It may come as a shock to many, but Rihanna is a billionaire, according to Forbes. Not a millionaire but BILLIONAIRE, making her the richest female musician.

Forbes, which tracks and publishes data on the world's wealthiest people, reported that Robyn "Rihanna" Fenty's estimated net worth to be $1.7 billion, making her the second richest woman in entertainment behind Oprah Winfrey.

It's been 5 years since she released an album, so many are wondering just exactly how she became a billionaire. Her last LP, Anti, was released in 2016 and spent 63 weeks on the Billboard charts. And it doesn't seem like anyone, even her record label, knows when R9 is coming.

Taking on other adventures, besides singing, and moving into the beauty world, like many other celebrities have done (Selena Gomez, Kylie Jenner), has helped her gain that title.

Here's how she became a billionaire and the richest female musician.

9 Her Beginnings

Rihanna was born Robyn Rihanna Fenty on February 20, 1988 in the Barbados to Monica and Ronald Fenty. She has two brothers, two half-sisters and a half-brother. In 2003, she formed a musical trio with two of her classmates. The group was discovered by American producer Evan Rogers. However, Rogers was only interested in Rihanna and signed her to his production company. She then was eventually signed to Def Jam Recordings.

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8 Music Career

In May 2005, after meeting with Jay-Z and Def Jam, Rihanna released her debut single, "Pon de Replay." It peaked at the top 5 in fifteen countries. Three months later, Rihanna released her debut album, Music of the Sun. One year later, she released A Girl Like Me, but she had her breakthrough with her third album, Good Girl Gone Bad, which featured "Umbrella," "Don't Stop the Music," "Shut Up And Drive" and more.

From there, Rihanna went on to release five more albums including Rated R, Loud, Talk That Talk, Unapologetic and Anti. She had a very successful music career, but decided to take a break after Anti to work more on the business side of her career.

7 Perfume Line

Alongside her music career, Rihanna started releasing perfume, which also contributed to her net worth. Her very first fragrance, "Reb'l Fleur," was released in January 2011. It was a financial success and grossed about $80 million by the end of the year. Her second perfume, "Rebelle," was released in February 2012. And in November of that year, her third fragrance, "Nude," was released. In 2014, Rihanna dropped "Rogue" and a male version called "Rogue Men."

6 Tidal

On March 30, 2015, it was announced that Rihanna was a co-owner, with various music artists, of the music streaming service Tidal. Tidal specializes in lossless audio and high definition music videos. She owns a 3 percent equity state with 15 other artists.  You can find all of her music on the streaming platform. Having a stake in this huge platform definitely contributes to her billionaire status.

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5 Anti

In 2016, it was revealed that Rihanna was releasing her music through her own label Westbury Road Entertainment, which was established in 2005 and is the name of her Barbados residence. The music was distributed through Universal Music Group.

Her latest album Anti was released in 2016 through Tidal and peaked at number one on the US Billboard 200, making it her second number one album. She promised her ninth album would be coming and have a reggae feel, but it has not yet be announced.

4 Fenty

Fenty, which was named after Rihanna's given last name, is a fashion brand by Rihanna under luxury fashion group LVMH which launched in May 2019. She is the first women and first of color to achieve this. It launched in a pop-up store in Paris before launching worldwide online. The fashion brand, which includes clothing and accessories such as sunglasses and footwear, has been described as groundbreaking.

3 Fenty Beauty

In 2017, Riri launched her critically acclaimed cosmetics company, Fenty Beauty. She owns 50 percent of the company, according to Forbes. The partnership is worth $10 million. It has a variety of products including foundations, bronzers, highlighters, lip glosses, blush compacts and blotting sheets.

Fenty Beauty was praised for its diverse range of colors for all skin colors. To add on to the brand, Rihanna launched Fenty Skin in 2020. Forbes estimated Fenty Beauty to be worth $2.8 billion. In 2018, the make-up brand was generating more than $550 million, which earned more than Kim Kardashian, Kylie Jenner and Jessica Alba's lines.

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2 Savage X Fenty

One year after Fenty Beauty's success, the "Work" singer launched Savage x Fenty, a lingerie brand, in which she owns 30 percent of. The line was born from Rihanna's vision of creating an inclusive brand, including a variety of colors and sizes to accommodate everyone.  She showcased the brand at New York Fashion Week in September 2018. The brand has been praised by the public.

In 2019, Rihanna premiered the Savage X Fenty Show on Amazon Prime video and was renewed for a third time in 2020. The brand raised $115 million in February after receiving a $1 billion valuation.

1 Other Ventures

Besides music, beauty and fashion, Rihanna has ventured into other industries, including Secret Body Spray, various commercials and an eponymous book, which accompanies her fourth studio album, Rated R. She has also been the face of Nivea and Vita Coco. Rihanna became the creative director for Puma. Rihanna received the Fashion Icon Award at the 2014 Council of Fashion Designers of America Fashion Awards at the Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall.

Rihanna has also dabbled in acting. You can see her cameo in Bring It On: All or Nothing. She starred in Battleship, Home, Bates Motel and Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. An Amazon Prime documentary was released in July that follows the build-up to Rihanna's business venture launches and behind-the-scenes footage of the recording of her upcoming ninth studio album.

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