Billie Eilish might just have ruffled a few feathers after suggesting that billionaires should donate their wealth to people who are more in need, instead of retaining their billionaire status.
The Grammy winner was accepting the Music Innovator Award at the WSJ Innovator Awards earlier this week when she took a swipe at the ultra-rich, in front of an audience that included the likes of Mark Zuckerberg, who currently holds the title of world's third-richest person.
Addressing the crowd, the 23-year-old, who recently donated $11.5 million of her own money to charity, said: "We're in a time right now where the world is really, really bad and really dark and people need empathy and help more than, kind of, ever, especially in our country.
"I'd say if you have money, it would be great to use it for good things, maybe give it to some people that need it."
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She then went that step further by directly calling out the billionaires in the room, adding: "Love you all, but there's a few people in here that have a lot more money than me. If you're a billionaire, why are you a billionaire? No hate, but yeah, give your money away, shorties."
Moments before Billie stepped on the stage, host Stephen Colbert announced the Birds Of A Feather singer had donated the proceeds from her most recent tour to support 'organisations, projects and voices dedicated to food equity, climate justice, reducing carbon pollution and combating the climate crisis'.
What is Billie Eilish's net worth?
Many people have been left questioning how much money Billie does actually have, after such a generous donation to worthy causes.
As is always the case with these situations, it's impossible to know for sure, but given the musician's sudden rise to fame at the age of just 16 and never-ending success over the last seven years, we know Billie is doing pretty well for herself.
In addition to being a superstar in her own right, Billie comes from a family of entertainers, having been homeschooled by her actor parents, Maggie Baird and Patrick O'Connell. Her older brother, Finneas Baird O'Connell is also a musician, who has written and produced for many artists, including Billie, Drake, Nicki Minaj, Justin Bieber and many more.
Billie has previously confessed to 'feeling like an idiot' for not having a grasp on what is expensive, having grown up with no money to being a multimillionaire before becoming an adult.
"I don't know what things cost because I've never been an adult before. And, you know, I grew up with no money. It's a really weird position I'm in. I feel kind of stupid because I'm like, I don't know how much Froot Loops are," she told Vanity Fair.
"I tried to order one box of Froot Loops and I was like, 'Oh yeah, sure. It's $35.' I didn’t know that that’s expensive. I ordered 70 boxes."
In 2025, Billie is estimated to have a net worth of around $50 million according to Celebrity Net Worth, with half of that coming from Apple paying to make a documentary about her life.
Topics: Celebrity, Money, Billie Eilish
Emma Rosemurgey