May 17, 2012 17:11

U2's Bono to become the world's richest musician tomorrow (May 18)

Singer will leapfrog Paul McCartney when Facebook hits the stock exchange

Photo Gallery: U2
Photo: PA

Reports have suggested that U2 frontman Bono will become the richest musician in the world tomorrow (May 18), overtaking Paul McCartney. Bono however, later denied these claims, telling MSNBC, "Contrary to reports, I'm not a billionaire or going to be richer than any Beatle - and not just in the sense of money, by the way, The Beatles are untouchable - those billionaire reports are a joke."

Facebook is set to float on the stock exchange tomorrow and all its early investors are set to earn huge amounts of money from the flotation.

The U2 singer owns 2.3 per cent of the shares in Facebook through his private equity firm, Elevation Partners, which they bought for $90 million (£57 million) in 2009.

Given the social media company is currently valued at over $100billion (£63 billion), it was thought that this would make Bono's share worth over $1.5 billion (£940 million) and put him well above Paul McCartney, who is currently the world's richest rock star with a fortune of £665 million.

U2 are rumoured to be working on new material with One Direction's songwriters, according to reports, with Swedish pop svengali Carl Falk, who penned the boyband's 'What Makes You Beautiful' reportedly on board.

A source said of this: "The band are back in the studio getting a feel for new material after the last album 'No Line On The Horizon'. Will.i.am had a credit on that and they are looking to explore that direction further. They have been working with Danger Mouse and RedOne. They are excited about getting to work with Carl Falk."

You can watch a video of Noel Gallagher discussing his love for U2 by scrolling down to the bottom of the page and clicking.

Video: Noel Gallagher - 'I've Always Loved U2'

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