–
How heavy did corona weigh on the fortune of Belgian entertainers? Financial journalist Ludwig Verduyn, the man behind the website ‘De Rijkste Belgen’, wanted to answer that question. The answer turns out to be diverse. Those who mainly earn their income from television work or copyrights from earlier work had little or no trouble. Those who, on the other hand, have to live on the proceeds of performances, saw black snow. Fortunately, most have a good piggy bank on hand.
–
Kristof Simoens
—
ALSO READ. The richest entertainers in the country, part 1: a look in the wallet of our BVs
At first glance, the 25 ‘richest’ entertainers who will be reviewed in Het Nieuwsblad today and in the coming days seem to have endured the corona crisis well. Most can count on stable income from previous work (copyrights) or from other activities (television work), which means that they do not have to worry about their capital. And if not, they can still fall back on the financial buffer they have built up in recent years.
“But those are the happy few”, says Ludwig Verduyn. “The lesser gods or the upcoming talents were brutally pressed against the corona facts: those who have to be on the shelves every week to earn their living. They saw their profits crumble, if they weren’t writing blood red numbers.”
The financial journalist gives some striking examples. Niels Destadsbader saw his profit of 416,000 euros in 2019 melt away to 89,000 euros in the corona year 2020. Triggerfinger went from 263,000 euros to barely 22,000 euros profit. And they are still among the lucky ones, because Selah Sue saw a profit of 143,000 euros turn into a loss of 54,000 euros, Stan Van Samang went from 82,000 euros in profit to 28,000 euros loss and Christoff ended up with a loss of 54,000 euros, compared to a profit of 61,000 in 2019. You will not find their names in this top 25.”
Whether they will succeed next year is highly doubtful, because 2021 was not a grand cru for the entertainment sector either.
—
