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.
Company profile
Name: Dukkantek
Started: January 2021
Founders: Sanad Yaghi, Ali Al Sayegh and Shadi Joulani
Based: UAE
Number of employees: 140
Sector: B2B Vertical SaaS(software as a service)
Investment: $5.2 million
Funding stage: Seed round
Investors: Global Founders Capital, Colle Capital Partners, Wamda Capital, Plug and Play, Comma Capital, Nowais Capital, Annex Investments and AMK Investment Office
Christopher Robin
Starring: Ewan McGregor, Haley Atwell, Jim Cummings, Peter Capaldi
Three stars
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
Manchester United v Club America
When: Thursday, 9pm Arizona time (Friday UAE, 8am)
Red flags
Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
Expert input
If you had all the money in the world, what’s the one sneaker you would buy or create?
“There are a few shoes that have ‘grail’ status for me. But the one I have always wanted is the Nike x Patta x Parra Air Max 1 - Cherrywood. To get a pair in my size brand new is would cost me between Dh8,000 and Dh 10,000.” Jack Brett
“If I had all the money, I would approach Nike and ask them to do my own Air Force 1, that’s one of my dreams.” Yaseen Benchouche
“There’s nothing out there yet that I’d pay an insane amount for, but I’d love to create my own shoe with Tinker Hatfield and Jordan.” Joshua Cox
“I think I’d buy a defunct footwear brand; I’d like the challenge of reinterpreting a brand’s history and changing options.” Kris Balerite
“I’d stir up a creative collaboration with designers Martin Margiela of the mixed patchwork sneakers, and Yohji Yamamoto.” Hussain Moloobhoy
“If I had all the money in the world, I’d live somewhere where I’d never have to wear shoes again.” Raj Malhotra
Company Profile
Name: Thndr Started: 2019 Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr Sector: FinTech Headquarters: Egypt UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi Current number of staff: More than 150 Funds raised: $22 million
The specs
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Power: 640hp
Torque: 760nm
On sale: 2026
Price: Not announced yet
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
Infiniti QX80 specs
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
Power: 450hp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000
Available: Now
Pakistan World Cup squad
Sarfraz Ahmed (c), Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Abid Ali, Babar Azam, Haris Sohail, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Hafeez(subject to fitness), Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Junaid Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain
Two additions for England ODIs: Mohammad Amir and Asif Ali
Born November 11, 1948 Education: BA, English Language and Literature, Cairo University Family: Four brothers, seven sisters, two daughters, 42 and 39, two sons, 43 and 35, and 15 grandchildren Hobbies: Reading and traveling
