Taylor Swift performs at her Eras Tour concert in Buenos Aires. The singer has been ranked as the most streamed artist on Spotify's 2023 Wrapped list. AP
Taylor Swift performs at her Eras Tour concert in Buenos Aires. The singer has been ranked as the most streamed artist on Spotify's 2023 Wrapped list. AP
Taylor Swift performs at her Eras Tour concert in Buenos Aires. The singer has been ranked as the most streamed artist on Spotify's 2023 Wrapped list. AP
Celebrity Net Worth: Taylor Swift earns $131m from Spotify in 2023
In our fortnightly celebrity investment and wealth round-up, Max Verstappen becomes this year's highest paid F1 driver and Beyonce's concert movie takes $21 million at the US box office
Factor in publishing revenue and the billionaire singer's Spotify takings will total $131 million by the end of this month.
Swift’s music has had more than 26.1 billion global streams as of November 30 this year. With December’s figures, that number is expected to rise to 27.2 billion, Billboard calculated.
With streaming revenue from other platforms, including Apple Music, Amazon Music and YouTube, that total could cross $160 million, while publishing revenue could see it hit the $200 million mark.
Swift, 33, is one of the world’s richest self-made women with a net worth of $1.1 billion, according to Bloomberg.
She entered the exclusive $1 billion club on the back of her 146-date Eras concert tour, which has shattered several records and sparked ticket frenzies. The Super Bowl-sized event is expected to be the highest-grossing tour of all time when it closes next year.
Taylor Swift's Eras tour – in pictures
Taylor Swift performs on stage at Lumen Field on July 22 in Seattle, Washington. Getty Images
Swift performs at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California, on July 28. Getty Images
Swift makes a heart gesture with her hands during night one of her six-night residency at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. Getty Images
Swift performs with the band HAIM in Los Angeles. Getty Images
Swift performs on stage for the opening night of The Eras Tour at State Farm Stadium on March 17 in Glendale, Arizona. AFP
The city of Glendale was ceremonially renamed Swift City for March 17-18 in honour of The Eras Tour. AFP
Swift takes the stage at SoFi Stadium on August 3. Getty Images
Swift has put together sprawling set lists of more than 40 songs during her Eras Tour. AFP
Swift performs at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on March 31. AFP
Swift's tour is scheduled to run until November 2024. AFP
By then, the US leg of the tour alone could add $5.7 billion to the country’s economy, according to software company Question Pro. Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia officials acknowledged as much in May, stating the tour had boosted tourism in the region.
The 12-time Grammy winner could earn as much as $4.1 billion from the tour, estimates based on her share of 85 per cent, The Washington Post reported.
Swift’s per-show take-home ranges between $10 million and $13 million, according to Forbes magazine estimates.
Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour movie has also taken $250 million in global ticket sales since it opened in October. The movie, the highest-grossing concert film in US history, cost $15 million to make.
She has more than 182 million in equivalent album sales. That includes digital and physical album sales, according to music industry database ChartMasters.org. The total makes her the biggest-selling artist under the age of 50.
Swift looks to real estate as a way of preserving her wealth. With eight homes, her property portfolio is worth upwards of $150 million, according to TheWall Street Journal.
She has four homes in New York City, including apartments in the West Village and Tribeca, a beach house in Rhode Island, a seven-bedroom home in Hyannisport, Massachusetts, properties in Nashville, Tennessee, and an estate in Beverly Hills.
Swift also owns two Dassault private jets and has a notable car collection.
Dutch Formula One driver Max Verstappen is the sport's highest paid racer in 2023. EPA
Max Verstappen
Dutchman Max Verstappen has become the highest-paid Formula One driver of 2023 after winning his third straight championship, according to a new list by Forbes magazine.
The Red Bull Racing driver has earned $70 million on the back of a record 19 race victories this year.
The figure includes his $45 million salary and bonuses estimated at $25 million.
In May, Forbes calculated his off-track earnings at $4 million for the preceding 12 months.
Verstappen, 26, has a net worth of €150 million ($161.4 million), the Netherlands’ Quote 500 rich list revealed last month. He had a net worth of €120 million in 2022.
As a Monaco resident, he pays no tax on his income. Verstappen rents the $15.6 million penthouse he lives in and has few public investments.
In August, he announced plans to enter a team into the 2025 GT3 championship.
The move expands the Verstappen name outside of Formula One, in line with his interest in both digital and real-world racing projects. Other ventures could include rallying and virtual racing, according to the Verstappen.com website.
Verstappen purchased a $16 million Falcon-900EX private jet from Richard Branson in 2020, according to wealth-tracking website Celebrity Net Worth.
He also has a considerable car collection, including several Aston Martins. Among them is a limited-production $2.7 million Valkyrie.
Beyonce's new movie collected $21 million in US box-office sales during the opening weekend. Getty Images
Beyonce
Singer, fashion designer and businesswoman Beyonce has revitalised the post-Thanksgiving US box-office with her concert movie taking $21 million in North American ticket sales over its opening weekend, according to estimates from AMC Theatres.
The film, Renaissance: A Film by Beyonce, was the first movie in 20 years to cross $20 million over the first weekend of December’s, AP reported.
Beyonce wrote, directed and produced the tour movie of her Grammy-winning album.
The 56-show tour spanned 39 cities this year, kicking off in Stockholm, Sweden, in May and closing in Kansas City, Missouri, in October.
With takings of $579.8 million, it attracted over 2.8 million fans, making it the year’s highest-grossing tour, according to Billboard Boxscore. The list does not feature Swift’s Eras tour, which closes in 2024.
Beyonce, 42, earned an estimated $145 million from the tour and has a total net worth of $540 million, Forbes reports.
Over the course of her nearly 30-year career, she has won a record 32 Grammy awards and sold more than 98 million albums in physical and digital sales, according to ChartMasters.org.
Outside music, she has a clothing line, Ivy Park, which ended its partnership with adidas in March. She launched a capsule couture collection with fashion house Balmain earlier this year.
In 2018, she signed a $60 million content deal with Netflix.
With her husband, rapper, producer and entrepreneur Jay-Z, she owns a large portfolio of real estate, including properties in New Orleans, the Hamptons and Bel Air in California, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
In May, the couple reportedly paid $200 million for a mansion in Malibu, the most expensive in California history.
Paris Hilton has invested in Berlin-based artificial intelligence travel start-up Layla. Reuters
She joined a €3 million seed funding round for Berlin-based artificial intelligence travel start-up Layla at the end of November.
The company uses a chatbot, also called Layla, to recommend new travel destinations and make bookings – either via the web or using social media.
Layla was set up by Jeremy Jauncey, founder of travel agency Beautiful Destinations, and Saad Saeed, who co-launched European grocery delivery service Flink.
Other investors include Brent Hoberman, co-founder of lastminute.com and Firstminute Capital, Andy Phillips of Booking.com, Skyscanner co-founder Barry Smith and venture capital firm M13.
The terms of Hilton’s participation have not been disclosed.
The Paris in Love star, 42, has a net worth of $300 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
Often described as a “multi-hyphenate”, she has built a career as a model, actor, reality TV star, DJ and influencer. She has launched fashion and perfume lines, which have generated more than $4 billion in sales.
Through her company 11:11 Media, Hilton is also involved in a wide range of creative and technology ventures, including businesses in the digital, audio, film, television, licensing and metaverse space.
Hilton's investment in Layla is the latest in a line of technology start-ups that have attracted her attention this year.
In September, 11:11 Media joined Andreessen Horowitz, also known as a16z, in a $54 million funding round in blockchain-based IP ownership network Story Protocol.
She has made at least 17 investments, according to investor information platform CB Insights, including cryptocurrency payments company MoonPay and video platform Shibuya.
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
Emirates have direct flights from Dubai to Glasgow from Dh3,115. Alternatively, if you want to see a bit of Edinburgh first, then you can fly there direct with Etihad from Abu Dhabi.
The hotel
Located in the heart of Mackintosh's Glasgow, the Dakota Deluxe is perhaps the most refined hotel anywhere in the city. Doubles from Dh850
Events and tours
There are various Mackintosh specific events throughout 2018 – for more details and to see a map of his surviving designs see glasgowmackintosh.com
For walking tours focussing on the Glasgow Style, see the website of the Glasgow School of Art.
The flights
There are various ways of getting to the southern Serengeti in Tanzania from the UAE. The exact route and airstrip depends on your overall trip itinerary and which camp you’re staying at. Flydubai flies direct from Dubai to Kilimanjaro International Airport from Dh1,350 return, including taxes; this can be followed by a short flight from Kilimanjaro to the Serengeti withCoastal Aviation from about US$700 (Dh2,500) return, including taxes. Kenya Airways, Emirates and Etihad offer flights via Nairobi or Dar es Salaam.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
