Britain’s first musician billionaire is Sir Paul McCartney

Sir Paul McCartney has achieved the remarkable distinction of becoming Britain’s first musician billionaire. According to The Sunday Times Rich List, the iconic Beatles legend, along with his wife Nancy, now boasts a net worth of £1 billion, representing a £50 million increase from last year.

This recent surge in wealth is attributed to the release of The Beatles‘ final single, “Now And Then,” as well as the Peter Jackson-directed documentary, “Get Back.” “Now And Then” originated from a John Lennon demo recorded in the late 1970s and includes contributions from all four members of the legendary band.

“Now And Then” was originally recorded by Lennon at his residence in New York’s Dakota Building. When the remaining Beatles were assembling their Anthology project in 1995, Yoko Ono provided them with the demo, along with rough versions of two other songs, “Real Love” and “Free As A Bird,” which were released as singles at the time.

However, the technology available in the 90s was not advanced enough for “Now And Then” to be released. Thanks to recent technological advancements, the song was finally reworked and made available in 2023. Jackson’s “Get Back” documentary is the result of 55 hours of previously unseen footage and 140 hours of unheard audio, meticulously edited over two years and packaged into three episodes.

According to the Sunday Times, the McCartney fortune includes approximately $50 million of Nancy’s assets. Sir Paul McCartney is the owner of MPL Communications, a company founded in 1969 that manages the rights to over 25,000 songs. MPL controls McCartney’s post-Beatles compositions as well as tracks by other music icons such as Buddy Holly. Another legendary British musician, Sir Elton John, also ranks among the list’s top 350, with a net worth of £470 million.