Bono is the worlds richest pop star

Sunnyisland

Bono is reportedly the world's richest pop star after his investment in Facebook shares earned him $1.5 billion.

The U2 frontman bought a 2.3 per cent share in Mark Zuckerberg's social media network in 2009 for $86 million with Elevation Partners, an investment group he co-founded.

Now that share is said to be worth $1.5 billion, according to reports.

This means that the singer and philanthropist's social media venture has earned him more in the last six years than the whole of his music career.

This investment has seen Bono take over from Beatles star Paul McCartney as the world's richest pop star, with Madonna taking third position in the list.

Good business man, good investor and good musician, he should be able to help a lot of Africa with that. Fair play to him I say.

http://www.rte.ie/ten/news/2015/0831/724743-bono/

Sheep Lover

I reckon he could feed Africa all by himself then

SpaceSasqwatch

Sheep Lover wrote: »

I reckon he could feed Africa all by himself then

in fairness i'd say he id doing more for the starving than you are.Just saying.....

Mint Aero

and he's Irish too. We're so proud of him. Love you Bono.

Signed on behalf of everyone in Ireland cos we all love Bono.

Streetwalker

SpaceSasqwatch wrote: »

in fairness i'd say he id doing more for the starving than you are.Just saying.....

As he should he's a billionaire

Sheep Lover

SpaceSasqwatch wrote: »

in fairness i'd say he id doing more for the starving than you are.Just saying.....

Really? I was starving this afternoon and made myself a bagel with ham and cheese. I do my bit for the hungry too you know.

Banjo String

Don't give a shìte about his music, but he's a shrewd hoor of a business man.

Fair play to him says I.

Is he ever gonna actually see that in hard cash though?

All well and good having 1.5bn in shares, but will anyone actually be out there ready to buy 2.3% of facebook for $1.5bn? How do shares work? Does that mean facebook is worth $50bn? Seems a tad silly. When it comes to cashing out where do people stand?

Sounds like there's a hard fall coming for anyone who doesn't get out soon?

kneemos

Sheep Lover wrote: »

I reckon he could feed Africa all by himself then

All he needs is a fish.

vicwatson

Pay your taxes Bono !!

Overheal

Ah Bono: the starving artist that's ruining the stereotype.

Amirani

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Is he ever gonna actually see that in hard cash though?

All well and good having 1.5bn in shares, but will anyone actually be out there ready to buy 2.3% of facebook for $1.5bn? How do shares work? Does that mean facebook is worth $50bn? Seems a tad silly. When it comes to cashing out where do people stand?

Sounds like there's a hard fall coming for anyone who doesn't get out soon?

Facebook has a market cap (essentially is worth) of $250bn. He could sell 2.3% easy enough if he wanted to. Might not get the full current value though if he sold all at once, as selling over 2% would likely cause a price fall.

Liam McPoyle

Hes still a bollox.

Paramite Pie

Sheep Lover wrote: »

I reckon he could feed Africa all by himself then

Maybe for a day or two. There is a billion of them.

The teach a man to fish proverb comes to mind....

Sheep Lover

Paramite Pie wrote: »

Maybe for a day or two. There is a billion of them.

The teach a man to fish proverb comes to mind....

Maybe the lads on the coast. But the fellas in the middle of Africa in the desert won't catch much.

josip

Drove past Dr. Bono's gates this morning playing "One" in the car.

Smart, smart bastard.

Rhys Essien

OP,its a bit unfair to call Bono a 'pop star' when he is a Rock Star.

U2 is hardly Pop music.

mikedoherty99

Business Cat wrote: »

Hes still a bollox.

U2

PTH2009

smart man but he was a millionaire already when he bought the shares why the greed ??

want to get u2 off my bucket list though

Rhys Essien

Dr Dre is soon to become Hip Hops first billionaire.He made around $700 million last year selling his Beats headphones company to Apple.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/zackomalleygreenburg/2015/05/05/why-dr-dre-isnt-a-billionaire-yet/

Id say Kanye West with his runners range will be hot on his heals,no pun intended.

osarusan

Him being a pop star isn't really that relevant to the story though, any more than Dolores McNamara's 130million quid lottery win made her the world's richest cleaner.

PTH2009

its always the people who dont deserve the money always get it

theres people who cause people harm who are millionaires.

theres no god.

DoYouEvenLift

How much was he worth back when he bought those shares?

AllGunsBlazing

86 million dollar investment? All this proves is that you need to have money in order to make money. Only the rich get richer.

donegaLroad

my god, Madonna is third wealthiest.. she is not a great singer, nor performer

FloatingVoter

Yoko Ono owns half of New York state and was already heir to a billion dollar Japanese banking fortune when she met the lad from Liverpool. Dr. Dre is probably richer as an above poster said.
However, the rumour is that Larry Mullen is the brains behind Google. He wanted to call it Gargle but **** happens. Keep that one quiet.

Call Me Jimmy

I am channeling all my begrudgery directly into his psyche

Spanish Eyes

I'm delighted for him and his family.

Hopefully they will now be able to afford a refugee reception centre beside their gaff up on Vico Road now. Planning permission wouldn't be a problem at all.

It doesn't all happen in Africa now..... it's here!

FloatingVoter

Spanish Eyes wrote: »

I'm delighted for him and his family.

Hopefully they will now be able to afford a refugee reception centre beside their gaff up on Vico Road now. Planning permission wouldn't be a problem at all.

It doesn't all happen in Africa now..... it's here!

That is an idea that might take off. Next door used to be owned by some pretend-millionaire, now lying empty in the hands of a bank. If things get rowdy with the Libyans, Syrians, Nigerians, whateverians, Bono and co. can decamp to Eze Bord De Mer.
I'd do it just to piss off the locals who turned their noses up at northsiders moving onto the block.

PTH2009

if i bought a e10 of shares when he bought them how rich would i be now ??

FloatingVoter

PTH2009 wrote: »

if i bought a e10 of shares when he bought them how rich would i be now ??

They weren't on sale for €10 or anything close. There was a minimum buy value (in the range of "if you need to ask you can't afford it").

The Golden Miller

PTH2009 wrote: »

if i bought a e10 of shares when he bought them how rich would i be now ??

You'd have about €200 I assume

iPhone.

Paramite Pie wrote: »

The teach a man to fish proverb comes to mind....

Is that the one that goes..... ' give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and you get rid of him for the weekend ' ?

Fran1985

realies wrote: »

Good business man, good investor and good musician, he should be able to help a lot of Africa with that. Fair play to him I say.

http://www.rte.ie/ten/news/2015/0831/724743-bono/

Actually i believe he's had a mare with his investments. Didnt he spend an outrageous amount of money on spiderman the musical that never happened in the end? Afaik, facebook was one of very few that actually paid off for him. Mind you, its made him a billionaire so im sure the rest is well out of his mind now.

Met him once before and he was a very nice and surprisingly humble man. Comes across a bit nobby in the press and tv though

rockey4215

Rhys Essien wrote: »

OP,its a bit unfair to call Bono a 'pop star' when he is a Rock Star.

U2 is hardly Pop music.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pop_(U2_album)

FloatingVoter

Fran1985 wrote: »

Actually i believe he's had a mare with his investments. Didnt he spend an outrageous amount of money on spiderman the musical that never happened in the end? Afaik, facebook was one of very few that actually paid off for him. Mind you, its made him a billionaire so im sure the rest is well out of his mind now.

Met him once before and he was a very nice and surprisingly humble man. Comes across a bit nobby in the press and tv though

Yes, he is a gent in person. First one to admit he comes across as a knob. But someone has to do it. The other three are too although Edge's hat is getting a little press lately and demanding optional extras.

Billy86

PTH2009 wrote: »

its always the people who dont deserve the money always get it

theres people who cause people harm who are millionaires.

theres no god.

He didn't win the lotto or anything, he simply made a smart investment.

Billy86

donegaLroad wrote: »

my god, Madonna is third wealthiest.. she is not a great singer, nor performer

But she is an extraordinary marketer.