Rihanna, Peter Jackson join Forbes' billionaires list

Pop star and cosmetics queen Rihanna, and "Lord of the Rings" filmmaker Peter Jackson are the two newest entertainment celebrities to break into Forbes magazine's annual ranking of billionaires worldwide.

Rihanna, 34, née Robyn Rihanna Fenty, clocked in at No. 1,729 of 2,668 on the publication's 36th yearly list, with an estimated $1.7 billion. While the 9-time Grammy Award winner is best known as the multiplatinum singer of hits including "Work" and "We Found Love," Forbes attributed her recent 10-figure financial status to the success of her cosmetics line, Fenty Beauty. The magazine placed her in its category "Fashion & Retail" rather than "Media & Entertainment."

That category also houses repeat musician-billionaire Ye, né Kanye West, at No. 1,513, with $2 billion primarily due to "a lucrative multiyear deal to design sneaker brand Yeezy for Adidas." The only other widely known celebrity in that category is, coincidentally, his ex-wife, reality-TV star and fashion and cosmetics entrepreneur Kim Kardashian at No. 1,645, with $1.8 billion.

Three-time Academy Award winner Jackson, 60 — whose films, including the 2001-03 "Lord of the Rings" trilogy and subsequent 2012-14 "The Hobbit” trilogy, have grossed $6 billion worldwide — enters the list at No. 1,929, with $1.5 billion. The New Zealand native's earnings include revenue from the November sale of part of his visual-effects studio Weta Digital to the video game software company Unity for $1.6 billion

Repeat media and entertainment celebrities in the Forbes list include music-industry legend David Geffen (No. 197, $10 billion), "Star Wars" creator George Lucas (No. 418, $6.1 billion), Dallas Mavericks owner and "Shark Tank" star Mark Cuban (No. 601, $4.7 billion), cable-TV groundbreaker Ted Turner (No. 1,341, $2.3 billion), hip-hop star and music mogul Jay-Z (No. 2,076, $1.4 billion), and filmmaker and studio head Tyler Perry (No. 2,578, $1 billion).

Heading the list overall is Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk with $219 billion, swapping places from No. 2 with last year's chart-topper, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos ($171 billion). Familiar names in the top 10 include Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett and Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin.

Forbes used stock prices and exchange rates from March 11, 2022, to calculate net worths. The magazine notes, "We don't pretend to know each billionaire's private balance sheet (though some provide it). When documentation isn't supplied or available, we discount fortunes," making the number of global billionaires likely higher than Forbes' count.