This week, the blogosphere erupted with declarations that U2 frontman Bono had joined the billionaire ranks to become the world's richest pop star following a lucrative investment in
According to our calculations, not a single billionaire has gained their wealth by working as a musician or actor. Not Diddy (net worth: $750 million) or Dr. Dre ($700 million), not Madonna ($550 million) or Beyoncé ($250 million)—and not Bono.
The erroneous estimates are down to an incorrect attribution of shares, first reported by British tabloid The Sun and picked up by various outlets including The Mirror, which states Bono "bought a 2.3 per cent share in the social media network in 2009 with the investment group that he co-founded, Elevation Partners."
Yet Bono is one of many investors who hold shares through private equity firm Elevation Partners. This means that his personal stake is just a fraction of Elevation's total stake, which counts five managing directors including Bono among its team and divides any returns between those directors and its limited partners.
Elevation Partners reportedly invested $210 million in Facebook over two rounds in 2009 and 2010, purchasing what was believed to be a roughly 2% stake, which has since been divided across its fund's directors and investors. It is not clear whether that stake is still fully or partially held by Elevation, or if they even still own shares at all.
This is not the first time Bono has had to fend off reports that he is a billionaire. Back in 2012 when Facebook went public, similar headlines surfaced when publications confused Elevation Partners' stake for Bono's own.
“Contrary to reports, this boy is not a billionaire or richer than any Beatle,” he told NBC at the time. "That's just a joke. In Elevation we invest other people's money in endowments and pension funds."
Bono may not yet have made it to our Billionaires ranking, but his band regularly counts among the world's highest-paid musicians. Thanks to healthy touring, U2 have earned nearly $500 million in the last 10 years, according to FORBES estimates. Following 2011's U2 360° tour, which became the highest-grossing tour of all time, the group topped our highest-paid musicians list, earning $195 million in 12 months. This year's Innocence + Experience tour may be shorter, but it still looks set to be lucrative: The North American leg has so far grossed an average of $2.1 million per show.
Elevation Partners is no longer actively investing after having not raised a new fund since 2005. The group was once an investor in Forbes Media, after acquiring a 45% stake in 2006 (Forbes was sold in 2014; Elevation Partners no longer has a stake in the company.)
Additional reporting by Miguel Helft and Ryan Mac.
