The billionaire pop star and three-time Super Bowl champion are now engaged but no “gym teacher” could afford to propose to an “English teacher” with a $650,000 diamond ring. Here’s how much he brings to their love story.
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce have officially entered their Engagement Era. On Tuesday, the billionaire pop star and the Kansas City Chiefs tight end released a joint Instagram post with photographs of their enchanted garden proposal. “Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married” the couple, who began dating in 2023, wrote announcing their engagement.
As with any Taylor Swift announcement, there were plenty of Easter eggs for her fans—the post was signed with a dynamite emoji (one of the couple’s nicknames is TNT) and it was accompanied by a clip of her 2024 Tortured Poets Department song about Kelce, “So High School” (which includes the lyrics “you know how to ball, I know Aristotle.”)
Of course, the couple won’t exactly be building their new life together on teachers’ salaries. The world’s richest female musician, Swift is worth $1.6 billion, Forbes estimates. Forbes first named the 35-year-old pop star a billionaire in 2023, shortly after the start of her historic Eras Tour, which is the highest-grossing concert tour of all time and the first to surpass $1 billion in revenue. The vast majority of Swift’s net worth—about $850 million—was earned during the tour and over the span of her nearly 20-year career. Her other main asset is her music catalog, which she now completely owns, having bought back the masters to her first six albums in May. She also has nearly $120 million in real estate, including the $17 million Rhode Island mansion she wrote about on her 2020 album Folklore), and a private jet worth some $23 million.
While Kelce could afford to buy her a diamond engagement ring worth an estimated $650,000, his fortune is nowhere close to hers. Forbes estimates the three-time Super Bowl champion is worth $70 million. Across his 12-year career as a tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs, the 35-year-old Kelce (yes, they were both born in 1989), has earned $111 million on the field and Forbes estimates he has brought in another $190 million in off-field earnings, including the three-year $100 million contract he and his brother, Jason, signed with Wondery for their podcast, New Heights.
And it’s the podcast that brought Kelce and Swift together. In the summer of 2023, Kelce said on New Heights that he wanted to gift the swinger a friendship bracelet (a Swiftie staple) with his number on it during her concert in his home stadium in Kansas City, but he wasn’t actually able to meet her. “He knows the elevator lady [and thought] that he could talk to her about…getting down to my dressing room,” Swift revealed in her New Heights appearance announcing the release of her 12th album, The Life of A Showgirl. “I got denied,” joked Kelce. That episode generated more than 20 million views on YouTube alone.
In addition, he has ventured into the world of film and television, including hosting the Amazon Prime Video show Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity? and a recent cameo in Adam Sandler’s movie Happy Gilmore 2. His other ventures include investments in the Alpine Formula One racing team with Chiefs teammate Patrick Mahomes, with whom he also owns a restaurant in Kansas City. Kelce has also tried his hand at entrepreneurship. He is the founder of the sportswear brand Tru Kolors and launched nutritional supplements brand Hilo Gummies in 2018, which was eventually acquired by a private equity firm.
He has also monetized his fame through numerous endorsement deals with several brands, including Bud Light, Pfizer and Nike, and brings some valuable assets to the marriage as well. He owns a $6 million mansion in Kansas City and rolled up to the premiere of Netflix’s new series on the Chiefs this week in his $400,000 Rolls-Royce Phantom.
The Swift-Kelce love story gives the pair a combined net worth of $1.67 billion, which puts them in rather elite company among celebrity power couples. Only Jay-Z (estimated net worth $2.6 billion) and Beyoncé ($780 million) are worth more and rival the pair in terms of fame and power. While they haven’t tied the knot yet, Rihanna (net worth $1 billion) and A$AP Rocky are worth considerably less, as are David and Victoria Beckham.
The engagement news also confirms many of the rumors started by Swift’s New Heights appearance, including that two were already betrothed when she appeared on the show. On July 24, Kelce wrote on Instagram: “Had some adventures this offseason, kept it 💯.” As Swift-ologists know, her lucky number is 13—the podcast was released on August 13 and new album will be released on October 13 (or 10/3, which adds up to 13)—while his jersey number is 87. Combined, that equals 100. (The engagement announcement also came on August 26 or 13×2.)
One lingering theory is that Swift will be the next Super Bowl halftime performer on February 8. As evidence for that theory, Easter egg hunters point to Swift saying on the New Heights podcast that “sourdough has taken over my life in a huge way. I’m really talking about bread 60% of the time now.” Super Bowl LX (sixty, get it?) will be held at Levi’s Stadium, home of the San Francisco 49ers, whose mascot is Sourdough Sam.
But first, Kelce has a new NFL season kicking off on September 5 against the Los Angeles Chargers. Should the Chiefs make it back to their sixth Super Bowl since 2019—and actually win for the fourth time in seven years—he would add another ring to their growing collection.
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