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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
World
Andrew Buncombe

Bono has made more money from Facebook investment than from all his music

Bono throws water at the crowd while the Edge watches as they perform in the band's first concert of their new world tour in Vancouver (AP)

Bono has written dozens songs during his long and enduring career.

But he has made more money from an investment in Facebook six years ago, than from all of the music he has written and recorded over the years.

Reports said the 55-year-old rock frontman bought a 2.3 per cent share of the social media site for nearly $86m 2009 through Elevation Partners, an investment group he co-founded.

Contrary to some reports, the investment has not made him the world’s wealthiest musician; the $1.4bn will be split between the six founding partners of Elevation Partners, which only get 20 per cent of profits.

The take-away for Bono, whose real name is Paul Hewson, is  approximately $43m from the deal, according to Value Walk. He is still some way behind both Paul McCartney and Madonna on the richest pop stars list.  

Bono’s success comes just days after he announced an upcoming campaign he will be involve in to empower women.

He and top African male musicians D’banj, Diamond and Banky W announced last week that they will be included in a remix of the song Strong Girl - a rallying cry for women’s empowerment which features top African female talent.

Bono, whose ONE advocacy group is the creative force behind the campaign for women empowerment, has said music can create awareness and help shift policies to empower women

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