Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Beyoncé land on Forbes' 100 World’s Most Powerful Women list
Besides dominating music charts and trending lists the whole year, American pop stars Rihanna, Taylor Swift, and Beyoncé make history by being one of the Forbes' 100 most powerful women worldwide.
On Dec. 6, Forbes revealed its annual list of the World’s 100 Most Powerful Women, anchored on its four main metrics: money, media, impact, and spheres of influence. For political leaders, they are based on gross domestic products and populations while for corporate leaders, they are based on revenues and employee counts, plus looking at the media mentions and reach of all. Garnering a collection of women who “are fighting the status quo.”
Top of the list is Ursula von der Leyen, who was appointed president of the European Commission in July 2019. The female leader ranked first for being the first woman to serve in the role responsible for legislation that affects 450 million Europeans.
In the media & entertainment category, Rihanna bagged the top most rank placing no. 73. She is also among the 2022 America’s Richest Self-Made Women, ranking no. 21, and made it as well on the 30 under 30 Hall of Fame. Currently, the singer-actress and businesswoman has a $1.4 billion net worth mostly with her cosmetic line Fenty Beauty.
In October 2022, Rihanna made a long-waited comeback to music with the new song Lift Me Up for the official soundtrack of the Marvel film, Black Panther.
Meanwhile, Taylor Swift placed 79th on the list. This is in addition to being named one of the 2022 America’s Self-Made Women, ranking #48. One of her notable achievements this year is becoming the first artist to dominate the top ten spots in the Billboard Hot 100 song list after the release of her Midnights album in October.
Recently, Taylor won big in the 2022 People’s Choice Award, with three trophies for Female Artist of 2022, Music Video of 2022 for Anti-Hero, and Album of 2022 for Midnights.
Following Taylor, Beyoncé placed no. 80. She is also among the 2022 America’s Self-Made Women ranking #61. The site cited her On The Run II stadium tour with husband Jay-Z, which grossed roughly $5 million per night or a total of more than $250 million throughout the show, in addition to her live album and a Netflix special release Homecoming April 2019.
She was also the top winner in the Soul Train Awards in November 2022, with Album of the Year for Rennaisance, Song of the Year with Break My Soul, and Best Collaboration for Make Me Say It Again , Girl featuring Ronald Isley & The Isley Brothers.
Check out the rest of Forbes' 2022 World’s 100 Most Powerful Women list here.