USC introduces MBA class on Beyoncé’s billion-dollar business empire

Beyoncé’s business ventures are officially making their way into the classroom. The University of Southern California is placing the Grammy-winning superstar’s entrepreneurial path at the center of a new MBA course meant to show students how celebrity, branding, and smart business choices can grow into a full entertainment empire. USC’s Marshall School of Business will debut “The Business of Beyoncé” in January 2027, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The 16-week course, created by professor Shaun Harper, will trace Beyoncé’s rise from a child performer and member of Destiny’s Child to a global star with business interests in music, beauty, fashion, and spirits. “My class is not going to be just a set of conversations about Beyoncé,” Harper told the LA Times. Instead, students will study the business strategy behind her brand, including how she uses social media, marketing, ownership, and audience engagement.

The class will also look at other major artists and industry milestones, such as The Supremes, Janet Jackson, BTS, and Motown’s influence on Black music. The course comes as Beyoncé continues to expand her business empire. She launched Parkwood Entertainment in 2010, creating a platform to produce and manage projects across the entertainment world.

Since then, she has added ventures like the athleisure line Ivy Park, her haircare brand Cécred, and SirDavis, her whiskey label created with Moët Hennessy. According to the Los Angeles Times, she later bought out the spirits company’s stake. Paired with several sold-out international tours in recent years, those business moves have helped push Queen Bey’s net worth into the billions, Forbes reports.

Her approach to building companies also offers a lesson in ownership and access to capital. Beyoncé’s mother, Tina Knowles, previously told Fortune that the singer funded Cécred on her own after investors reportedly wanted her to cut research and development spending in favor of marketing. In addition to examining her business decisions, students will be asked to think like consultants.

One assignment will require them to write a 700- to 1,000-word business strategy memo addressed directly to Beyoncé. For Kendall Ferguson, a second-year MBA student taking the course, studying a Black businesswoman with a Black professor adds extra meaning. “I’m definitely not the traditional stereotype of MBA,” Ferguson said, adding that she sees the class as a chance to understand how Beyoncé keeps consumers engaged while moving into new markets.

Another student, Maddie Gissler, is drawn to entertainment marketing, branding, and strategy. She views Beyoncé’s ability to grow across industries as a chance to study how a well-known brand stays relevant while entering new business spaces. Harper, meanwhile, says Beyoncé’s carefully controlled public image is part of the lesson too.

“Beyoncé shows up when she needs to show up,” he said.