11 of the richest LGBTQ+ people in the world

• Some famous LGBTQ figures are worth billions after inheriting empires or building companies.

• In 2020, Apple CEO Tim Cook officially became a billionaire.

• Giorgio Armani is worth $12.3 billion, while DreamWorks founder David Geffen is worth $8.1 billion.

Each June, Pride Month recognizes the historic struggles, accomplishments, and contributions of members of the LGBTQ+ community.

Among these achievements is reaching millionaire or billionaire status. Many high-profile professionals who just so happen to be LGBTQ+ have amassed huge fortunes thanks to their success across various industries.

Here are 11 of the richest LGBTQ+ people in the world.

Elton John has been in the music industry for decades, earning a fortune worth $81 million, according to Forbes.

John began his music career in England and became known for his flamboyant and outrageous costumes. Quickly, he became a cultural phenomenon, launching his decade-spanning career.

John's five-year-long Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour, which concluded in 2023, had more than 6 million people in attendance and grossed $939 million, Billboard reported. It remained the highest-grossing tour ever until Taylor Swift took the top spot with The Eras Tour, which kicked off in March 2023 and is still ongoing as of June 2024. So far, it's grossed over $1 billion.

Plus, John has been with his partner, David Furnish, for nearly three decades.

Ellen DeGeneres' net worth is estimated at $450 million, according to Forbes.

DeGeneres began her career as a standup comedian and eventually landed a successful sitcom, "Ellen," in the late '90s.

In 1997, the sitcom aired "The Puppy Episode," in which DeGeneres' character, Ellen Morgan, tells Laura Dern's character, Susan, that she's gay. The episode ran the same year that DeGeneres publicly came out as a lesbian on the cover of Time Magazine and "The Oprah Winfrey Show."

In April 2022, DeGeneres reflected on the episode's impact on her daytime talk show, "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," in honor of its 25th anniversary.

"When I came out, people warned me that it was going to ruin my career. They were right for awhile. For exactly three years, I lost my career. But look at me now," DeGeneres told the studio audience.

"The Ellen DeGeneres Show" ended that year after a 19-season run following a series of "toxic workplace allegations" made by her staff and guests. DeGeneres apologized on the show in 2020, and in 2024, told Rolling Stone what happened was "devastating."

"I just hated the way the show ended. I love that show so much and I just hated that the last time people would see me is that way," she added.

She's been married to Portia de Rossi since 2008, and they live in Los Angeles.

In 2020, Apple CEO Tim Cook officially became a billionaire. He is now worth $2.2 billion.

Cook became CEO of Apple in 2011 after the death of its founder, Steve Jobs. A decade later, the company is nearing a market value of nearly $2 trillion, making Cook a billionaire. His net worth is $2.2 billion, according to Forbes.

Despite his billionaire status, he lives in a relatively modest home in Palo Alto, per Square Yards.

He came out as gay in 2014, becoming the first out CEO of a Fortune 500 company.

"There's been a lot of people that came before me that made it possible for me to sit here today, and I needed to do something to help those people that were in a younger generation," Cook told People en Español in 2019 of his decision to come out.

Jennifer Pritzker, a hotel heiress, is the only openly transgender billionaire in the world with a net worth of $2.2 billion.

A former lieutenant colonel in the Army, Pritzker inherited part of the Hyatt hotel fortune, giving her a net worth of $2.2 billion, Forbes reported.

She came out as transgender in 2013 without much fanfare, but she made headlines in 2017 when President Trump announced a ban on transgender people serving in the military.

Before this, Vanity Fair reported Pritzker supported Trump and donated large sums to his campaign, but the ban prompted her to support Biden in his bid for the presidency.

Norwegian businessman Stein Erik Hagen is worth $2.3 billion, according to Forbes.

Per Forbes, Hagen founded the supermarket chain Rimi with his father in the 1970s, Forbes reports, and is a major shareholder of the consumer goods conglomerate Orkla. He was Norway's ninth wealthiest person in 2023, according to Norwegian business magazine Kapital.

Hagen, who is bisexual, publicly came out on one of Norway's biggest talk shows, "Skavaln," in 2015, saying he only came to understand his sexuality "well into adulthood," The Local, an English language Norway website, reported.

Fashion designer Domenico Dolce is worth $2.3 billion, per Forbes.

After meeting in a club, Dolce and Stefano Gabbana started a fashion brand together in 1985. The company's signature animal print made waves at fashion events, eventually solidifying Dolce & Gabbana's place in fashion history.

In a 2017 interview with Italian outlet Corriere della Sera, Dolce said that he was tired of being called "gay," The Guardian reported.

"The word 'gay' was invented by those who need to label people, and I don't want to be identified by my sexual choices," he said.

Dolce's business partner, Stefano Gabbana, is also worth $2.3 billion.

Gabbana told the Chicago Tribune that he and Dolce ended their romantic relationship three years before news of their split became public in 2003. The former couple still own the company and design together.

"It's another style of love," Gabbana said. "The love story continues, but it's different."

Jon Stryker is an heir to a medical equipment company. Forbes reports his net worth at $5.3 billion.

Stryker's grandfather founded Stryker Corp., a medical supply company that sold $18.4 billion in equipment in 2022, Forbes reported.

One of the heirs to the family fortune, Stryker is a philanthropist who donates large sums of his money to charities and scholarships. So far, Forbes reports that he has given away upwards of $700 million.

Stryker also founded the Arcus Foundation, which fights for LGBTQ+ rights and ape conservation.

PayPal's cofounder Peter Thiel is worth $7.2 billion, according to Forbes.

In 1999, Thiel co-founded PayPal, which was meant to be a simple way to exchange money via devices. He was CEO of the company up until eBay acquired PayPal, and his stake in the company was said to be worth $55 million. Thiel was also an early investor in Facebook, and he founded a data analytics company, Palantir, which is valued at $20 billion, according to Forbes.

He now lives with his husband, Matt Danzeisen, in Los Angeles.

David Geffen, the cofounder of DreamWorks, is worth $8.1 billion, according to Forbes.

Starting as a Hollywood talent agent, Geffen made the foundation of his fortune when he created record labels Asylum Records, Geffen Records, and DGC Records, Forbes reported.

In 1994, he created the DreamWorks film studio with Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg, Bloomberg reported. Geffen also has a large real estate portfolio and a $2 billion art collection.

In 2007, Out magazine called Geffen the most powerful gay man in the country.

Fashion designer Giorgio Armani's fortune is worth about $12.3 billion.

Armani began his career in the military after leaving medical school, Forbes reported.

In the '70s, he started designing menswear clothing, but his career really took off when he started designing for Richard Gere in 1980. Since then, Armani's brand has expanded into an empire, which includes accessories, interior design, and hotels.

The famously private designer spoke about his sexuality in a 2000 interview with Vanity Fair, saying, "I have had women in my life. And sometimes men."

Correction: June 17, 2024 — An earlier version of this story incorrectly listed Jennifer Pritzker's rank in the Army. She retired as a lieutenant colonel, not a lieutenant.

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