Paul McCartney, the former member of the legendary band The Beatles, has become the first British musician to amass a fortune of 1 billion pounds ($1.27 billion), according to the annual Sunday Times Rich List released on Friday.
The 81-year-old musician and his wife, Nancy Shevell, saw their wealth grow by 50 million pounds since last year, thanks to McCartney’s successful 2023 Got Back tour, the increasing value of his back catalogue, and Beyonce’s cover of The Beatles’ “Blackbird” on her “Cowboy Carter” album.
In November, a “final” Beatles song, “Now and Then,” was released and topped music charts in several countries.
The track, originally recorded as a demo by the late John Lennon in 1977, was completed by surviving Beatles members McCartney and Ringo Starr, who added guitar parts by George Harrison, who passed away in 2001.
The Sunday Times estimated that 50 million pounds of the couple’s wealth is attributed to Shevell, the daughter of the late U.S. trucking tycoon Mike Shevell.
McCartney ranked 165th overall on the prestigious list of the U.K.’s 350 richest people, with the top spot going to Gopi Hinduja and his family, owners of the banking, media, and entertainment conglomerate Hinduja Group, with an estimated wealth of 37 billion pounds.
Other notable entertainment figures on the list include “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling, with an estimated fortune of 945 million pounds, and singer Elton John, worth an estimated 470 million pounds. King Charles III ranked 258th, with an estimated wealth of 610 million pounds, which includes the large inherited private estates of Sandringham in England and Balmoral in Scotland.
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However, the total does not account for items held in trust by the monarch for the nation, such as the Crown Jewels.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.