THE BEYONCÉ EFFECT: SWEDEN’S INFLATION FEELS THE HIT

Call it Bey-flation.

Sweden’s higher-than-expected inflation in May was due in part to Beyoncé launching her Renaissance World Tour in Stockholm, according to an economist at Danske Bank.

Fans flocking to Sweden’s capital city sent hotel prices soaring, said economist Michael Grahn. Calling it a “Beyoncé blip,” he estimates that Beyoncé’s tour contributed about 0.2 percentage point to inflation.

“This is very rare,” Grahn said about the effect that Beyoncé’s Stockholm performances on May 10 and 11 had. “Basically, her fans vacuumed hotels around Stockholm with a radius of some 40 miles,” bidding up hotel rates.

Inflation in Sweden was at 9.7% in May, falling from 10.5% the month before, according to Sweden’s government. Economists surveyed by FactSet were expecting inflation to drop to 9.2% last month. Statistics Sweden, which puts out the country’s inflation and other economic reports, said hotel and restaurant prices rose 3.3% in May from the month before.

“Beyoncé probably had an effect on hotel prices in Stockholm the week she performed here,” said Carl Mårtensson, a price statistician at Statistics Sweden, “but it should not have had any significant impact” on Sweden’s inflation.

The Renaissance tour, named after Beyoncé’s most recent album, is making its way around Europe before coming to the U.S. next month. The superstar’s first tour in seven years is playing in soccer and football stadiums, where fans watch her dance with robots and sing while riding a mirrored horse that floats in the air.

Beyoncé, whose hits include “Crazy in Love” and “Formation,” broke the record for most Grammy wins in February after “Renaissance” won best dance/electronic music album. She’s had 32 Grammy wins over her career, the most of any person.

When Renaissance tour tickets went on sale earlier this year, Beyoncé superfans, who call themselves the BeyHive, tried to buy tickets in several cities, fearing they would go quickly. A day after tour dates were announced, Ticketmaster said fan demand for the first round of tickets exceeded the number of tickets available by more than 800%.

Grahn said Sweden’s currency, the krona, is weak, which means tickets and other costs are likely cheaper for fans outside the country.

Other superstars touring this year after a long break have also made an economic impact on the cities they have visited.

Taylor Swift, who is in the midst of her Eras Tour, helped Las Vegas nearly match pre pandemic visitor levels when she performed there in March, the Las Vegas tourism authority said. Cities have been going all out to welcome Swifties in town for the Eras Tour, lighting up monuments in her signature colours and temporarily renaming streets after her.

The number of U.S. billionaires in the world reached 870 in mid-January, outpacing the number in China for the first time in 10 years, according to a snapshot of the wealthiest in the world by the Hurun Report.

The U.S. gained 70 billionaires since last year, powered by a rising stock market, a strong dollar, and the insatiable appetite for all things AI, according to the 14th annual Hurun Global Rich List . China gained nine billionaires overall for a total of 823. Hurun is a China-based research, media, and investment group.

“It’s been a good year for AI, money managers, entertainment, and crypto,” Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief researcher of the Hurun Report, said in a news release. “It’s been a tough year for luxury, telecommunications, and real estate in China.”

Overall, the Hurun list—which reflects a snapshot of global wealth based on calculations made Jan. 15—counted 3,442 billionaires in the world, up 5%, or 163, from a year ago. Their total wealth rose 13% to just under $17 trillion.

In November, New York research firm Altrata reported that the billionaire population rose 4% in 2023 to 3,323 individuals and their wealth rose 9% to $12.1 trillion.

Elon Musk, CEO of electric-car maker Tesla and right-hand advisor to President Donald Trump, topped the list for the fourth time in five years, with recorded wealth of $420 billion as of mid-January as Tesla stock soared in the aftermath of the U.S. election, according to Hurun’s calculations.

The firm noted that Musk’s wealth has since nosedived about $100 billion, falling along with shares of Tesla although the EV car maker is benefiting on Thursday from Trump’s 25% tariff on cars made outside the U.S.

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Musk’s wealth stood at about $336 billion as of the market’s close on Wednesday, although measuring his exact wealth —including stakes in his privately held companies and the undiscounted value of his Tesla shares—is difficult to precisely determine.

The overall list this year contained 387 new billionaires, while 177 dropped off the list—more than 80 of which were from China, Hurun said. “China’s economy is continuing to restructure, with the drop-offs coming from a weeding out of healthcare and new energy and traditional manufacturing, as well as real estate,” Hoogewerf said in the release.

Among those who wealth sank was Colin Huang, the founder of PDD Holdings —the parent company of e-commerce platforms Temu and Pinduoduo—who lost $17 billion.

Also, Zhong Shanshan, the founder and chair of the Nongfu Spring beverage company and the majority owner of Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy Enterprise , lost $8 billion from “intensifying competition” in the market for bottled water. The loss knocked Zhong from his top rank in China, which is now held by Zhang Yiming founder of Tik-Tok owner Bytedance. Zhang is ranked No. 22 overall.

Hurun’s top 10 billionaires is a familiar group of largely U.S. individuals including Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, and Larry Ellison. The list has France’s LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault in seventh place, three notches down from his fourth ranked spot on the Bloomberg list, reflecting a slump in luxury products last year.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is ranked No. 11 on Hurun’s list as his wealth nearly tripled to $128 billion through Jan. 15. Other AI billionaires found lower down on the list include Liang Wenfeng, 40, founder and CEO of DeepSeek, with wealth of $4.5 billion and Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, with $1.8 billion.

Also making the list were musicians Jay-Z ($2.7 billion), Rihanna ($1.7 billion), Taylor Swift ($1.6 billion), and Paul McCartney ($1 billion). Sports stars included Michael Jordan ($3.3 billion), Tiger Woods ($1.7 billion), Floyd Mayweather ($1.3 billion), and LeBron James ($1.3 billion).

Wealth continues to surge across the globe, but Hoogewerf noted those amassing it aren’t overly generous.

“We only managed to find three individuals in the past year who donated more than $1 billion,” he said. Warren Buffet gave $5.3 billion, mainly to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, while Michael Bloomberg —ranked No. 19 with wealth of $92 billion—gave $3.7 billion to various causes. Netflix founder Reed Hastings, ranked No. 474 with wealth of $6.2 billion, donated $1.1 billion.

THE BEYONCÉ EFFECT: SWEDEN’S INFLATION FEELS THE HIT

Danske Bank economist estimates Renaissance Tour contributed about 0.2 percentage point

The U.S. now has more billionaires than China for the first time in a decade, driven by AI and a booming stock market.