Rihanna Vs Kim:The Battle of the Billionaires

Spoiler. Rihanna wins. At least if age is the deciding factor. In the United States of America, according to the Forbes Self-Made Women list, there are currently 24 female billionaires. There may be a few more lurking around, but to make this list, you need to have put in the time and effort yourself to make that kind of bank. Inheriting it from your ancestors just won't cut it. It’s a hard world out there today for a young woman trying to make it onto that list and competition is fiercer than ever. Between company executives, entrepreneurs and entertainers it has got to be hell trying to make the cut, but there are always a few determined souls, the 1% of the 1% willing to go the distance and take that prize. Luckily for us, it's not all crusty execs and patronizing startup gurus who have reached this level of success. Rihanna's story is one to inspire not only women to greater heights of achievement but anyone who has ever felt they had the odds stacked against them from day one.

The Forbes List

The average age for these high-powered women is 69. No immature jokes, please. That is the combined 1651 years between them divided by their number (1651/24 = 68.79) and rounded up. Kim K. clocks in at 41, making her an outlier and something of a whippersnapper compared to her female billionaire peers. Rihanna meanwhile, is a mere 34 years of age at the time of writing, making even Kim seem like something of an older sister and most of the rest of the list quite literally old enough to be her grandmother. If you look at the industries where all of this money was made, they are mostly banal if crucial to the functioning of society. They are the kind of endeavors you are happy to read about while picking stocks but prefer to ignore otherwise.

The Umbrella hitmaker, however, belongs to a tiny elite crew of entertainers that consists of Oprah (TV shows), Kim K (Reality TV, and beauty products), and that's it. These three stand alone among the titans of industry.Rihanna is not only the youngest female US billionaire but she is also the only one who can belt out a tune to thousands of fans in a football stadium. Put it this way, if you were trapped on a desert island and you could pick one and only one billionaire to be your island companion, who would you pick?

What About Beyoncé?

Queen Bey is a heavyweight when it comes to raking in the bucks from her various enterprises and is undoubtedly a business and entertainment genius. To date, however, she struggles at the half billion mark and the years are catching up on her. It has taken the Queen 40 years to amass that fortune, but in the last 4 years alone, Kim, Kylie, and Rihanna have all passed her by. Hard times for the If I Were A Boy hitmaker indeed but we know you are all rooting for her to convincingly pass the halfway mark and make it to the finish line soon.

How Did She Do It?

This is the billion-dollar question. We all know that she has one of the greatest set of pipes on earth, looks amazing all day long every day, and exudes confidence, creativity, and beauty. But why is she the only beautiful, talented singer on that list? Simple. Behind the seductive smile and entrancing voice is a business brain the size of a small island. This playmaker doesn't just sing for the crowds, she also runs a beauty empire. The biggest brand in her portfolio is Fenty Beauty which earned her a staggering $550 million in 2020 alone. Riri also owns a 30% share in Savage x Fenty intimate apparel. This brand alone was valued at $1 billion in 2021 taking everyone’s favorite island girl, to almost $1 billion on these two ventures alone. And this is without counting a single penny of her music industry money which is already a monstrous amount.

First Billionaire of Barbados

Not only is she the youngest American female billionaire, Riri is also her home country's only billionaire. Loved by millions around the world, she has almost divine status in her homeland and deservingly so. Rihanna was no spoiled heiress given every opportunity in life to succeed. Her background is 100% ordinary. She sold clothing on a street stall with her dad, experienced trauma from her father's alcohol and drug addiction, and left school early to take her chances on a career in music. Her big break came in 2003 when she went out on a limb to audition with two of her classmates to American record producer Evan Rogers who was visiting Barbados. They had no material of their own but when Evan heard Rihanna sing Destiny’s Child’s Emotion and Mariah Carey’s Hero, he knew he had a star in the making.

The rest, as they say, is history. Rihanna has put in the work and made all the right decisions to be where she is today. As much as you might love watching Kim and her eccentric LA family, let's all take a moment to appreciate what an epic journey our favorite Barbadian songstress has taken us all on. Here’s to this inspiring young woman’s continued success and good fortune. We declare Riri to be the winner in this episode of Battle of the Billionaires.