aylor Swift was named Time Magazine’s 2023 person of the year Wednesday, after she spent most of 2023 on her lucrative worldwide tour, became a billionaire and was named Spotify’s most-streamed artist globally.
Swift has been on a worldwide tour since March, her first tour in five years.
AP/NATACHA PISARENKOKEY FACTS
Swift beat other finalists for the annual issue including newly-coronated King Charles III, Barbie and the prosecutors of former President Donald Trump.
Swift was honored by Time in 2017 alongside other “Silence Breakers” who spoke out against sexual misconduct.
In 2022, Time’s person of the year was Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
CRUCIAL QUOTE
“This is the proudest and happiest I’ve ever felt, and the most creatively fulfilled and free I’ve ever been,” Swift told Time. “Ultimately, we can convolute it all we want, or try to overcomplicate it, but there’s only one question: Are you not entertained?”
KEY BACKGROUND
Swift has been the subject of countless headlines and social media conversations this year from her highly anticipated “Eras” World Tour to her relationship with Kansas City Chiefs football player Travis Kelce. The worldwide “Eras” tour, which has nearly 150 stops, kicked off in March and largely contributed to her becoming a billionaire in October. Many fans paid thousands of dollars to see Swift perform songs from her entire discography. The tour grossed $780 million by the end of August, netting Swift $305 million in earnings, according to Forbes’ estimates. Since she first announced the tour, Swift has surprised fans by announcing more stops—in August she added another 15 North American stops to the 2024 leg of her tour. She’s also raked it in a number of accolades this year from People magazine’s most intriguing person of the year to earning the top spot on our list of the world’s most powerful women in media and entertainment. In recent months, Swift has made headlines for her budding romance with Kelce which social media users have obsessed with since its inception earlier this year.
BIG NUMBER
More than $250 million. That’s how much Swift’s concert movie “Eras Tour” has grossed at the global box office, according to multiple reports.
We estimate Swift’s net worth is $1.1 billion as of Wednesday, including $500 million for her music catalog, $500 million from royalties and touring and $150 million in real estate.
