Paul McCartney is now the world's third-wealthiest musician — and the Beatle built his $1.4B fortune off a business decision he made in 1969

That’s no surprise on the surface, but the outlet revealed that the former Beatle is actually a billionaire, with Sir Paul’s fortune hitting roughly $1.4 billion thanks to various investments and holdings. Those include around $200 million from Beatles-related songwriting copyrights, not to mention $50 million from Fab Four merch and music sales, world tours that raked in “hundreds of millions,” an art collection that includes original works by Pablo Picasso and René Magritte, along with real estate in the U.S. and across the pond.

Forbes puts McCartney in third place among the world’s wealthiest musicians, behind Jay-Z’s $2.8 billion fortune and Taylor Swift’s $2 billion. McCartney, however, had to battle in court to regain some of his assets, like the legal battle with Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC for the rights to Beatles songs once famously purchased by Michael Jackson after McCartney, ironically, urged the King of Pop to invest in song publishing rights.

McCartney got his copyrights back in 2017 after a confidential settlement with Sony/ATV where the two sides essentially agreed that, well, “we can work it out.”

But song publishing, Forbes says, is McCartney’s key investment — with MPL Communications, the publishing company he founded in 1969, serving as the cornerstone of his fortune.

All you need is love — and diversification

Forbes noted that McCartney started MPL Communications “to control his solo-career publishing and master recordings, giving him a much larger cut of his future royalties.”

But that led him to purchase the publishing rights of other artists and entities, meaning “anytime ‘Blue Suede Shoes’ is streamed or a high school theater group performs ‘Grease,’ McCartney gets paid.”

Forbes says MPL’s valuation is “at least a quarter of a billion dollars.” Representatives for McCartney didn’t reply to Moneywise’s request for comment.

Still, while most Americans won’t enjoy Beatle-level investment returns, McCartney’s formula of diversification and investments offers a great map for the long and winding road toward accumulated wealth.

“Paul McCartney’s success illustrates the enduring value of owning productive assets,” Thomas Ravert, a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) with Pathway Capital Corp, told Moneywise. “For ordinary Americans, the lesson is to build wealth systematically rather than speculate on extraordinary returns.”

Ravert noted that owning a home is “an important foundation for building wealth,” but it’s not the only way. He added that consistent investing in “retirement accounts diversified among stocks, bonds and real estate investment trusts (REITs)” are all great ways to build long-term wealth. The objective, he said, is sustainable wealth creation via disciplined investing and diversification. He also touted the beauty of compounding — or, in Beatles parlance, let it be.

Eileen C. Olson, a CFP and founder of South Carolina-based Emerald Wealth, told Moneywise that “broadly diversified stocks, through low-cost index funds, have been one of the most reliable long-term wealth builders,” while real estate is a flexible long-term play because you can live in a home yourself or rent it out while it appreciates.

“Just as important,” she added, “is where you hold investments.”

Olson said that a Roth IRA is great because it “lets you pay tax today, then grow and withdraw tax-free in retirement,” while an HSA “is even better: money goes in tax-free, grows tax-free and comes out tax-free for medical costs.”

Avoid a hard day’s night by being aware of investment pitfalls

When it comes to investing success, the SEC says there’s no magical mystery to the winning formula: “regular investments plus time equals wealth.” But it also warns about the importance of managing the risks.

“Knowing your time horizon and your personal tolerance for risk is helpful,” it explains. “These factors will help you choose the types of investment products that are right for you.”