As one of the most talked-about figures, Prince has built a significant fortune. In this article, we dive deep into the assets and career highlights.
What Was Prince's Net Worth?
The estate was to be divided evenly between his music company, Primary Wave, and three of his oldest family heirs. Unfortunately, two of his six sibling heirs died during the six-year period between Prince's death and the final agreement with the IRS.
During his career, Prince sold more than 100 million albums worldwide and was one of the most successful concert acts of his time. Prince's music style was influenced by rock, R&B, soul, New Wave, electronica, disco, funk, folk, jazz, rap, blues, psychedelia, and hip-hop. Prince was famous for playing most, if not all, of the instruments on his recordings.
Tragically, Prince died in 2016 at the age of 56 from an accidental drug overdose.
In the years following Prince's death, there was a furious debate over the value of his estate. The estate's administrator, Comerica Bank & Trust, submitted an estimate of $82.3 million as the total value of Prince's assets, which includes real estate, music rights, name, and likeness.
Prince famously owned most of his work, including – most importantly – his publishing rights, AKA the copyrights to his songs. When Prince died, he did not have a will. The value of his estate passed to six adult family members (one of whom, a half-brother, died in 2019).
From the IRS and Comerica fight, we were given a pretty clear idea of the exact assets controlled by Prince at the time of his death and their disputed values. Below is a breakdown of the most significant assets and their values:
In January 2022, the IRS and an administrator of Prince's estate came to an agreement that the estate was worth $156.4 million.
In January 2021, the Internal Revenue Service claimed Prince's estate was drastically undervalued and was actually worth closer to $163.2 million. The IRS served his estate with a notice of delinquency in June 2020 seeking an additional $32.4 million in federal taxes dating to the 2016 tax year plus an additional $6.4 million "accuracy related penalty." Comerica and Prince's estate requested a trial over the dispute.
Prince was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor who had a net worth of $200 – $300 million at the time of his death in April 2016. The range of net worth depends largely on the value of his likeness rights and other intellectual property like his music copyrights.
Ultimately, Prince's financial journey is a testament to their success.
Disclaimer: All net worth figures are estimates based on public data.
