Paul McCartney now third-richest musician with $1.4bn

Paul McCartney, who was in The Beatles, is now a billionaire. His net worth is about $1.4 billion, making him the third-richest musician in the world, according to Forbes.

The 84-year-old British singer is behind American rapper Jay-Z, who has a fortune of $2 billion, as per the report.

Forbes shared this news in a report released on Monday. McCartney's wealth comes from years of songwriting, music publishing, royalties, touring, and property investments.

A big part of his money comes from MPL Communications. He started this music publishing company in 1969, just before The Beatles split up.

With MPL, McCartney got the publishing rights to thousands of songs. This includes hits from early rock-and-roll star Buddy Holly and various Broadway musicals.

His catalog also has popular Christmas songs like "It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas," "Blue Christmas," and "Baby, It’s Cold Outside."

Forbes says that MPL is worth at least $250 million and brings in tens of millions of dollars every year from music royalties.

McCartney also makes money from The Beatles’ music catalog through Apple Corps, the company the group started. Forbes estimates this brings in over $50 million each year from streaming, vinyl sales, and merchandise.

McCartney, along with drummer Ringo Starr and the estates of John Lennon and George Harrison, each takes a 25 percent share of the company’s profits, according to Forbes.

His share of the songwriting rights for The Beatles’ songs in the United States is also estimated to be worth at least $10 million each year.

McCartney’s wealth also includes income from years of international tours and properties in the UK and the Hamptons in the US. He has an art collection that features works by Pablo Picasso and René Magritte.

His financial success is even more impressive considering The Beatles earned less than one cent for each album sold under their first record deal. At that time, music publisher Dick James owned the rights to their songs.

To have more control over his music and future earnings, McCartney later set up his own publishing company.

In a 2017 essay for Forbes, he called their early recording contract "basically a slave contract." He said they never got a pay rise despite the huge success they brought to the company.