Beyoncé Knowles-Carter is entering a new phase of her career: impresario
After decades of chart-topping anthems like “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It),” acting in movies and putting her image on Pepsi cans and L’Oréal hair products, the face of America’s female-power zeitgeist is turning more energy toward not being in the spotlight—investing in young firms, guiding new acts, producing and directing videos.
Having recently turned 35 years old,
Beyoncé is morphing into an investor: She’s taken stakes in start-ups that share her interest in women’s health, from 22 Days Nutrition, a vegan-diet company, to WTRMLN WTR.
Helping her build an entertainment empire is a reshuffled management team, led by former J.P. Morgan Chase executive Steve Pamon.
“She’s broadening her reach,” says Mathew, her father and early manager, of Beyoncé’s staff overhaul.
“She’s paying more attention to ownership—as an entrepreneur.”
A Michael Jackson for the Millennial age,
Beyoncé is bringing R&B into the 21st century by weaving in pop, hip-hop, electronic music and—on a new song “Daddy Lessons”—even country. Millions of zealous fans, known collectively as the “BeyHive,” obsess over her every move and defend their “Queen of Pop” from critics.
The vocal prodigy and husband, rap mogul Jay Z, on the highest level, counting first couple Barack and Michelle Obama as friends.
Beyoncé came into her own as an artist and businesswoman around 2013, observers say.
She became much more selective about endorsements, dropping her work with L’Oréal, for example.
She stopped talking to the press and took a hands-on role in all her activities—even inspecting the composition of advertisement photos.
“
Lemonade”—released last April and widely thought to be about Jay Z’s infidelity—
has taken Beyoncé from pop star to pop-culture icon.
Her “Formation World Tour,” her first global solo stadium trek, is competing with Bruce Springsteen for the crown of 2016’s highest-grossing international tour, with expected ticket sales of around $260 million, according to publication Pollstar.
Forbes estimated Beyoncé earned $54 million over the year in income.
Given her enormous clout in the entertainment industry, one question is whether Beyoncé will go fully independent.
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Wall Street Journal 
