Bono could become the world’s richest rock musician once opening day of the Facebook IPO is closed. According to MTV News, the tech savvy rocker owns 2.3% of Facebook through his investment group, Elevation Partners. Bono bought the shares back in 2009, shelling up $90 million. A wise investment. His share could be worth over $1.5 billion after today. Going from millionaire to billionaire in a few hours has to be a good feeling, especially when you know nothing about programming.
With Bono’s stock at $1.5 billion, he could slide into first among the world’s richest rock stars. The spot was previously held by Beatle Paul McCartney, who’s fortune is estimated at $1.05 billion.
Bono has denied this. Speaking with Andrea Mitchell on MSNBC, he explains that his firm, Elevation Partners, invests money for a number of people. He does not necessarily hold the entire 2.3%. This makes since, but it would be hard to believe that Bono, himself, doesn’t personally own a large chunk of that stock.
“Contrary to reports, I’m not a billionaire or going to be richer than any Beatle — and not just in the sense of money, by the way; the Beatles are untouchable — those billionaire reports are a joke,” he said. “In Elevation, we invest other people’s money — endowments, pension funds. We do get paid, of course. But, you know, I felt rich when I was 20 years old and my wife was paying my bills. Just being in a band, I’ve always felt blessed. I got interested in technology because I’m an artist, I’m interested in the forces that shape the world, politics, religion, the stuff we’ve been talking about today. Technology is huge, I wanted to learn about it. People might say that’s odd, but I think it’s odd if artists aren’t interested in the world around them. I’m always chasing that. Facebook are an amazing team, a brilliant team. It’s a technology that brings people together.”
According to the Rolling Stone, he will use these funds to continue his philanthropic work in Africa.