year’s list are worth a collective $12.7 trillion, $400bn less than last year.

Topping the list for the first time is Tesla founder Elon Musk. Rihanna was one of 236 newcomers on the list, which included the first ever billionaires from Bulgaria, Estonia and Uruguay.