i was looking at the list of the twenty richest music stars in the world ( as usual paul mccartney is by far the richest) and i started wondering how much prince would be worth?
...i reckon he must have sold around 70 million albums worldwide in his career and as he does almost everything himself , i would think he must be worth a fair bit.
... he also signed that warner brothers contract in 1993 which was worth a good few million. anyone with any info on this?

Well the last time i heard any figures about his profits was back in the late 90's and as i remember he was racking in just under $25 million a year... Now i am not sure. but it most likely is less than that... 8)

I don’t think there is any doubt that Prince is extremely rich, how rich is anyone’s guess! What I find odd about Prince’s wealth is the rumours of bankruptcy! How such rumours could circulate I’m not sure. I seriously doubt Prince could ever become bankrupt, he may have been down to his last 20 million once or twice, but Prince will always be loaded!

If it's the same list i'm thinking of,I saw that, at first glance i saw Madonna up there and thought where's MJ? then i realised it was British based/born acts only.

Some artists don't disclose their wealth, so a lot of these lists are guesswork.

I do remember some commentators stating 'Batman' got Prince out of a hole financially as he'd invested all his Purple Rain $'s on Paisley Park.It's been a helluva long time since his last big commercial success, so you got to wonder (and Hope) he's investing the NPGMC $'s wisely.

It'd be interesting to know how much he made on the ONA Tour.

ScottNPG said:

i'm no expert, but the reason for the bankrupsy is what he has in capital and what he has to spend as such.

Paisley park cost about $10million in all (land, staff, equipment, design, etc) - a ridiculous amount for a studio in the early 80's.

since then i think it's about $5-10 million to run, staff and most importantly upgrade equipment per year. it doesn't really get used all that often. i know a lot of people have used it, but we're talking 20 years. and just because you use the studio, that can be for as little as a day (probably at a cost of around $1000 daily rate).

so it's definately loosing him money. he has property in MPLS, Paris, Madrid, maybe others. Graffiti Brigde lost him a load of cash.

he isn't all that rich. he wouldn't get more that $2million for Paisley if he put it on the market, as all studios are currently worth about 20% of what they were in the 90's.

Also he didn't get the mega bucks from the infamous Warner deal of the late 90's as it was based on 5 future albums selling D&P amounts over 15 years- and he gave them sub standard, ill promoted fillers.

so i guess he's worth what he gets in royalties cheques per year, which is anyone's guess...
[This message was edited Sat Apr 26 5:49:41 PDT 2003 by NME]
[This message was edited Sat Apr 26 5:50:32 PDT 2003 by NME]

I wonder if Camille has an own bank account.

Prince has to be broke or he would not be charging 60 smackers for a lame live cd...lol

two dollars and fifteen cents!!!

Marrk said:

I know a dropped several hundred dollars on
a few tix for ONA and I was in the last row ochestra, but it was worth it.

Although everything is pure speculation + not our business, I find it extremely interesting to think about it.

His proceeds may depend on how much he put aside in the past and there must have been really a lot of money. So his income nowadays may consist of:

- interests of investments from the past. There must be money left from his big cash days.

- income from his latest tours. Depending on the ticket prices, I bet he's not making a loss.

- royalties from his back catalogue

- income from latest releases through music industry
+ NPGMC. Don't underrate this. He's selling FAR less than he used to but now he get's the main part. Of course if you only sell 50.000 units, your income is limited now matter how much percent you get.

His expenses may depend on the following:

- running costs for Paisley Park studios + whole administration (lawyer, investment advisor, etc.)

- taxes

- costs for a certain life style.

- costs for running NPGMC.

- hopefully not costs for paying JW

- as he is out of any record deal, every single dollar on touring, paying his musicians, producing CDs, promotion, etc. is completely on him.


I agree that running PP studios may be the biggest expense.
Don't think we have to worry about Prince ending in the poorhouse. But on the other hand Prince is used to huge expenses and the income side is not getting better. Adjusting the expenses to the shrinking income may be a problem.

Probably he's really making losses from operational business. I don't think that he can make a living nowadays from this modest record sales.
Only touring + yields from his assets may compensate this.

But as I said, of course all of this is pure speculation !!!

I read somewhere that the ONA tour made Prince about 7 million dollar. So if he does a tour each year, he sure can maintain a certain lifestyle.

ScottNPG said:

Prince will never go bankrupt.But,at least twice in his career,he was having serious financial troubles.The first time was in early 1989 and the second time was in early 1995.

In late 1988,it was clear that his Paisley Park Records label was losing more money than it was making,due to the less than spectacular sales of his protege' acts.Then there was the expensively designed "Lovesexy" tour which,in the U.S. at least,did not exactly sell out in every city.The poor sales of the 'Lovesexy' album also contributed to his financial situation.

But he recovered in 1989 when his 'Batman' soundtrack became a worldwide smash.In 1990,one of his older songs "Nothing Compares 2 U" was recorded by Sinead O'Connor and became one of the biggest hits of that year.When he signed that $100 Million contract in 1992,it looked as if he was doing great finacially.

But,in late 1994,there were all types of rumors that Prince wasn't paying his bills on-time or at all.He was feuding with Warners at this time,and they closed down his Paisley Park Records label.Even though the original deal called for Prince to receive a $10 Million advance per record,it is highly unlikely that Warners paid him that amount for the two albums they released that year,'Come' and 'The Black Album'.In any case,Prince didn't seem fazed by the rumors."Don't believe everything you read in the newspapers" he said in early '95."I have enough money to make it.If you wanna know something,ask me".


Nowadays,it looks like Prince is doing okay finacially.He makes alot of money from his constant touring and his NPGMC.And somebody is always re-making one of his older songs and/or sampling from him,so he gets alot of royalties.And he doesn't waste his time and money producing albums for talentless bimbos anymore...lol...

funkaholic1972 said:

Yes, but only if he charges twice to three times as much as before, sicne he has to play smaller venues and less often, because he is not so popular anymore.

funkystuff said:[quote]
His proceeds may depend on how much he put aside in the past and there must have been really a lot of money. So his income nowadays may consist of:

- interests of investments from the past. There must be money left from his big cash days.

He threw away most of the money he made in the 80's. The biggest investment was pasiley park studios and record company, but he blew thatt with too may crap artists and terrible business practices.

- income from his latest tours. Depending on the ticket prices, I bet he's not making a loss.

Yes, Prince is now mainly making his money this way, because his ticket prices are the highest they can be. This way he can continue living his superstar lifestyle he still can't let go of.

- royalties from his back catalogue
Aren't all that much, considering his statements in the past on how his recording contracts did not have a "royal" royalty deal. Fact is however, that he has released many songs and albums, which have been and are also covered, making him good money, but not all that much to continue living like a superstar.

- income from latest releases through music industry
+ NPGMC. Don't underrate this. He's selling FAR less than he used to but now he get's the main part. Of course if you only sell 50.000 units, your income is limited now matter how much percent you get.
That is true, he is making much more per album now than he used to. However, TRC did not sell more than 200.000 copies and was released with the help of Redline, who probably got half of the profits. The NPGMC is the perfect cashcow indeed, but will be dissapointing if it turns out that more and more fans have passed it by, because of all the crap they pulled the last couple of years.

His expenses may depend on the following:

- running costs for Paisley Park studios + whole administration (lawyer, investment advisor, etc.)

If he still has expensives other than new equipments, gas, water, electricity etc for his studio, he hasn't done good business... which is probably because he blew paisley in the 90''s when he used to CONtract lots of B-artists on the paisley park label and later didn't have enough leverage anymore within the industry, when he changed it to NPG records.

- taxes

No problem, we all pay them and he knows the tricks. Like when he asked for donations for his "love4oneanother" project...

- costs for a certain life style.
That is the real problem if you ask me. The brother simply is incapable of adjusting his lifestyle of the rich and famous.

- costs for running NPGMC.
Very low compared to running a record company.

- hopefully not costs for paying JW
No costs, but perhabs he donates them money as well.

- as he is out of any record deal, every single dollar on touring, paying his musicians, producing CDs, promotion, etc. is completely on him.
Not true, for the tours he has a big corporate promoter and sponsor. For his offical cd's he works with Redline, or another company.

I agree that running PP studios may be the biggest expense.
No, not anymore.

Don't think we have to worry about Prince ending in the poorhouse. But on the other hand Prince is used to huge expenses and the income side is not getting better. Adjusting the expenses to the shrinking income may be a problem.
Definitly a problem.

Probably he's really making losses from operational business. I don't think that he can make a living nowadays from this modest record sales.
Only touring + yields from his assets may compensate this.

TRC sold good enough, and his latest world tour with the most expensive tickets made him nr.1 at the Minneapolis bank again... or maybe...

How much prince would be worth?

Cost 2 build state of the art studio - $10 Million

Charges to 2003 NPGMC Fanbase - $25

Experiencing the most talented, inspiring, gifted performer and showman of our generation - PRICELESS!

I remember after Crystal Ball he told everyone he was
"no1 at the bank".
Its an interesting topic and i was going to raise it as I was reading the Rich List too.
Dont they have any similar reports in the USA? If so put them here

huggy said:

For a world tour that's not a lot more than breaing even. Honestly. Considering the price of those tix, especially here in Europe and he wasn't carrying a Rolling Stones set design, i think that he's hit his limit on tour earnings.

huggy said:[quote]

funkystuff said:

mmm, if it isn't costing the earth to run, then he isn't keeping it up to date, therefore no outside acts / record companies will use it - that's a huge revenue stream he's missing out on.

or he is keeping it up to date and therefore will still be costing about $2million to run per year.

i don't know as i haven't been inside. EVER.

Prince is not BROKE ... I read that up there somewhere pppfffttt

three fiddy

NME said:[quote]

huggy said:

He is missing profit making revenue because he is hardly producing any other bands on his label anymore and doesn't sell himself that much either. But with TRC selling 200.000, thousands of club members a year, ONA Live selling a 100.000 for 60$ per copy, and a pretty good world tour with the most expensive tickets ever, that is not a big problem.

Thanks 2 u all for sharing your thoughts. I still find it very tempting to speculate with u about this matter.

I'm still not convinced ...

- I saw absolutely NO big corporate promoter or big sponsor on the recent tour.

- did he really make 7 mio $ with the ONA live tour ?
Maybe ... don't know if 7 mio $ is profit or "only" volume of sales.

How much is left when you deduct costs (the musicians have to be paid, the venue has to be rented, hotel, flying, catering, everything). Maybe 30 dollars per ticket (maybe less). If you take 30 dollars profit you have to sell around 235.000 tix to gain 7 mio dollar.

Don't know how many concerts he gave but he often played small venues (2.000 to 5.000 people).

- did he really sell 200.000 units of TRC and 100.000 of ONA live ? Is this confirmed info ?

Nevertheless he's making money even if his superstar days are away. He can rely on a certain fan base (us) that is willing to pay almost everything he charges.

funkystuff said:[quote]Thanks 2 u all for sharing your thoughts. I still find it very tempting to speculate with u about this matter.

I'm still not convinced ...

- I saw absolutely NO big corporate promoter or big sponsor on the recent tour.
Clear Channel. HUGE company.

- did he really make 7 mio $ with the ONA live tour ?
Maybe ... don't know if 7 mio $ is profit or "only" volume of sales.

Those are rumours, but it would be 7mil in profits.


Don't know how many concerts he gave but he often played small venues (2.000 to 5.000 people).
that is why tickets were so expensive

- did he really sell 200.000 units of TRC and 100.000 of ONA live ? Is this confirmed info ?

No, it was an indication. TRC had sold more than 150.000 a year ago. Give it some time and it will reach or pass 200.000

Nevertheless he's making money even if his superstar days are away. He can rely on a certain fan base (us) that is willing to pay almost everything he charges.

If you ask me...That is exactly what he thinks.

i read that he had said he made more money of TRC than he did off of purple rain, which sold 13 million in the US (or 13x platinum i guess).

also, isnt it weird that prince would use clear channel, then insult radio companies constantly? i know he is quite contradictory but i dont htink that much surely!

ian said:

damn loch-ness monster!!!

He's worth $5 and a bag of chips.

EvilWhiteMale said:

I thought it was 50p and a bunch of grapes.

He's not worth the value of grapes.

I doubt if he is even close to broke. If he was, he would be:

1. Opening up the vaults

2. Releasing all of his classic albums, remastered with added tracks

3. Striking a new deal with Warner and having his old videos released for sale on DVD.

4. Releasing quality copies of "Sign O The Times" and "Lovesexy" tour for sale on DVD.

5. Not putting limits on who can sample his music.

6. Licensing his songs for use in ads (Chevy is the only one I can think of thus far)

7. Desperately looking for a record deal with a major label.

8. Trying to reunite the Revolution for a tour.

9. Releasing his own clothing line and/or making appearances on the Home Shopping network.

10. Selling his home videos to Fox


Ok 9 and 10 are tongue in cheek but 1-8 would all be real money makers for P. The fact that he is not actively pursuing these cash cows leads me to believe he is just fine in the pocket book.

How much is Prince worth?

Wow, I can honestly say I couldn't give a shit!!

The little fuck can rub two pennies for all I care!