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Bruce Springsteen is setting the record straight on his alleged billionaire status. According to the 75-year-old music icon, his net worth isn’t as large as Forbes previously reported.
In July, the business magazine “conservatively” estimated Springsteen’s net worth to be $1.1bn. However, the “Dancing in the Dark” artist has now claimed he’s not a billionaire.
“I’m not a billionaire. I wish I was, but they got that real wrong,” he said in an October 25 interview with The Telegraph.
“I’ve spent too much money on superfluous things,” Springsteen continued, noting how his spending habits have noticeably impacted his net worth.
Springsteen said he believes in taking advantage of “good fortune,” especially after spending time sleeping on tour buses and hardwood floors for so long.
Springsteen also said he pays “a tremendous amount of money” to his band, who he credits generously with his success.
“If you get the art right, the music right, and the band right, you go out and play every night like it’s your last night on Earth. That was the serial philosophy of the band, and we’re sticking to it,” said Springsteen.
Springsteen sold his entire music catalog, master recordings, and publishing rights to Sony in 2021 for an estimated $550m. Two years later, Springsteen and The E Street Band’s tour reportedly grossed more than $142.6m from 28 shows. Forbes claims Springsteen’s “annual earnings” have “easily” passed $80m when he’s been on tour.
Last September, he was forced to cancel and postpone all the remaining dates on his 2023 tour as he recovered from a peptic ulcer. He’s since resumed performing and is currently touring internationally.
Still, Springsteen’s earnings haven’t come close to Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. After 152 shows, the “Fifteen” singer’s concert series amassed $1.1bn in 2023, becoming the highest-grossing tour of all time, according to Time.
As of April 2024, Swift was officially on Forbes’ billionaire list, further solidifying her standing as the world’s richest female musician. The pop icon’s net worth was massively boosted by her lengthy concert series and the total value of her music catalog.
Meanwhile, Jay-Z is the richest male musician with a net worth of $2.5bn, but George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Michael Jordan, and Oprah Winfrey are all listed ahead of him on Forbes’ 2024 celebrity billionaire list with net worths of $5.5bn, $4.8bn, $3.2bn, and $2.8bn, respectively.
