Paul McCartney’s fortune has been estimated at US$1.4 billion, placing the former Beatle third among the world’s wealthiest musicians in a new assessment of his assets.

The valuation puts him behind Jay-Z, whose fortune is estimated at US$2.8 billion, and Taylor Swift at US$2 billion. For the 84-year-old musician, it reflects decades of songwriting, touring and business decisions that have kept his music commercially powerful across generations.

His wealth includes music publishing rights, income from the Beatles catalogue, concert earnings, property and an art collection featuring works by Picasso and René Magritte.

The publishing business behind the songs

A substantial part of McCartney’s financial story centres on MPL Communications, the publishing company he established in 1969.

Alongside his own work, the business has acquired rights to songs by other writers, building a catalogue that extends well beyond the Beatles and his solo career. Its holdings include music associated with Buddy Holly, Broadway scores and enduring Christmas standards.

That range creates income from many different settings: recordings, streams, theatrical performances and licensed uses of familiar compositions.

MPL is valued at at least US$250 million in the new assessment. Its catalogue demonstrates how McCartney’s business interests developed alongside his creative career, with songs continuing to generate royalties long after their original release.

The Beatles’ lasting commercial power

The Beatles remain another important part of the picture. McCartney holds a 25 per cent share in Apple Corps, alongside Ringo Starr and the estates of John Lennon and George Harrison.

The company generates income through the band’s recordings, streaming, vinyl sales and merchandise. McCartney’s interest in that income stream is estimated to be worth more than US$150 million.

Separate from that holding are his Beatles songwriting copyrights. After years of legal efforts to regain his US publishing rights, his share of those compositions is estimated to generate at least US$10 million annually and carry a value of at least US$200 million.

Concert stages, property and art

Live performance has also contributed substantially to McCartney’s wealth. His Got Back tour encompassed 79 shows between 2022 and 2025, adding another extensive run of concerts to a career spanning more than six decades.

The financial assessment also includes property in the UK and the Hamptons, together with his art collection.

These assets sit alongside the continuing value of his music businesses, creating a fortune accumulated through both performance and ownership. The US$1.4 billion figure represents an estimate of that combined wealth.

A career still producing new chapters

McCartney’s latest financial milestone arrives during an active year for his music. On May 29, he released The Boys of Dungeon Lane, his first new solo album in more than five years.

The record looks back at his formative years in Liverpool, drawing on childhood memories, family experiences and the friendships that preceded Beatlemania. Its songs combine those reflections with newly inspired love songs.

His post-Beatles reinvention is also explored in Man on the Run, directed by Morgan Neville and released on Prime Video in February.

Using previously unseen footage, rare archival material and unreleased music, the documentary follows McCartney after the band’s breakup and through the formation of Wings with his wife Linda. It revisits the period when he was building a new musical identity — and establishing the foundations of the independent career behind today’s valuation.