ForbesWomen Weekly: The Branding Prowess Of Taylor Swift. Plus: Meet 2023’s Top Creators

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Over the past several weeks, I’ve begun the reporting for our World’s Most Powerful Women list—Forbes’ annual ranking of the 100 most influential women in the world. A standard part of this process involves asking my sources: “Who do you think should be on this year’s list? Who should be number one?” And so far, more than one person has responded: Taylor Swift.

Now, we know that Swift’s Eras Tour had a billion-dollar ripple effect on local state economies. We know that the Eras Tour Movie is poised to become the highest-grossing concert film ever (an achievement it stands to notch in its opening weekend). But what we learned this past weekend is that Taylor Swift can even influence the NFL: When pop’s biggest superstar showed up at Arrowhead Stadium to cheer on her rumored love interest, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, millions of additional viewers flocked to Fox to watch the Chiefs’ game against the Chicago Bears.

Swift stands to boost Kelce’s marketability, too: As Forbes’ Justin Birnbaum reports here, Kelce’s social media following exploded over the weekend, amassing around 500,000 new followers. And his merchandise sales spiked roughly 400% on Fanatics’ network of sites, including NFLShop.com, making him one of the five top-selling players. The man already has two Super Bowl rings, so it seems unlikely that this sudden surge in interest is entirely due to his on-field performance.

It is, of course, still to be determined where Taylor Swift ranks among the final 100 people on our World’s Most Powerful Women list; there remains much more reporting to do. In the meantime, your trusty newsletter writer will be cheering for a different Swift-Kelce combo: the one that helped the Philadelphia Eagles remain one of just three undefeated teams in the NFL on Monday night.

Cheers!

Maggie

P.S.: In case you missed it last week, nominations for the 2024 Forbes 50 Over 50: EMEA and 50 Over 50: Asia lists are officially open! Do you know a woman who lives and works primarily in Europe, the Middle East, Africa or Asia who founded her company after 50? Forged a new scientific discovery or broke a barrier in her field? Ascended to CEO of an industry-defining company? Please tell us about her here! You have until December 10 to submit your best ideas.

Featured Forbes List: Meet 2023’s Top-Earning Creators

Creators. Influencers. Streamers. Vloggers. Whatever you call them, these powerful social media personalities are calling the shots in entertainment and advertising. This year’s top 50—a ranking that includes the D’Amelio sisters, Emma Chamberlain and Olivia Dunne (pictured)—harnessed their combined 2.6 billion followers to haul in an estimated $700 million in earnings, up more than 20% over 2022’s score.

ICYMI: News Of The Week

We begin with a tragic story: 26-year-old Pava LaPere, a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree for her work cofounding and leading tech startup EcoMap Technologies, was found dead in her Baltimore apartment Monday with “signs of blunt-force trauma.” Police arrested a suspect in the murder on Wednesday. The entire Forbes team sends our deepest condolences to all of Pava’s loved ones and colleagues.

In 2023 alone, more than 560 anti-trans bills have been introduced nationwide—and over 80 have already passed. Author, director and producer Geena Rocero is calling the situation “really dire.” Here’s her exclusive interview with ForbesWomen.

Tuesday marked World Contraception Day, and in honor of the occasion, ForbesWomen contributor Eva Epker took a look at the economic benefits of birth control—economists have calculated that the $3.6 billion spent annually on contraception has a $432 billion return—as well as the ways entrepreneurs are seeking to improve birth control options for women AND men.

According to a new study by the Pew Research Center, women now account for 10.6% of all CEO positions and 30.4% of all board member roles across the county’s 500 largest corporations. These figures represent all-time highs, yet almost half of all Americans think that perfect parity between women and men in the highest echelons of business is unlikely ever to happen.

The Checklist

1. Get more rest. Keeping a regular bedtime, doodling during the day and even finding moments of “microsleep” can help you stave off burnout, according to author Ximena Vengoechea.

2. Lower your student loan payments. Millions of borrowers are only days or weeks away from having a student loan payment due for the first time in years. If you are among this group, check out these 8 tips for lowering or eliminating your student loan bill.

3. Build influence without authority. Are you in a position with a lot of responsibility but no organizational power? Here’s how you can build a network of allies, position yourself as an expert and motivate others to help you get your job done.

The Quiz

For the second time in less than a year, fans of a popular musical artist struggled to purchase tour tickets via Ticketmaster, and some were shocked by higher than expected prices. The widely-criticized ticketing platform warned of high demand for which artist’s upcoming world tour?