A lot of people would have been surprised if Paul McCartney’s net worth were any less than it is said to be – $1.2 billion. This is due to the fact that his music career which spans more than sixty years has been nothing short of a huge success. Paul’s career in music kicked off when he was 15 years old as a member of a British skiffle/rock and roll group known as Quarrymen.
The group, which was formed in March 1957 by John Lennon, eventually developed into the Beatles in the middle of August 1960. It was through his membership of the Beatles that Paul McCartney became an international super-star as the group’s co-lead vocalist and bassist. Unfortunately, the group broke up in 1970, throwing Paul into depression. However, he managed to get out of that condition, thanks to his wife Linda, who convinced him to keep on writing and recording songs.
Paul McCartney’s Career Exploits
Unlike many musicians who became successful as members of their bands in the 1960s, Paul McCartney never got stuck in the glory of the fame he earned by reason of being a member of the Beatles in the years preceding their separation. Rather, he took advantage of the stage that has already been set for him and pursued a highly prolific and successful musical career, steaming through the ’70s with his band, Wings, as they toured the world.
Before then, he pursued a solo career, releasing his first solo album titled McCartney in 1970 and following it up by releasing a second album, Ram, the following year in collaboration with his first wife and drummer Denny Seiwell. Later in 1971, guitarist Denny Laine joined Paul, Linda, and Seiwell, thus the band called ‘Wings’ was formed with Paul as the head.
The band recorded a lot of commercially successful albums and singles. They gathered a huge number of fans but sadly, they disbanded in April 1981 and Paul McCartney went solo. He continued to release number one singles, selling millions of records in the ’80s and through the ’90s when he was said to have garnered a net worth of $500 million.
Paul McCartney’s Net Worth: How Did He Become a Billionaire?
Despite the occasional setbacks in his career, Paul McCartney’s net worth has never stopped increasing and this is largely due to both his musical versatility and sheer determination to always keep pushing. In addition to the money he made through his band, Wings, and from his solo career, Paul McCartney’s net worth was able to grow to $1.2 billion as a result of the royalties he still receives from the Beatles’ absolute classics.
This was made possible due to the contract he signed with John Lennon of the Beatles in the early days of their career, even though it robbed them of the majority control of their compositions. Notwithstanding, they still own a portion of every licensing deal and this ownership turned out to be very fruitful as their song Yesterday became the most covered song in history.
A piece of Paul McCartney’s net worth also came from his late wife Linda, who passed on in the year 2000, leaving Paul a fortune estimated at nearly $200 million which came from her business, a line of vegetarian food that was valued at about $90 million. Thanks to Linda, Paul got the money mostly free of tax. His late wife also left everything she owned, including all her properties, rights to her pictures, and royalties from books and records to him.
Following his success at virtually every stop, Paul McCartney has grown to become the wealthiest and first rock billionaire. As a matter of fact, he has remained one of the richest musicians in the United Kingdom since the Sunday Times Rich List started in 1989. In 2003, his earning of £40 million was the highest in the UK’s media industry and in 2005, the figure increased by £8.5 million.
The singer’s 2012 tour titled ‘On the Run’ also made a whooping £37 million that year and all these contributed to his net worth of £730 million in 2015. Despite his age, Paul has not slowed down in his career and as a result, his net worth of $1.2 billion as of 2019 will definitely keep increasing.
