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.
Delhi Dragons: Ronaldinho
Bengaluru Royals: Paul Scholes
Mumbai Warriors: Ryan Giggs
Chennai Ginghams: Hernan Crespo
Telugu Tigers: Deco
Kerala Cobras: Michel Salgado
Tickets start at Dh100 for adults, while children can enter free on the opening day. For more information, visit www.mubadalawtc.com.
The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
Going grey? A stylist's advice
If you’re going to go grey, a great style, well-cared for hair (in a sleek, classy style, like a bob), and a young spirit and attitude go a long way, says Maria Dowling, founder of the Maria Dowling Salon in Dubai.
It’s easier to go grey from a lighter colour, so you may want to do that first. And this is the time to try a shorter style, she advises. Then a stylist can introduce highlights, start lightening up the roots, and let it fade out. Once it’s entirely grey, a purple shampoo will prevent yellowing.
“Get professional help – there’s no other way to go around it,” she says. “And don’t just let it grow out because that looks really bad. Put effort into it: properly condition, straighten, get regular trims, make sure it’s glossy.”
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
Key facilities
Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
Premier League-standard football pitch
400m Olympic running track
NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
600-seat auditorium
Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
Specialist robotics and science laboratories
AR and VR-enabled learning centres
Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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.”
Zakat: an Arabic word meaning ‘to cleanse’ or ‘purification’.
Nisab: the minimum amount that a Muslim must have before being obliged to pay zakat. Traditionally, the nisab threshold was 87.48 grams of gold, or 612.36 grams of silver. The monetary value of the nisab therefore varies by current prices and currencies.
Zakat Al Mal: the ‘cleansing’ of wealth, as one of the five pillars of Islam; a spiritual duty for all Muslims meeting the ‘nisab’ wealth criteria in a lunar year, to pay 2.5 per cent of their wealth in alms to the deserving and needy.
Zakat Al Fitr: a donation to charity given during Ramadan, before Eid Al Fitr, in the form of food. Every adult Muslim who possesses food in excess of the needs of themselves and their family must pay two qadahs (an old measure just over 2 kilograms) of flour, wheat, barley or rice from each person in a household, as a minimum.
Booklava works on a subscription model. On signing up you receive a free book as part of a 30-day-trial period, after which you pay US$9.99 (Dh36.70) per month to gain access to a library of books and discounts of up to 30 per cent on selected titles. You can cancel your subscription at any time. For more details go to www.booklava.com
THE BIO
Ms Davison came to Dubai from Kerala after her marriage in 1996 when she was 21-years-old
Since 2001, Ms Davison has worked at many affordable schools such as Our Own English High School in Sharjah, and The Apple International School and Amled School in Dubai
Favourite Book: The Alchemist
Favourite quote: Failing to prepare is preparing to fail
Favourite place to Travel to: Vienna
Favourite cuisine: Italian food
Favourite Movie : Scent of a Woman
Tax authority targets shisha levy evasion
The Federal Tax Authority will track shisha imports with electronic markers to protect customers and ensure levies have been paid.
Khalid Ali Al Bustani, director of the tax authority, on Sunday said the move is to "prevent tax evasion and support the authority’s tax collection efforts".
The scheme’s first phase, which came into effect on 1st January, 2019, covers all types of imported and domestically produced and distributed cigarettes. As of May 1, importing any type of cigarettes without the digital marks will be prohibited.
He said the latest phase will see imported and locally produced shisha tobacco tracked by the final quarter of this year.
"The FTA also maintains ongoing communication with concerned companies, to help them adapt their systems to meet our requirements and coordinate between all parties involved," he said.
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Essentials
The flights Emirates and Etihad fly direct from the UAE to Los Angeles, from Dh4,975 return, including taxes. The flight time is 16 hours. Alaska Airlines, United Airlines,Delta Air Lines, Aeromexico and Southwest all fly direct from Los Angeles to San Jose del Cabo from Dh1,243 return, including taxes. The flight time is two-and-a-half hours.
The trip Lindblad Expeditions National Geographic’s eight-day Whales Wilderness itinerary costs from US$6,190 (Dh22,736) per person, twin share, including meals, accommodation and excursions, with departures in March and April 2018.
Title: Assistant dean of students and director of athletics
Favourite sport: soccer
Favourite team: Bayern Munich
Favourite player: Franz Beckenbauer
Favourite activity in Abu Dhabi: scuba diving in the Northern Emirates
What is the FNC?
The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning.
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval.
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
