Forbes released its Iconoclast 50 list on Wednesday, honouring leaders in tech, politics and the media, among other things. Donald Trump is on it, so are South Park’s Trey Parker and Matt Stone. There are a number of tech CEOs — Elon Musk, Sundar Pichai, Jensen Huang and Sam Altman. Beyonce, Bad Bunny, Taylor Swift and the Weeknd also have a place on the list. But there’s a detail in the fine print below Swift’s name that someone could easily miss at first glance. In the piece, Forbes confirms that the country singer is the wealthiest female musician of all time with a total net worth of $2 billion.

But there’s a detail in the fine print below Swift’s name that someone could easily miss at first glance. In the piece, Forbes confirms that the country singer is the wealthiest female musician of all time with a total net worth of $2 billion.

The list recognised Swift for her influence on the music industry as “one of the most commercially successful songwriters of all time”. It said she “leveraged her star power to re-record most of her discography” in 2020, taking back the royalties to her music and inspiring other artists to do the same.

“In 2024, Swift reached billionaire status thanks to The Eras Tour, which became the highest-grossing concert tour in history with revenue of $2.2bn,” Forbes noted. It added that she used around $360 million of the funds to buy back the rights to all her master recordings last year.

“By March 2026, her net worth doubled to $2bn, making her the richest female musician in history,” the list said.

According to her profile on Forbes, “Her fortune includes nearly $800m amassed from royalties and touring, plus a music catalogue worth an estimated $600m and some $110m in real estate.”

The star continues to set records, recently becoming the most streamed artist of all time on Spotify, which had released its top 20 ranking earlier this year for its 20th anniversary.