Since Janet Jackson revealed her secret marriage to her retail tycoon husband, Wissam Al Mana, last year, many fans have speculated that the already rich singer was now enjoying a quiet life in retirement, living off of her husband’s billion-dollar fortune. But Jackson recently claimed that she’s still working on music and a new report claims Jackson’s bank account may not be that much smaller than Al Mana’s.
According to Yahoo!, a report from Variety claims that Jackson is the nation’s first recording artist to hit billionaire status. In the report, the magazine chronicles Jackson’s lucrative career, during which she’s earned $458 million from her concert tours, $304 million from acting roles in films like For Colored Girls and The Nutty Professor, $260 million in album sales, and more than $81 million from tour sponsorships and licensing fees.
However, despite Jackson’s gargantuan earnings, she may still not be worth a billion dollars. Earlier this year, reports claimed that Madonna was the first recording artist to reach billionaire status. Forbes later shot down those claims, citing her actual yearly earnings and most importantly, taxes, legal fees and living expenses.
So, while Jackson may have indeed earned a billion dollars, it’s unlikely that she got to put all of it into her own bank accounts.
We’ll let the real financial analysts decide what’s fact or fiction. In any case, Jackson is still one the richest and most successful music artists of all time. But if you’re dying to see some billionaires, check out a list of certified billionaire stars below. – nicholas robinson
