Ed Sheeran net worth 2019: Is he the UK’s wealthiest musician after smashing U2’s tour record?

Singer Ed Sheeran is one of the richest musicians in the UK thanks to his years as a hit maker and mammoth international tours. In fact, it was announced today that the ‘Castle on the Hill’ singer has smashed through a record previously held by band U2’s “360 tour”; as his Divide tour has garnered him an estimated $775.5 million - over $40 million more than U2’s record for highest grossing tour of all time.

The figures were deduced by trade publication Pollstar and released through the Daily Mail. Prior to the announcement, Pollstar actually predicted on August 2that Sheeran would actually come in a little lower with a projected gross of $736.7 million; just slightly more than U2’s 2011 touring record.

Even Sheeran couldn’t have predicted the success of the Divide tour, as in a recent song with Stormzy on his new Collaborations album he claimed that he had “made half a billi on the divide tour”. He’ll probably have to drop another track clarifying that he’s made even more than that.

Sheeran said to Pollstar previously, “I just found out the Divide tour is now the highest-grossing tour of all time, this is amazing! I feel very lucky to have experienced all of the wonderful countries and crowds over the past 2 ½ years. Thank you to the fans and everyone who made it possible.”

According to The Sunday Times, Sheeran could soon be the UK's youngest billionaire musician and is set to hit the nine zero mark before he's 30.

Earlier this year, Forbes released their Celebrity 100 list which revealed the highest paid stars over the past year. Sheeran was the highest paid Brit on the list, coming in at fifth place behind Taylor Swift, Kylie Jenner, Kanye Swift and Lionel Messi. The Sunday Times also revealed that Sheeran was officially one of the top twenty richest British musicians and officially ranks above Adele.

However, his fortune could be in jeopardy as he has been hit with a number of allegations claiming that he had plagiarised some of his music including ‘Shape of You’ and ‘Thinking Out Loud’. (He has denied the claims.) He did however settle out of court in 2017 over his song ‘Photograph’ to the tune of £14 million, which songwriters for Matt Cardle’s 2012 track ‘Amazing’ claimed was “instantly recognisable” as their song.

The 'Shape of You' singer has been smart with his money, investing his fortune in numerous multi-million pound properties across the UK. For more on Sheeran’s net worth, read on below.

What is Ed Sheeran’s net worth?

In the latest edition of the Sunday Times Rich List, Ed Sheeran was named the 17th highest earning British musician with a net worth of £160 million.

The newspaper reports that Sheeran has “doubled his wealth” over the past year, undoubtedly down to his massive 96-country tour and bumper album sales.

Notably, Sheeran edged out Adele on the list, who slid down to 22 with a net worth of £150 million. She remains the richest female artist in the UK. The richest musician on the list was Sir Andrew Lloyd-Webber who has an estimated net worth of £820 million, followed by Sir Paul McCartney with £750 million.

Sheeran has also secured first place on the Young Musicians Rich List, specifically for British artists, followed closely by all five members of One Direction.

How much money did he make from his world tour?

Pollstar confirmed to the Daily Mail that Ed Sheeran currently holds the record for highest grossing world tour with an estimated total of $775.5 million. 8.9 million tickets were sold over the course of two and a half years and 255 performances, which wrapped up in Ipswich recently.

Sheeran also broke U2’s total attendance record for their 110 show tour - breezing past their 7.3 million benchmark on May 24 with a total headcount of 7,315,970.

Sheeran's manager, Stuart Camp, said to Pollstar, "What Ed has accomplished is truly incredible. I thought we might have a shot at having the highest attendance record but not the highest grossing tour.”

“I don’t think there’s much of a coincidence that my favorite band growing up was U2. I’m not putting us at that level because they’ve obviously maintained their career for much longer, but to even be in the same ballpark as them or spoken in the same sentence with a touring act like that is very humbling," Camp continued.

Earlier this year, the Sunday Times Rich List claimed Sheeran could have broken records in 2018, saying he was “believed to have earned more than any other musician in a single year in history”.

It remains to be seen if Sheeran will make as much, if not more, for the second half of the year. He will also be headlining Budapest music festival Sziget between August 7-13.

Where does the rest of his wealth come from?

Although Sheeran hasn’t released an album in two years, sales of his last album ÷ continue to tick along.

In fact, according to Official Charts, by the end of 2018 Sheeran had sold over 3 million copies of the album and the Official Charts weekly album ranking declared that it was the 20th most popular album for the week May 6, 2019.

Billboard’s US ranking of the top 200 albums also lists Sheeran’s ÷ in 42, with his previous album 'x' trailing behind at 131.

Sheeran is also a prolific songwriter for other artists. He and his long-standing collaborator Justin Bieber recently released a song called 'I Don’t Care' together (and a trippy music video to go along with it).

While it isn’t known how much Sheeran makes from songwriting, he has also helped write chart-topping hits including The Weeknd’s Dark Times, Justin Bieber’s Love Yourself and One Direction’s Little Things.

While Sheeran usually strays away from brand partnerships, this year he appealed to Heinz on Instagram for a collaboration.

He wrote, “Yo @heinz I have an idea for a tv ad if you wanna do one, if not I won’t be offended, I could never be mad at you. Slide in my DMs or have your people call my people. Lots of love, your biggest fan x”

The brand quickly responded, saying in a comment they were “hitting you up RIGHT NOW”. Sheeran then shared a photo showing off a graphic which read “Ed Sheeran x Heinz”.

He confirmed in the caption, “It’s happening…”

Sheeran, who reportedly asks “key members of his entourage to carry a bottle [of Heinz ketchup] wherever he goes”, also hashtagged the post #dreamscometrue, #believe and #achieve. Their partnership was finally unveiled in June in the form of an advert that Sheeran both narrated and starred in, in which he described how he brought his own ketchup to a fancy restaurant and slathered it all over his dish - horrifying everyone in the process.

Bottles of limited edition Henz "Edchup" will also be available in shops soon.

How many properties does Ed Sheeran own?

Earlier this year, The Sun reported that Sheeran’s company Maverick Properties (which he reportedly co-owns with his manager Stuart Camp) had invested heavily in property. In the UK alone, Sheeran reportedly owns eighteen homes and one restaurant in Notting Hill and is estimated to have spent £42 million on the purchases.

An expert told The Sun, “He’s been incredibly shrewd by ploughing his money into property. And by focusing on London, where the market is still growing, he can charge top whack to renters.”

Fifteen of Sheeran's property assets are in London. They include six flats in Hammersmith, three homes in Holland Park, two Shoreditch flats, two Chiswick houses, a house and a restaurant in Notting Hill. The restaurant, which is said to have been purchased for £1.5 million on Portobello Road, will reportedly be turned into a live music bar and restaurant.

However Sheeran's personal residence in Suffolk has also become known as “Sheeran-ville” to locals, as his estate encompasses four homes believed to be worth £2.8 million.

After purchasing the first property in 2012, it was revealed that he was hoping to make substantial renovations which included the addition of a £21,450 greenhouse, walled kitchen garden and platform for his hot tub. The house also reportedly has an underground pub, cinema and music room.

Sheeran also submitted an application to build a 32-foot chapel in his garden (presumably in anticipation of his marriage to his wife Cherry Seaborn), but was rejected by the council on the grounds that it would “conflict with the prevailing nature of the landscape”.

What else does he spend his fortune on?

Sheeran is one of the richest musicians in the world and has reportedly spent his money on some pretty extravagant splurges. After revealing he has “a room full of teddy bears” and “loads of kids’ stuff” on the Graham Norton Show, he told The Sun that he once spent £2000 at Toys R Us in a single trip.

He explained, “As any kid that has good parents will know, when you grow up you’re not allowed things. I went into Toys R Us and just spent two grand on everything I wanted when I was younger.”

“I was like, ‘I was never allowed that pirate ship so I’m having that, wasn’t allowed a Nerf gun so I’m having that, I wasn’t allowed a scooter so I’m having that’. I bought roller skates, a yo-yo, those wheelie shoes,” he continued.

“I haven’t used half of them but it was just that moment that I’m allowed to now. I bought everything,” he finished.

He also added that he had gone on eBay and “spent a day looking for the same dolls I had when I was younger and bought all of them as well”.

At a charity auction for St Elizabeth Hospice, a staff member confirmed Sheeran had also bought an unusual piece of art: a giant pig statue modelled to look just like him. The statue, which is called Ed Sheer-Ham, was sold for £6,500.

Pigs aside, Sheeran is also an avid watch collector and owns a number of luxury timepieces from brands including Patek Philippe, Hublot and more. His Patek Philippe Nautilus is reportedly priced at £47,000 and Hublot Big Bang watch at £10,500.

Who is Ed Sheeran’s wife and how much is she worth?

Ed Sheeran is said to have married his wife Cherry Seaborn last year in a “tiny winter wedding”, following fierce speculation after Sheeran was seen wearing a male engagement ring created for him by Seaborn.

They announced their engagement in January last year, with Sheeran saying, “Got myself a fiance just before new year.”

Seaborn could not have a more different job to Sheeran, as she is believed to work for accounting firm Deloitte. The Daily Mail reported she was a Senior Consultant in Risk Advisory at the firm and a LinkedIn profile that bears her name and experience claims she was promoted to manager in August last year.

According to Glassdoor, the average manager at Deloitte makes roughly £67,000 a year.

More specifically, Glassdoor also claim the average Deloitte manager in risk advisory makes £57,000 a year.