Beyoncé Once Turned Down $6 Million to Perform and It Was Her Smartest Decision Yet

Beyoncé is one of the biggest artists today. She has been an icon in pop music since the late 1990s, and it does not seem like her career will be in a decline anytime soon.

Given her popularity, it goes without saying that booking a performance with Beyoncé requires a lot of money. In 2015, Uber decided to offer Beyoncé $6 million to perform at an event hosted by the ride-sharing company.

However, she decided to turn down the payment. While the move would surprise a lot of people, it turns out that Beyoncé was actually thinking ahead, and that ended up being her smartest decision yet.

Beyoncé asked for equity from Uber

Beyoncé was asked to perform at a corporate event for Uber in 2015, and she could have been paid her usual performance fee of $6 million. However, Beyoncé declined to get paid with money. Instead, she decided to get $6 million worth of Uber stock units instead.

Uber was a private company at the time, though it was already making a name for itself in the startup industry. Uber was replacing taxis in many countries around the world, so it was not surprising that people were looking to get stocks in it as soon as possible.

Beyoncé’s decision to be paid in stocks instead of money was a good move. Uber finally went public in mid-2019, and Beyoncé’s stocks have increased in value since her initial acquisition of them in 2015. According to Mercury News, they are now worth around $9 million.

Beyoncé is known for making smart business decisions

Over the years, Beyoncé has proven herself to be extremely business-savvy. After all, she has managed to achieve longevity in an industry where long-term success is never guaranteed. Luck surely played a role in her career, but being smart and calculating helped just as much.

In 2016, for example, Beyoncé made headlines when she decided to drop her album, Lemonade, seemingly out of nowhere. The lack of fanfare prior to its release made people all the more curious about the album, especially since there were talks of it containing songs about her husband Jay-Z’s infidelity. 

Lemonade ended up charting at number one in numerous countries. It was also certified 3x platinum in the United States.

Another big thing that Beyoncé did in recent years was performing at Coachella in 2018. Her show, which paid homage to historically-black colleges and universities, had 26 songs and involved around 100 dancers. It was watched by 125,000 concertgoers.

While Beyoncé was only paid a few million dollars for performing, she signed a $60-million deal with Netflix beforehand to release a documentary called Homecoming about the event.

Beyoncé makes money outside of music as well

Beyonce has also expanded her career beyond the music industry. For instance, he has dipped her toes into fashion by working with brands like Topshop and Gucci. She also her own clothing line as well, called Ivy Park.

Additionally, Beyoncé has acting experience worth noting. She has appeared in movies like The Pink Panther (2016), Dreamgirls (2006), and The Lion King (2019).

What is Beyoncé’s net worth?

Given her successful career filled with many smart business decisions, it’s not surprising that Beyoncé has amassed quite a lot of money over the years. Forbes estimates her net worth to be around $400 million. In June 2019, she also came in at number 51 on Forbes’ list of wealthiest self-made women.

Her husband Jay-Z is actually worth $1 billion, which means that he and Beyoncé have a combined net worth of around $1.4 billion.