Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, LeBron James, and Oprah Are Billionaires — But Still 'Too Poor' for the Forbes 400

Being a billionaire is no longer enough to rank among the richest people in the United States.

Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, LeBron James, and Oprah Winfrey have each built 10-figure fortunes, yet none of them ranks among the wealthiest people in the country. All four sit outside the 2026 Forbes 400, the list Forbes unveiled on 15 September as its 45th annual ranking of America's richest citizens, based on wealth calculated on 4 September.

The magazine set the entry point at a record $4.4B (£3.3B), some $600M (£450M) higher than a year earlier and $2.7B (£2B) more than a decade ago. The rising bar left a record 590 American billionaires off the list, up from 500 in 2025. Forbes described them as 'too poor' to make the cut.

Why the Cutoff Keeps Climbing

Forbes linked the surge to a stock market trading near record highs and a wealth boom driven by artificial intelligence and data centres. The 400 people who made the list are worth a combined $8T (£6T), up from $6.6T (£4.9T) a year earlier. Elon Musk topped the ranking for a fifth straight year at $908B (£678B), having briefly become the world's first trillionaire during the June stock market debut of his rocket company, SpaceX. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos followed at $378B (£282B).

Forbes said its 20 wealthiest members alone account for half of the list's total wealth. That fortune, which would have qualified a decade ago, now falls well short of the mark.

Swift, worth an estimated $2B (£1.5B), became a billionaire in 2023, the first musician to reach the milestone solely through music sales and performances, according to Forbes. Her Eras Tour grossed more than $2B (£1.5B), and she has since doubled her fortune after releasing two albums, winning three more Grammys, and buying back full control of her catalogue. She remains less than halfway to the $4.4B threshold.

The Stars Who Missed the Cut

Beyoncé reached billionaire status on the strength of her Cowboy Carter tour, which took in around $450M (£336M) in ticket and merchandise sales. At an estimated $1B (£750M), she is the least wealthy of the headline names. Her husband, Jay-Z, worth about $2.8B (£2.1B), is closer to the list than she is.

LeBron James, valued at $1.4B (£1.05B), became the first active athlete to reach billionaire status in 2022, a fortune built on more than $500M (£373M) in career salary and over $1.1B (£821M) from off-court deals with brands including Nike and Beats.

In July, he signed a two-year contract with the Philadelphia 76ers worth roughly $4M (£3M) a year, down from the $52.6M (£39M) he earned in his final season with the Los Angeles Lakers. The reduction, about 92%, ranked among the largest pay cuts in NBA history. At that rate, Forbes calculated, he would need to play another 750 years to earn his way onto the list through basketball alone.

Oprah Winfrey, worth $3.4B (£2.5B), remains a full billion short of the cutoff. She last appeared on the Forbes 400 in 2020 and has been outpaced since by billionaires whose fortunes are growing faster, even as she marked the 40th anniversary of The Oprah Winfrey Show in September.

The exclusions reach well beyond entertainment. Kim Kardashian, worth $1.9B (£1.4B), remains less than halfway to the list, even as her Skims shapewear brand reached a $5B (£3.7B) valuation.

OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman ($3.3B, £2.5B), who holds no equity in the ChatGPT maker, also missed out, as did former Apple boss Tim Cook ($3B, £2.2B), and former eBay and Hewlett-Packard chief Meg Whitman ($4.2B, £3.1B). Rapper and producer Dr Dre, at $1B (£750M), and actor and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, at $1.2B (£900M), were also left out.

Turnover on the list was limited. Ninety per cent of last year's members kept their places. Of the 34 billionaires who dropped off, seven were actually richer than a year earlier, while six others had died. Thirty-four newcomers joined. For the hundreds still short of the mark, the next chance comes in 2027.