Taylor Swift’s still ongoing Eras Tour is obviously a huge success (albeit not quite enough of one to make her a billionaire), and a lucrative one at that with a reported $1 billion in total sales so far, and it turns out Swift is sharing quite a bit of the wealth with the workers who are making it all possible. First, TMZ reported that all of the truck drivers on the tour were given bonuses of $100,000 each, handed out personally by Swift herself before a recent show. Then, People revealed that actually every single worker on the Eras tour were being given bonuses totaling $55 million in all.
Swift’s Eras Tour may go down as the most successful concert tour in history, so it’s only fitting that all of Swift’s fellow performers, technicians, drivers, roadies, and everybody else that has a job to do on a massive tour would get a bonus for the end of the US leg of the tour.
Other than the $100,000 given to each of the tour’s 50 truck drivers, specific dollar amounts haven’t been reported, although a source tells TMZ that the bonus checks were all for a “very generous amount.”
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Mike Scherkenbach is the CEO of Shomotion, one of two trucking companies charged with moving all the equipment from city to city during Swift’s US dates. He spoke to USA Today about the bonuses, which reportedly also came with personally handwritten letters of appreciation for their work:
“[Taylor Swift’s father Scott Swift] 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…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.”
Swift is scheduled to hit Mexico before heading overseas to close out the tour in August of next year, so if you’re a music professional undecided on whether or not touring with Taylor Swift is a good idea, this could be something that makes your mind up for you.