Shakira

Shakira is a Colombian singer and songwriter with an estimated net worth of $300 million. One of the best-selling Latin artists of all time, she has built her fortune across a career spanning more than three decades of record sales, world tours, and songwriting royalties, and is widely regarded as one of the wealthiest female musicians in the world.

Early Life & Family

Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll was born on February 2, 1977, in Barranquilla, Colombia, to William Mebarak Chadid, of Lebanese descent, and Nidia del Carmen Ripoll Torrado. As a child she was exposed to both the Middle Eastern music of her father’s culture and Western rock acts such as Led Zeppelin and The Police. She showed an early gift for writing, composing her first poem at age four and writing her own songs by age eight, and she competed in and won local and national talent contests as a young girl.

Rise to Fame

A local theater producer helped a teenage Shakira secure an audition with a Sony Music executive in 1990, which led to a recording contract. Her first two albums, Magia (1991) and Peligro (1993), achieved only modest success, and she briefly stepped away from music to act in the Colombian telenovela El Oasis. She returned with Pies Descalzos (1995), which became a breakthrough hit across Latin America and established her as a major star.

Career History

Shakira built on that success with Donde Estan los Ladrones? (1998) before crossing over into the English-language market with Laundry Service (2001), which produced global hits including “Whenever, Wherever.” She went on to release a string of internationally successful albums and singles, including “Hips Don’t Lie” (2006), and performed the official songs for two FIFA World Cups: “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)” for South Africa 2010 and “La La La” for Brazil 2014. She has also served as a coach on the singing competition show The Voice. More recently, her 2023 collaboration with Argentine producer Bizarrap became a global viral hit, and she released the album Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran (2024), supported by a major world tour.

How They Built Their Wealth

Shakira’s wealth stems primarily from record sales, global concert tours, and songwriting and publishing royalties, since she writes or co-writes nearly all of her own music. Beyond music, she has diversified her income through business investments and brand partnerships, including a stake in gaming company Rovio Entertainment, the maker of Angry Birds, a partnership with toy maker Fisher-Price, and backing for the snack brand SkinnyDipped.

Personal Life

Shakira was in a long-term relationship with Argentine businessman Antonio de la Rua for over a decade before later being in a relationship with Spanish footballer Gerard Pique, with whom she has two sons, Milan and Sasha. Her split from Pique in 2022 was widely covered in the media, and she has since relocated with her children to Miami, Florida.

With an estimated net worth of $300 million, Shakira remains one of the highest-earning musicians in the world, continuing to add to her fortune through new music, touring, and business ventures.