Taylor Swift took the final bow of her record-breaking “Eras Tour” in Vancouver, British Columbia, on Dec. 8. After nearly a year and a half on tour and 149 shows, the “Eras Tour’ became the first tour in history to gross over $2 billion ticket sales.
Swift personally reached billionaire status in 2023, however, after the release of her 11th studio album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” in April 2024, her net worth ballooned to $1.6 billion, surpassing Rihanna as the wealthiest female musician is history.
While the 14-time Grammy winner is one of the hardest-working artists in the industry, she’s also one of the most generous. Before wrapping the first U.S. leg of her “Eras Tour,” Swift famously gave $100,000 bonuses to every truck driver on staff. An estimated 50 drivers helped transport the stage, lights, instruments, and more from location to location.
She made sure every crew member felt her appreciation, also doling out bonuses to her musicians, dancers, lighting and sound technicians, and caterers. On Jan. 12, the first photo emerged of one of the handwritten letters that accompanied these bonuses.
The letter read, “Robert, Thank you for your superb work on the U.S. leg of The Eras Tour!! Your well-deserved bonus is $100,000. Love, Taylor.”
One fan commented, “That’s so awesome. They deserved it.” Another person wrote, “Taylor Swift out here treating her crew better than most CEOs! Imagine getting a handwritten note and a life-changing bonus? Taylor really is the CEO of Kindness™.”
Mike Scherkenbach, the CEO of Shomotion, one of two companies that helped managed transporting the “Eras” tour equipment told USA Today in August 2023 that they were called into what they thought was a routine production meeting before learning of the “life-changing” bonus from Swift’s father, Scott Swift.
“Scott gave a short speech and said how much he appreciated the service and what they’ve done for the tour for the last 24 weeks,” Scherkenbach said. “They’ve been out there nonstop, the men and women that drive for us have been away from their families for 24 weeks.”
“The funny part is, they just glanced at the letter quickly and didn’t look at the amount, so one driver read it as $1,000, another driver read it as $10,000. And then another driver said, ‘Oh, this has to be a joke. $100,000?’ which then made the other ones reopen their letters,” he added.
