LONDON (AP) — Paul McCartney is a billionaire Beatle.
The former Fab Four member has become the first British musician to be worth 1 billion pounds ($1.27 billion), according to figures released on Friday.
The annual Sunday Times rich list lists McCartney’s 2023 Got Back tour, the rising value of his back catalogue, and the 81-year-old musician and his wife Nancy Shevell’s wealth has increased by £50m since last year. It is calculated that Beyoncé covered the Beatles’ “Blackbird” on her album “Cowboy Carter.”
The Beatles’ “last” song, “Now and Then,” was also released in November and topped music charts in the United States, United Kingdom, and other countries. McCartney and Ringo Starr, the surviving Beatles, took a demo track recorded by the late John Lennon in 1977 and added guitar by George Harrison, who passed away in 2001, to complete it.
The newspaper estimates that £50 million of the couple’s fortune is owned by Chevell, the daughter of the late US trucking magnate Mike Chevell.
McCartney was ranked 165th overall on the newspaper’s respected and widely read list of Britain’s 350 richest people. His top spot was taken by Gopi Hinduja and his family, who own the Hinduja Group, a banking, media and entertainment conglomerate with an estimated fortune of 37 billion pounds.
Others on the list include Harry Potter author JK Rowling, who is estimated to be worth £945m, and singer Elton John, who is estimated to be worth £470m.
Charles III was ranked 258th with an estimated wealth of £610m. The King’s estate includes large inherited private estates at Sandringham in England and Balmoral in Scotland. This total does not include items held by the monarch on behalf of the state, such as the crown jewels.
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