Singer Paul McCartney performs during the Super Bowl XXXIX halftime show at Alltel Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida. (Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images) — Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images

'Penny Lane?' More Like Dollar Road! Paul McCartney's Net Worth In 2024 From the Beatles to Wings and More

Turns out being in the Beatles is lucrative.

Author:
Jessica Sager
Updated:
Jan 4, 2024

Paul McCartney is the rock star with the highest net worth ever thanks to the beloved Beatle's knack for timeless tunes and his unrivaled business savvy. That stems from growing up decidedly not wealthy.

The "Love Me Do" singer once explained to The New York Times, "When I was in Liverpool as a kid, I used to listen to people’s conversations. I remember a couple of women going on about money: 'Ah, me and my husband, we're always arguing about money.' And I remember thinking very consciously, 'Okay, I'll solve that; I will try to get money.' That set me off on the 'Let's not have too many problems with money' trail." He continued, "Not having much money, when anything came into the house, it was important. It was important when my weekly comic was delivered. Or my pen pal—I had a pen pal in Spain, Rodrigo—when his letter came through, that was a big event. When they had giveaways in comics with little trinkets, I kept them all. Some people would say that's a hoarding instinct, but not having anything when I was a kid has stuck with me as far as money."

Despite his tendency to hold on to everything he has, McCartney is by no means a miser, noting that his attitude towards money is partly from his "instinct to preserve." "One of the great things now about money is what you can do with it," he said. "Family and friends, if they have any medical problem, I can just say, 'I'll help.' The nicest thing about having money is you can help people with it."

And believe it—he can help a lot. Find out Paul McCartney's net worth in 2024 and how he earned it.

How did Paul McCartney become famous?

McCartney met John Lennon in 1957, and the pair bonded over their mutual love of music as well as the trauma of losing their mothers at young ages. After McCartney joined Lennon's band, the Quarrymen, the duo that would forever be known as Lennon-McCartney began writing songs together. By 1960, the Quarrymen had gone through numerous lineup changes, adding George Harrison, drummer Pete Best and bassist Stuart Sutcliffe—and changing their name to The Beatles. When Sutcliffe left the group, McCartney picked up his bass. The Beatles began performing in Hamburg, Germany, opening for Rory and the Hurricanes—Ringo Starr's band—and eventually recruited the drummer to replace Best. They signed their first record deal in 1962, and the rest is history.

After the Beatles split in 1970, McCartney went on to form Wings and ultimately embarked on a solo career. In all, he's recorded and released 26 studio albums since the end of the Fab Four.

What is Paul McCartney's net worth in 2024?

Paul McCartney's net worth in 2024 is estimated at $1.2 billion. Aside from being a Beatle making him mega-rich, McCartney is also still touring, which is really lucrative for him—according to Billboard, he's grossed more than $1 billion in ticket sales throughout his career!

Who is the wealthiest Beatle?

McCartney is the richest member of The Beatles thanks to touring, songwriting royalties and licensing. At the time of his death in 1980, Lennon was worth an estimated $200 million (about $671 million in today's dollars, adjusted for inflation). Harrison was worth an estimated $400 million at the time of his 2001 death ($625 adjusted for inflation). Starr has an estimated net worth of $350 million.

How much did Paul McCartney pay for the Beatles' catalog?

The Beatles' catalog has changed hands several times in very expensive ways.

In 1963, Beatles manager Brian Epstein arranged a deal with publishing company Northern Songs for the band's catalog, with Lennon and McCartney owning 20 percent of each of their songs, Epstein getting an unspecified cut, and Northern Songs, owned by Dick James, getting the rest. The company went public two years later, with Lennon and McCartney each owning 15 percent; smaller shares went to Starr and Harrison (the latter of whom wrote "Only a Northern Song" about feeling shafted in the deal).

In 1969, James sold his share of the company to ATV Music—despite McCartney and Lennon counter-bidding to own their music; Lennon and McCartney later sold their remaining shares to ATV, effectively losing control of their songs completely (though they still had shares as songwriters).

In 1985, ATV Music went up for sale—and Michael Jackson swept in and bought it, reportedly finding out about the catalog's value from McCartney when they recorded their duet "Say Say Say" together.

At the time, ATV's catalog included about 250 Lennon-McCartney tracks, plus songs by Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Presley, The Rolling Stones and more.

A decade later, Jackson sold half of the ATV Music catalog to Sony when he faced financial troubles. By 2006, Sony purchased another half of Jackson's half of the catalog, giving them 50 percent of the works, according to The New York Times—the catalog was valued at about $1 billion. Following Jackson's death in 2009, his shares in the catalog went to his estate; in 2016, Sony purchased the rest of the shares, giving them full ownership of the Beatles' tracks and the rest of the catalog.

Following a 2018 lawsuit and subsequent settlement, McCartney told Billboard he was "in the process" of acquiring the rights back to his and Lennon's tunes—but he was not able to disclose the sum that he paid for them.

Interestingly enough, McCartney also has his own company, MPL, which began acquiring song rights in the 1970s, something he said was partially a response to ATV's acquisition of his own tracks.

He explained to Billboard, "When we came down from Liverpool, I thought—naively—when you earn money, you put it in the bank. Then you meet accountants who say 'no, no, no—you have to invest it.' Linda’s dad and brother [Lee and John Eastman] were my lawyers, and they're brilliant, and Lee rang me up at one point and said, 'One of my clients wants to sell his publishing company.' It was Buddy Morris [who had founded Edwin H. Morris Music]. He named a very large figure—basically all I had at the time," he continued. "And I said, 'Are you sure this is a good move? Send me a list of the songs it publishes.' I looked at the list, and it had 'Stormy Weather,' 'The Christmas Song'—you know, 'Chestnuts roasting on an open fire'—and I thought, 'Here goes nothing! Well, here goes everything!' That was the source of the standards [that MPL publishes], and it was one of the great American catalogs."

He added, "It was a very large amount in those days. But it turned out to be really good. These kinds of things happened. Someone said, 'You're the publisher for this new show that's trying out in Boston, and we’re paying them to keep it going—do you want to continue paying?' The company had signed the writers, and we were helping fund the show. And I said, 'Let's just keep going.' Well, that turned out to be Annie." McCartney was thrilled when fellow billionaire Jay-Z sampled a song from the play and film, quipping, "So how pleased was I when Jay-Z used it! It's luck. But The Beatles was luck! How did these four guys in Liverpool get to meet each other? We weren't at the same school."

How much did Paul McCartney's ex-wife get?

McCartney's acrimonious divorce from Heather Mills cost him a cool $48.7 million, Reuters reported—although Mills requested a sum exponentially higher that amount. Still, the former model said she was delighted with her settlement, telling the press, "I am so glad it is over. It is an incredible result in the end. We are very, very pleased. I am so, so happy with it."

McCartney and Mills were married for four years and share a daughter named Beatrice. Their settlement paid her, effectively, about $34,000 per day for every day of their four-year marriage.

How much did Paul McCartney get paid for Pirates of the Caribbean?

McCartney's payday for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales isn't publicly known, but what is known is that he actually wasn't the filmmakers' first choice to play Captain Jack Sparrow's uncle in the film.

"We had even written a scene for Keith [Richards]," director Joachim Rønning told Entertainment Weekly. "And then because of some scheduling issues, he couldn't come to Australia to shoot, so we sat down with Johnny [Depp] and kind of brainstormed, like, 'Okay, who could fill his shoes?' Because we felt like we should have something. We should honor the tradition of showing a Jack Sparrow family member. And we made a very short list, and of course, at the very top of that list was Sir Paul McCartney."

Co-director Espen Sandberg said, "Johnny, of course, has his phone number, as you do. I don't know what kind of club these people are a member of, but he had the phone number, so he said, 'You know, I'll text him! No problem.' So he did! He just texted Sir Paul, and Sir Paul texted back. And it went a little back and forth, and their lingo got more and more pirate-y, and it was like, well, this is going to happen!"

How much did Paul McCartney give Pete Best?

Best didn't see a dime from The Beatles' work after he was replaced with Ringo Starr—until the 1995 release of The Beatles Anthology, the first volume of which included some recordings on which Best played. McCartney reportedly netted seven-figure royalties from the project.

How much did Paul McCartney make in 2019?

Forbes estimates that McCartney made $37 million in 2019, largely bolstered by his solo tour, which netted $100 million in ticket grosses.