50 Cent Net Worth: No Dr. Dre

The 50 Cent net worth total was never half a billion. If all had gone well, it could have gone as high as $143 million. But is 50 lying about his net worth? In a recent court case, he claimed his net worth was barely $16 million. What’s the real number? A deep MoneyNation analysis puts together all the rapper’s income streams including albums, singles, concerts, acting, YouTube, endorsements, merchandise and business deals.

The superstar earned a reported $80 million from the sale of his VitaminWater business to Coca Cola in 2007. His 2003 debut album Get Rich or Die Tryin’ sold 8.4 million copies and pulled estimated revenue of $92 million. Four other studio albums and 76 singles add to the pot. 50 made a rumored $2.5 million for starring in the 2013 Stallone/Schwarzenegger vehicle Escape Plan. Also adding to the 50 Cent net worth sum are $75 million in concert tour revenue, $16 million in YouTube ad revenue, $52 million in endorsements and $14 million in sales of merchandise. As of 12/2/16, $135 million went to taxes and another $44 million to expenses. 50 lost another $5 million in a court battle. If 50’s stated net worth of $16 million is really true, it means he lost $208 million to failed business ventures.

50 Cent Net Worth Facts

50 Cent Net Worth Facts
50 Cent Net Worth$17,788,143
50 Cent net worth vs Drake net worth1/5th as big
50 Cent net worth vs Kanye West net worth1/4 as big
50 Cent net worth vs Dr. Dre net worth1/44th as big
50 Cent net worth vs Diddy net worth1/54th as big
50 Cent net worth vs Jay Z net worth1/33rd as big
50 Cent net worth vs Lil Wayne net worth1/4 as big
50 Cent net worth vs LeBron James net worth1/13th as big
50 Cent net worth vs Barack Obama net worth5 times bigger
50 Cent net worth vs typical American family net worth246 times bigger

50 Cent has said his net worth is just over $16 million. If true, that puts the 50 Cent net worth number at 1/5th the size of the Drake fortune of $88 million. It also means 50 has 1/4 as much money as Kanye West with $66 million. Dr. Dre has 44 times more money than 50 Cent with $745 million. Diddy has 54 times more with $915 million and Jay Z has 33 times more with $554 million. Lil Wayne’s net worth is four times bigger than 50 Cent’s net worth. LeBron James’ net worth is 13 times bigger. When it comes to the leader of the free world, 50 does all right. The superstar rapper has 5 times more net worth than President Barack Obama with $3.2 million. Even if 50’s bankruptcy report is true, we shouldn’t feel too bad. The singer has 246 times more net worth than the typical American family with only $68,000 saved.

50 Cent Net Worth Timeline

50 Cent Net Worth by Year

50 Cent Net Worth TimeThe 50 Cent net worth saga is a bumpy one, as the chart above shows. Things got off to a blazing start in 2003 with the release of the album Get Rich or Die Tryin’. That album collected $92 million in sales. 50 Cent got to keep $10.2 million of that, according to percentages shared by music industry experts. Singles and concert tours made other early entries into the 50 Cent net worth ledger. In 2005, 50 Cent hit Hollywood hard with his Get Rich or Die Tryin’ movie. Since then, movies have formed a regular income stream for the rapper. Other earnings sources like YouTube ad revenue, endorsement deals and merchandise sales all kicked into gear, sending the star’s income to its 2008 peak of $65 million. But what went wrong? According to most media reports, business went wrong. At first 50 made some stellar business deals. The biggest of these was the sale of his VitaminWater soft drink brand to Coca Cola in 2007. That deal cost Coca Cola a reported $4.1 billion. Some in the media reported 50’s cut of that at half a billion, but that was based on his 10% stake in the company. More recently, it’s come to light that 50 probably made more like $80 million from the beverage company’s sale. That’s because a foreign investor had chipped in billions years before and had to be paid back. Either way, 50 Cent’s thirst for business had been whetted. He tried to pump up his income with more business deals, and that may be where he went wrong. Either way, if his disclosed 50 Cent net worth figure of $16 million is real, he must have lost around $208 million in the years since the big Coke sale.

50 Cent Net Worth by Year
50 Cent net worth 2003$5,031,004
50 Cent net worth 2004$8,967,489
50 Cent net worth 2005$16,455,501
50 Cent net worth 2006$21,944,303
50 Cent net worth 2007$60,816,457
50 Cent net worth 2008$68,511,471
50 Cent net worth 2009$62,063,740
50 Cent net worth 2010$67,718,659
50 Cent net worth 2011$56,414,048
50 Cent net worth 2012$45,110,703
50 Cent net worth 2013$34,505,664
50 Cent net worth 2014$30,262,257
50 Cent net worth 2015$14,286,801
50 Cent net worth 2016$17,788,143

Related: Kanye West Net Worth

50 Cent Net Worth Sources

50 Cent Net WorthAs the table below shows, most of 50 Cent’s net worth most likely comes from business deals, concert tours and endorsement deals, with plenty of other money coming from the sales of albums and singles, YouTube ad revenue and merchandise. Plenty of online sources put 50’s business income at around $300 million, but in truth he probably never made much more than $103 million at the peak of his business success. Since then, it’s likely he’s lost more from business than he’s earned. The star has lost an estimated $208 million in his lifetime if he’s being honest about his current net worth. Concerts add in a probable $74 million to the 50 Cent net worth figure. Endorsements chip in another $52 million and album sales add $19 million. The star has earned $16 million from YouTube and $14 million from sales of merchandise.

50 Cent Net Worth Sources
50 Cent Albums$19,486,523
Singles$4,605,557
Concerts$74,587,500
Acting$6,420,000
50 Cent YouTube Channel$19,018,024
Endorsements$52,000,000
Merchandise$14,917,500
Business Deals$103,000,000
Total 50 Cent Earnings$294,035,103
50 Cent Salary (average)$21,002,507
50 Cent Salary 2016$7,857,934
Taxes (50 Cent is in a 46.3% tax bracket)$136,138,253
Expenses (15%/yr)$44,105,265
Losses$157,000,000
Investments (6% added to 50 Cent net worth each year)$15,855,079
50 Cent Net Worth$17,788,143

Related: Meek Mill Net Worth

50 Cent Net Worth: The Rise and Fall?

50 Cent Net Worth RiseThe big question about Curtis James Jackson is, what is 50 Cent’s net worth, really? A deep analysis shows it should be $143 million, after all income estimates are taken into account, adjusting for taxes, expenses and inflation. But in his recent bankruptcy filing, 50 himself apparently claimed his net worth at just $16 million. What’s going on here? There are two possible scenarios. The first is that he’s lying. 50 Cent has a reported $23 million in debt. If he’s successful in declaring bankruptcy, he won’t have to pay that money back. That’s not to say he’s lying. It is saying he has 23 million reasons to lie. The second and much more likely possibility is, he’s telling the truth. If that’s true, how did he lose $127 million? The media is fond of saying 50 spends extravagantly, buying expensive sports cars, throwing massive parties and buying luxury homes. The truth is that it’s awfully hard to fritter away over $100 million. Sports cars and mansions retain their value and can be sold again. What’s decidedly more likely is that 50 invested in bad business deals and lost the money that way.

Read more: How 50 Cent lost millions to bad business deals

For a parallel, look at how 16% of NFL players wind up going bankrupt. According to a recent article in Yahoo Finance, the reason is that many of them make bad business decisions. They invest in restaurants or car dealerships, sink their money in their own business or invest in a friend’s. When the business goes under, so does their net worth. This may well have been what happened to 50’s money. Either way, the sections below show where 50 made that money to begin with.

Related: Dr. Dre Net Worth

50 Cent Net Worth from Albums

50 Cent Net Worth from AlbumsAlbums contribute $19.5 million to the 50 Cent net worth pile. 50’s first album was his biggest. Get Rich or Die Tryin’ in 2003 has sold an estimated 8.4 million copies. At $10.99 each, that’s $92 million in revenue. With 50 getting about 11.1% of that, he pocketed $10.25 million. That’s based on the word of industry insiders who claim singers make 6.6% of the total take for songs and albums or 11.1% when they write the material themselves. That’s after the cost of production, promotion and other expenses.

50 Cent’s successive albums have all sold successively less. 2005’s The Massacre sold six million units. That’s astounding, but it’s decidedly less than Get Rich. His next album, 2007’s Curtis only sold about 750,000 copies. That still put almost a million in 50’s pocket, but it’s a far cry from the rapper’s 2003 success. Finally, by the time Animal Ambition was released in 2014, it only sold about 125,000 copies. This is an example of a career that started with a bang and ended with a whimper. Whether 2016’s Street King Immortal will kick off a resurgence to the popularity or heft of 50 Cent’s net worth remains to be seen.

50 Cent Net Worth from Albums
50 Cent AlbumsUnit SalesRevenue at $10.99 Each50 Cent Earnings at 11.1%
Get Rich or Die Tryin' (2003, 50 Cent top seller)8,400,000$92,316,000$10,247,076
The Massacre (2005)6,000,000$65,940,000$7,319,340
Curtis (2007)750,000$8,242,500$914,918
Before I Self Destruct (2009)700,000$7,693,000$853,923
Animal Ambition (2014 50 Cent lowest selling album)124,000$1,362,760$151,266
Street King Immortal (2016)N/AN/AN/A
Other Albums (50 Cent mixtapes, soundtracks, etc.)2,500,000$27,475,000$3,049,725
Total 50 Cent Net Worth from Albums$22,536,248

Related: Diddy Net Worth

50 Cent Net Worth from Singles

50 Cent Net Worth from SinglesSingles add a $4.6 million slice to the 50 Cent net worth pie. The rapper has performed on an incredible 76 singles. Coincidentally, 50 of those were his own songs. The other 26 were songs from other artists featuring 50 Cent. The table below shows the ten most successful 50 Cent singles. The most popular was In Da Club from 2003. That song sold about two million units. Using the same math as above, 50 Cent kept $441,000 from the song’s revenue. Other hit 50 Cent singles were Candy Shop, Just a Lil Bit and 21 Questions. An analysis of the superstar’s featured singles turns up another $1.3 million. Are these figures exact? No. The record companies don’t release exact sales figures. The only numbers available to the public are album sales certifications, and those are anything but precise. For example, an album might sell 999,999 units in the U.S. and still be only Gold certified, even though one more sale would make it Platinum. Since all we see is the Gold label, all we know for sure is that it sold 500,000 copies. Still, since albums add so little to any star’s net worth compared to other sources, even a ballpark figure gives a good idea of how much albums add to the 50 Cent net worth total.

50 Cent Net Worth from Singles
50 Cent Certified Single TitleUnit SalesRevenue at $1.99 Each50 Cent Earnings at 11.1%
In da Club (50 Cent best selling single)2,000,000$3,980,000$441,780
21 Questions650,000$1,293,500$143,579
P.I.M.P.650,000$1,293,500$143,579
Disco Inferno600,000$1,194,000$132,534
Candy Shop (50 Cent 2nd best seller)1,600,000$3,184,000$353,424
Just a Lil Bit1,200,000$2,388,000$265,068
Window Shopper650,000$1,293,500$143,579
I Get Money600,000$1,194,000$132,534
Ayo Technology600,000$1,194,000$132,534
My Life300,000$597,000$66,267
Other 50 Cent Singles (40)6,000,000$11,940,000$1,325,340
Singles Featuring 50 Cent (26, 50 Cent gets 3.3%)6,000,000$11,940,000$1,325,340
Total 50 Cent Net Worth from Singles$4,605,557

Related: Tyga Net Worth

50 Cent Net Worth from Concerts

50 Cent Net Worth ConcertsConcerts add about $75 million to the 50 Cent net worth sum. In fact it’s pretty difficult to get 50 Cent’s exact earnings from concerts. The best list of his live shows available online comes from BandsInTown. That list shows 50 Cents stage appearances going back to 2007, but not before. It lists a total of 169 shows. An analysis of those performances reveals that many of those were in venues with 5,000 seats or less. Figuring on $50 tickets, the table below shows 50’s live shows by year, including the average size of the venue in that year.

The video below from 50’s YouTube Channel shows the rapper performing his new song, I’m the Man, live in New York City at a relatively small club.

50 Cent Net Worth from Concerts
YearNumber of ShowsSeats Per Show (Average)50 Cent Earnings at 85% of $50 Per Seat
2007285000$5,950,000
2008115000$2,337,500
2009225000$4,675,000
20105220000$44,200,000
201145000$850,000
201265000$1,275,000
2013$0
20141318000$9,945,000
2015205,000$4,250,000
2016132,000$1,105,000
Total 50 Cent Net Worth from Concerts$74,587,500

Related: Jay Z Net Worth

50 Cent Net Worth from Acting

50 Cent Net Worth Acting50 Cent is nothing if not versatile. Sometimes a musician will dabble in acting and it’s clear they’re out of their element. Sometimes an actor will sing and everybody smiles politely. 50 Cent seems truly talented, landing big roles and TV shows with regularity. He has shown up in reality shows, feature films and video games, with 29 credits in all. He hit the acting scene in 2005 with the film Get Rich or Die Tryin’, a movie tie in to his debut album. According to the Screen Actors Guild, actors make about $900 a day for movie work. Estimating at about 30 days of work gives a rough base pay for a film of $30,000. Of course that number can go up a lot for a big name star. It’s also affected by deals for a percentage of the box office take. Assuming that 50 got 1/4% of the profits after the film’s budget was paid for, that’s 1/4% of $20 million or $500,000. A similar analysis of each and every 50 Cent role yields the table below. Note that 2008’s Righteous Kill and 2013’s Escape Plan are the standout roles for the rapper, giving him $1.7 million to $2.5 million. Smaller 50 Cent movie payouts either didn’t earn out their budgets at the box office or had the rapper in small parts.

50 Cent Net Worth from Acting
Year50 Cent Acting RoleRole Type50 Cent Pay
2005Get Rich or Die Tryin' Movie$530,000
2006Home of the Brave Movie$30,000
2006Vengeance Movie$30,000
2008Righteous Kill (50 Cent breakout role)Movie$1,730,000
2009Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Video Game $30,000
2009Dead Man Running Movie$30,000
2009Entourage TV Series $5,000
2010Caught in the Crossfire Movie$30,000
2010Gun Movie$30,000
2010Twelve Movie$30,000
201013Movie$30,000
2011All Things Fall Apart Movie$30,000
2011Setup Movie$30,000
2012Freelancers Movie$30,000
2012The Finder TV Series $5,000
2012Fire with Fire Movie$30,000
2013Escape Plan (50 Cent's biggest role to date)Movie$2,530,000
2013Last Vegas Movie$30,000
2013The Frozen Ground Movie$30,000
2014The Prince Movie$30,000
2014-2016PowerTV Series (50 Cent in 19 episodes)$380,000
2015Artsnight TV Series $5,000
2015Jimmy Kimmel Live! TV Series $5,000
2015Southpaw Movie$780,000
2015Spy Movie$30,000
Total 50 Cent Net Worth from Acting$6,450,000

Related: Lil Wayne Net Worth

50 Cent Net Worth from YouTube

As of 12/2/16, YouTube adds $19 million to the 50 Cent net worth tank. That’s based on over 2.8 billion views split across two channels. Most stars earn $7.60 per 1,000 views from ad revenue, according to an industry report. Some stars can make a lot more than that. Internet sensation PewDiePie has a net worth of $78 million. He has no music or film career to boost his earnings. He does however, have over 13 billion YouTube views. He also lives modestly in an apartment and doesn’t buy Connecticut mansions for $4.1 million from Mike Tyson like 50 Cent reportedly did.

50 Cent Net Worth from YouTube
50 Cent ChannelViewsEarnings at $7.60 per 1,00050 Cent Earnings
50 Cent Vevo (50 Cent gets 85%)2,337,031,934$17,761,443$15,097,226
50 Cent Own Channel515,894,404$3,920,797$3,920,797
Total 50 Cent Net Worth from YouTube$19,018,024

Related: Bruno Mars Net Worth

50 Cent Net Worth from Endorsements and Merchandise

50 Cent has done quite well with endorsement deals. In fact, those deals form a $52 million page in the 50 Cent net worth book. 50 has signed high dollar deals with BMW, Suzuki, the NFL, Right Guard and Reebok. He also inked a $78 million dollar deal with Frigo Revolution Wear to push a new line of underwear in 2014. Stars don’t usually reveal the dollar values on their endorsement deals, but 50 Cent did in this case. See his Instagram post about it below.

50 Cent Net Worth from Business Deals

50 Cent made a lot of money from his VitaminWater deal in 2007. 50 had a 10% ownership in the company. Coca Cola bought it for $4 billion. That led many to assume the rapper made $400 million on the deal. In fact, because much of that money was owed to foreign investors, 50 Cent wound up with more like $80 million. In other deals, the musician hasn’t done as well. His G-Unit clothing business went under in 2009. It’s probable that 50 Cent invested in other similar deals that went south also. In fact, to rack up the $208 million in losses needed to drop his net worth to its reported level of $16 million, he would have had to.

In 2015, 50 was ordered to pay $7 million to Lastonia Leviston for releasing her sex tape to the public. He has since sought bankruptcy protection, claiming he now owes more money than he actually has. The judge in that most recent case asked 50 to explain then why he takes pictures of his snack fridge stuffed with cash, as seen in the Instagram post below. If in fact the 50 Cent net worth sum is only $16 million, bad business deals are almost certainly the cause.

https://www.instagram.com/p/-j4dt2sLyj/

50 Cent Net Worth Calculations

The table below shows the complete 50 Cent net worth calculations. All estimated income from albums, singles, concerts and other sources is included. 50 Cent pays Connecticut State taxes and is in the highest U.S. federal tax bracket. Those two facts give him an annual income tax rate of 46.3%. Expenses set at 15% take $43 million from the star’s net worth. Investments at a conservative 6% of his net worth per year add back $15 million since 2003. In order to get the star’s net worth down to the $16 million he claims it is, we had to estimate business deal losses of about $30 million a year for seven years.

50 Cent Net Worth Calculations
YearTotal 50 Cent EarningsLossesNetTaxes (46.3%)Expenses (15%)Investments (6%/yr)50 Cent Net Worth
2003$13,000,010$0$13,000,010$6,019,005$1,950,002$0$5,031,004
2004$9,752,934$0$9,752,934$4,515,609$1,462,940$162,099$8,967,489
2005$18,602,274$0$18,602,274$8,612,853$2,790,341$288,932$16,455,501
2006$12,812,934$0$12,812,934$5,932,389$1,921,940$530,196$21,944,303
2007$98,617,852$0$98,617,852$45,660,065$14,792,678$707,045$60,816,457
2008$14,820,434$0$14,820,434$6,861,861$2,223,065$1,959,506$68,511,471
2009$13,346,857$20,000,000-$6,653,1430$2,002,029$2,207,440$62,063,740
2010$51,072,934$30,000,000$21,072,934$9,756,769$7,660,940$1,999,694$67,718,659
2011$7,662,934$20,000,000-$12,337,0660$1,149,440$2,181,895$56,414,048
2012$8,092,934$20,000,000-$11,907,0660$1,213,940$1,817,661$45,110,703
2013$9,342,934$20,000,000-$10,657,0660$1,401,440$1,453,467$34,505,664
2014$17,229,201$20,000,000-$2,770,7990$2,584,380$1,111,772$30,262,257
2015$11,822,934$27,000,000-$15,177,0660$1,773,440$975,050$14,286,801
2016$7,857,934$0$7,857,934$3,638,224$1,178,690$460,321$17,788,143
50 Cent Net Worth Totals$294,035,103$157,000,000$137,035,103$136,138,253$44,105,265$15,855,079

The numbers in this article come from media reports, analyses and estimates. All 50 Cent net worth data are shown here for entertainment purposes only.

Sources:

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