Zack O'Malley Greenburg's Blog, page 29

Canadian Invasion: Why Drake, The Weeknd And Justin Bieber Rule The Streaming World

Justin Bieber, The Weeknd and Drake combined for more than 20 billion streaming spins over the past two years–more than any other triumvirate on the planet–en route to a combined quarter billion in pretax earnings this year.

“MILLENNIALS MAKE YOU MONEY.” The words leap out of television screens implanted in the eyeballs of the Cessna-sized chrome alien skull hanging from the ceiling at Terminal 5 in New York, an invitation to hundreds of media buyers who’ve descended upon the midtown concert...

Beyonce And Jay Z Keep Their Crown As Highest-Paid Celebrity Couple

Family Business: Jay Z and Beyonce pulled in a combined $147 million over the past 12 months. (Photo by Christopher Polk/Getty Images for NARAS)

Back in 2011, Jay Z sat down with Steve Forbes and Warren Buffett to discuss success, philanthropy and the business of music. Toward the end of their talk, the Brooklyn-born rapper made a few significant observations.

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“For many years artists were dying broke, because the record companies took advantage of them,” Jay Z explained. “As ent...

Full List: The World’s Highest-Paid Celebrities 2017

The Weeknd, our Celebrity 100 cover star, ranks No. 6 on the list with earnings of $92 million.

It’s a good year to be famous. Over the past 12 months, the world’s 100 highest-paid celebrities pulled in $5.15 billion–more than the combined GDP of Belize, Liberia and Gambia–led by Diddy, who clocked a career-best $130 million. Beyoncé and J.K. Rowling round out the top three with $105 million and $95 million, respectively.

Though Diddy’s payday mostly came from the sale of a large chunk of Sea...

Inside The Weeknd’s $92 Million Year–And The New Streaming Economy Behind It

Streaming Starboy: Physical album sales and digital downloads are down. But more people are listening to more music than ever, which presents staggering opportunities to artists like the Weeknd who connect with an audience.

Five years ago, Spotify was a fledgling music-streaming service only months removed from its U.S. launch and YouTube had just started its push into original programming; Netflix was a year away from doing the same, starting with House of Cards. For the members of the Celeb...

Why Diddy Is No. 1 On The 2017 Celebrity 100 List

Diddy Did It: The sale of Sean John leaves Diddy with some 20% of the clothing line he founded–a sole share of the top spot on the Forbes Celebrity 100 list. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Back in 1999, Sean Combs–known as Puff Daddy at the time–appeared on the cover of the first-ever Celebrity 100 issue. Instead of sporting a snappy suit (as this year’s cover star The Weeknd did), Combs donned a t-shirt bearing the logo of his new clothing line, Sean John, for the cover shoot.

Nearly t...

Barbra Streisand’s Net Worth: $390 Million In 2017

Barbra Streisand with Robert Rodriguez during the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival at BMCC Tribeca PAC on April 29, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images for Tribeca Film Festival)

Barbra Streisand’s net worth again lands her on our list of America’s Richest Self-Made Women, which appears in the June 13th, 2017 issue of FORBES. She ranks No. 44, behind moguls such as Oprah Winfrey and Sheryl Sandberg.

Real Name:
Barbra Streisand

Age:
75

Residence:
Malibu, Calif.

Estimated Net...

Beyonce’s Net Worth: $350 Million In 2017

Beyonce poses with her Grammy trophies in the press room during the 59th Annual Grammy music Awards on February 12, 2017, in Los Angeles, California. / AFP / Robyn BECK (Photo credit should read ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)

Beyoncé’s net worth again lands her a spot on our list of America’s Richest Self-Made Women, which appears in the June 13th, 2017 issue of FORBES. She ranks No. 46, behind moguls such as Oprah Winfrey and Sheryl Sandberg.

Real Name:
Beyoncé Knowles Carter

Residence:
Los A...

Taylor Swift’s Net Worth: $280 Million In 2017

Taylor Swift performs onstage during the 2017 DirecTV NOW Super Saturday Night Concert at Club Nomadic on February 4, 2017 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for DirecTV)

Taylor Swift’s net worth again lands her a spot on our list of America’s Richest Self-Made Women, which appears in the June 13th, 2017 issue of FORBES. She ranks No. 55, up from No. 60 last year, behind moguls such as Oprah Winfrey and Sheryl Sandberg.

Name:
Taylor Swift

Residence:
Nashville, Tenn.

Age:
...

Google Slayer: Meet Meltwater, The Company That Conquered Google Alerts

The Mogul of Mentions: Starting with $15,000, Jorn Lyseggen built a version of Google Alerts before Google Alerts. And despite the big-foot competition, Meltwater has found the talent to forge a $300 million company.

A decade ago, with Google and Yahoo lumbering onto its turf, Jorn Lyseggen’s fledgling media-intelligence company, Meltwater, faced an existential challenge. Getting clients to pay Meltwater to track press mentions suddenly became a lot harder when Google Alerts was offering the...

Going, Going, Ghana: Inside Jorn Lyseggen’s Accra Startup Incubator

Talent Scout: Jorn Lyseggen lives by the mantra “Talent is talent, everywhere.” He’s proving it in West Africa.

The bridge on the outskirts of Accra, Ghana, looks like something from an Indiana Jones movie: a series of creaky wooden planks suspended by rope over a fetid stream. Towering palm trees and tin-roofed shacks dot the overgrown landscape.

Appearances can be misleading. The span was designed and built by engineers trained by the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology, a progra...