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Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #18, The Weeknd
| November 28, 2016
The Weeknd
Musician
18Last year, Abel Tesfaye reached superstardom; in 2016, he embraced it. Whether he’s hawking his XO clothing line, headlining SNL or crawling in and out of limos with his supermodel girlfriend Bella Hadid, the man who started his career hiding from cameras and reporters now fully embodies his role as a tabloid obsession. He has also started spending like one: Forbes reported that Tesfaye pulled in $55 million (U.S.) last year, which he used to buy himself a $1-million McLaren P1 sports car. Then again, he also donated $50,000 to kick-start an Ethiopian studies program at U of T and gave $250,000 to the Black Lives Matter network.
Friends in high places:
Justin Timberlake, Daft Punk, Kanye West and Taylor Swift.
