As of 12/13/16, the Dr. Dre net worth total of $758 million comes from music sales, concerts, film, endorsements and investments. The biggest chunk of the Dr. Dre net worth fortune comes from Beats by Dre’s $3.2 billion dollar sale to Apple.
Dre started his career in 1984 with the World Class Wreckin’ Cru. Since then, Dre has pulled in an estimated $24 million in album sales, $2 million in singles sales and $5.2 million from YouTube ads. $46 million in endorsement deals and $6 million as a music producer add to the star’s net worth.
Dr. Dre has earned a total of $1.5 billion in his lifetime. However, a Dre sized career tax bill of $889 million and $27 million in expenses keep his wealth well shy of $1 billion.
Dr. Dre Net Worth Facts
Dr Dre net worth: | $830 million |
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Dr Dre net worth vs Kanye West net worth | 13 times bigger |
Dr Dre net worth vs Jay Z net worth | 1.6 times bigger |
Dr Dre net worth vs Drake net worth | 9 times bigger |
Dr Dre net worth vs Rihanna net worth | 3 times bigger |
Dr Dre net worth vs Beyonce net worth: | Twice as big |
Dr Dre net worth vs Taylor Swift net worth: | 3 times bigger |
Dr Dre net worth vs Kobe Bryant net worth | 2.6 times bigger |
Dr Dre net worth vs Barack Obama net worth: | 259 times bigger |
Dr Dre net worth vs Bernie Sanders net worth: | 1,571 times bigger |
Dr Dre net worth vs typical American household net worth: | 12,202 times bigger |
The Dr. Dre net worth total of $830 million is bigger than just about everyone’s. It’s 13 times bigger than Kanye West’s net worth of $66 million and 9 times bigger than Drake’s net worth of $101 million. Jay Z’s net worth of $558 million is only 1.6 times smaller than Dr. Dre’s net worth. Dr. Dre’s net worth is twice as big as Beyonce’s $420 million dollar wealth pile and 3 times bigger than Rihanna’s net worth of $281 million. It’s 2.6 times bigger than Kobe Bryant’s net worth of $319 million. Think the President of the United States has more cash than the Dr. Dre net worth stockpile? Think again. Barack Obama’s net worth of $3.2 million puts him at 259 times less wealth than Dr. Dre. Finally, how does the typical American household stack up against the Dr. Dre net worth total? The median American family has just $68,000. That’s 12,202 times smaller than Dr. Dre’s net worth.
Dr. Dre Net Worth Timeline
Dr. Dre Net Worth Timeline | |
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Dr Dre net worth 1992 | $4,427,784 |
Dr Dre net worth 1995 | $11,016,636 |
Dr Dre net worth 1998 | $18,672,839 |
Dr Dre net worth 2001 | $32,190,182 |
Dr Dre net worth 2004 | $44,033,015 |
Dr Dre net worth 2007 | $57,925,169 |
Dr Dre net worth 2010 | $172,492,147 |
Dr Dre net worth 2013 | $353,670,676 |
Dr Dre net worth 2016 | $758,399,392 |
Looking at the Dr. Dre net worth story as a timeline makes one fact jump out: The megastar’s net worth skyrocketed when he got into business. Certainly the rapper’s net worth in the tens of millions was not paltry when he was “only” singing. However, the Beats by Dre adventure blasted the Dr. Dre net worth ship into the stratosphere.
The story in the media is that Dr. Dre was upset that people were stealing his music in this age of casual digital piracy. However, he was even more upset that they were listening to it on cheap headphones, destroying the music’s feel. The dip in Dr. Dre’s net worth in the graph below shows Dre’s estimated investment in the company. It’s an investment that paid off, rocketing the Dr. Dre net worth juggernaut up toward the billion dollar mark in just a few short years.
Dr. Dre Net Worth Sources
Calling Dr. Dre a rapper is like calling Bill Gates a software engineer. Yes it’s how he got his start, but music sales and concert tour income combined only accounts for 7% of the total Dr. Dre net worth picture.
The table below shows how much the star earned from each source.
Dr Dre Net Worth Sources | ||
---|---|---|
YouTube | $4,060,423 | 0.24% |
Music Production | $6,000,000 | 0.36% |
Film Career | $9,950,000 | 0.59% |
Music Sales | $25,901,706 | 1.54% |
Endorsements (Estimated) | $46,000,000 | 2.73% |
Concert Tours (Estimated) | $90,655,972 | 5.39% |
Investments | $145,131,711 | 8.63% |
Beats by Dre Income | $400,000,000 | 23.78% |
Business Deals | $954,500,000 | 56.74% |
Total Dr Dre Earnings | $1,682,199,812 | |
Taxes | $857,169,985 | |
Expenses | $27,708,965 | |
Beats by Dre Estimated Initial Investment | $20,000,000 | |
Total Dr Dre Costs | $904,878,950 | |
Total Dr Dre Net Worth | $777,320,862 |
As the table above shows, more than half the artist’s income comes from business deals. The chart below shows the full Dr. Dre net worth breakdown graphically.
Business Deals and Dr. Dre Net Worth
With two platinum albums and four platinum singles, there’s no question Dr. Dre is a spectacular musician. However, he’s an even better businessman.
According to our estimates, over 80% of Dr. Dre’s lifetime earnings comes from Beats by Dre.
Dr. Dre started Beats Electronics in 2008 with partner Jimmy Iovine. Since then, the company has grown to an estimated $1.4 billion a year in sales revenue. In 2010, Beats inked a deal with HTC, selling a 50% stake in the company for $309 million. $154 million of that amount went straight into the Dr. Dre net worth fortune.
In 2014, Apple paid a staggering $3.2 billion to acquire Beats. It’s estimated that $800 million of that found its way onto the Dr. Dre net worth pile.
All told, Dr. Dre has amassed an estimated $955 million from business deals. Adding in an estimated $400 million in income from the business through the years boosts Dre’s Beats earnings to nearly $1.4 billion.
Business Deals and Dr Dre Net Worth | |
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Beats by Dre HTC Deal | $309,000,000 |
Dr Dre % | 50% |
Dr Dre Earnings from HTC Deal 2010 | $154,500,000 |
Beats by Dre Sale to Apple 2014 | $3,200,000,000 |
Dr Dre % | 25% |
Dr Dre Earnings from Apple Deal | $800,000,000 |
Total Dr Dre Net Worth from Business | $954,500,000 |
Also see: Drake Net Worth
Music Sales and Dr. Dre Net Worth
Dr. Dre has sold 28.5 million albums and 16 million singles. The star’s studio albums include The Chronic in 1992, 2001 in 1999 and Compton in 2015. Another album titled Detox was eventually canceled.
Album Sales and Dr. Dre Net Worth
Aside from the three albums The Chronic, 2001 and Compton, Dr. Dre has released 66 live albums and several compilation and other albums, including nine albums with the group N.W.A. Stars earn an estimated 11.1% for each song they write and record, according to industry estimates. Based on our figures, album sales have kicked in $24 million to the Dr. Dre net worth stack.
Album Sales and Dr Dre Net Worth | ||||
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Studio Albums | Year | Unit Sales | Revenue at $10.99 Each | Dr Dre Earnings at 11.1% Each |
The Chronic | 1992 | 7,500,000 | 82,425,000 | 9,149,175 |
2001 | 1999 | 9,300,000 | 102,207,000 | 11,344,977 |
Compton | 2015 | 500,000 | 5,495,000 | 609,945 |
N.W.A Albums (Dr. Dre gets .66%) | 9,600,000 | 105,504,000 | 696,326 | |
Other Albums (7) | 1,610,000 | 17,693,900 | 1,964,023 | |
Totals | 28,510,000 | $313,324,900 | $23,764,446 | |
Total Dr Dre Net Worth from Albums | $23,764,446 |
Also see: Beyonce Net Worth
Singles Sales and Dr. Dre Net Worth
Dr. Dre’s hit singles include Nuthin’ But a G Thing and I Need a Doctor. Since some of Dre’s singles were recorded with other artists like Eminem and Snoop Dog, the rapper took a smaller cut of earnings. We estimate singles pumped another $2 million total into the Dr. Dre net worth tanks.
Singles and Dr Dre Net Worth | Unit Sales | Revenue at $1.99 Each | Dr Dre Earnings |
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Singles as Lead (18, Dr. Dre gets 11.1%) | 7,000,000 | 13,930,000 | 1,546,230 |
Singles as Featured (25, Dr. Dre gets 3.3%) | 9,000,000 | 17,910,000 | 591,030 |
Totals | 16,000,000 | $31,840,000 | $2,137,260 |
Also see: Kanye West Net Worth
Concert Tours and Dr. Dre Net Worth
We weren’t able to find historical data on Dr. Dre’s concert ticket sales. Going at it from another angle, we analyzed several other stars to see how much they earned from concerts vs music sales. Drake, Jay Z and Kanye West all earned three to five times more from concert tours than from music sales. Rihanna, Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus earned six to 13 times more from concerts. Using Jay Z, Drake and West as more representative of Dr. Dre’s concert earning power, we estimate Dr. Dre earned 3.5 times more money from concerts than from music sales. That gave us a figure of $91 million from concert earnings for the Dr. Dre net worth total.
Concert Tours and Dr Dre Net Worth | |
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Star | Concert Tours to Music Sales |
Drake | 4.8 |
Jay Z | 3.2 |
Kanye West | 2.5 |
Rihanna | 9 |
Taylor Swift | 6 |
Miley Cyrus | 13 |
Estimated Dr Dre Ratio | 3.5 |
Dr Dre Music Sales Earnings | $25,901,706 |
Estimated Dr Dre Concert Earnings | $90,655,972 |
Also see: Rihanna Net Worth
Film Career and Dr. Dre Net Worth
Dr. Dre has acted in and produced several films. Since most of Dre’s ventures were relatively small dollar affairs, we focused on the hit movie Straight Outta Compton in 2015. The film raked in nearly $200 million at the worldwide box office. Estimating Dre’s cut as producer at just 5% adds a $10 million dollar slice to the Dr. Dre net worth pie.
Related: Jay Z Net Worth
Music Production and Dr. Dre Net Worth
In the years between 2001 and 2007, Dre turned from rapping to producing music by other stars. Dre produced albums by Eminem, Gwen Stephani, Mary J. Blige, Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent and Jay Z. Music industry experts place producer income at 4% of total record sales. Knowing that gives a rough estimate of $6 million in the Dr. Dre net worth stockpile from production income.
YouTube and Dr. Dre Net Worth
As of 12/13/16, Dr. Dre’s Vevo channel has 961 million views. Marketing experts place YouTube earnings at about $7.60 for 1,00o views. Estimating Dr. Dre kept 85% of that adds another $6,218,756 into the Dr. Dre net worth story.
YouTube and Dr Dre Net Worth | Views | Revenue at $7.60 Per 1,000 Views | Dr Dre Earnings at 85% |
---|---|---|---|
Dr Dre Vevo Channel | 961,750,979 | $7,309,307 | $6,212,911 |
Dr Dre Channel | 904,722 | $6,876 | $5,845 |
Total Dr Dre Net Worth from YouTube | $6,218,756 |
Also see: Taylor Swift Net Worth
Investments and Dr. Dre Net Worth
Apart from Dr. Dre’s billion dollars in business deals with HTC and Apple, he also likely has other investments. Average stock and bond investments over the years tack about 6% onto an investor’s wealth. Assuming Dre invested his earnings after taxes and expenses, we estimate the star amassed about $146 million in investment income. We subtracted $20 million from the Dr. Dre net worth total in 2008 to account for Dre’s initial investment in Beats Electronics.
Taxes and Expenses and Dr. Dre Net Worth
A mammoth sized wealth pile leads to a mammoth sized tax bill. Dre is in a 39.6% federal tax bracket. Since he lives in L.A., his state tax bracket is another 13.3%. That gives Dre a sky-high 52.9% tax rate. Applying that rate to Dre’s earnings over the years means taxes of $813 million suck half the wind out of the Dr. Dre net worth balloon. Since Dre’s investments would be taxed if he cashed them in, taxes on investments account for another $77 million.
Expenses of $27 million cut another slice from the Dr. Dre net worth pie. We figured Dre spends 15% of regular income on things like cost of living, agents, staff and operating costs. We didn’t apply that percentage to the star’s business deals, since those deals probably detoured straight into Dre’s net worth without high-percentage expenses.
Dr Dre Net Worth Calculations | |||||
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Year | Dr. Dre Earnings | Taxes | Expenses | Investment Income | Dr Dre Net Worth |
1992 | $13,793,720 | $7,296,878 | $2,069,058 | $0 | $4,427,784 |
1993 | $5,895,398 | $3,118,666 | $884,310 | $125,129 | $6,445,336 |
1994 | $5,895,398 | $3,118,666 | $884,310 | $182,145 | $8,519,904 |
1995 | $5,895,398 | $3,118,666 | $884,310 | $240,772 | $10,653,100 |
1996 | $5,895,398 | $3,118,666 | $884,310 | $301,057 | $12,846,579 |
1997 | $5,895,398 | $3,118,666 | $884,310 | $363,044 | $15,102,046 |
1998 | $5,895,398 | $3,118,666 | $884,310 | $426,784 | $17,421,253 |
1999 | $18,402,430 | $9,734,885 | $2,760,364 | $492,325 | $23,820,758 |
2000 | $5,895,398 | $3,118,666 | $884,310 | $673,175 | $26,386,355 |
2001 | $6,562,065 | $3,471,332 | $984,310 | $745,678 | $29,238,456 |
2002 | $6,562,065 | $3,471,332 | $984,310 | $826,279 | $32,171,158 |
2003 | $6,562,065 | $3,471,332 | $984,310 | $909,157 | $35,186,738 |
2004 | $6,562,065 | $3,471,332 | $984,310 | $994,377 | $38,287,538 |
2005 | $6,562,065 | $3,471,332 | $984,310 | $1,082,006 | $41,475,966 |
2006 | $6,562,065 | $3,471,332 | $984,310 | $1,172,111 | $44,754,500 |
2007 | $6,562,065 | $3,471,332 | $984,310 | $1,264,762 | $48,125,685 |
2008 | $6,562,065 | $3,471,332 | $984,310 | $1,360,032 | $31,592,140 |
2009 | $7,450,459 | $3,941,293 | $1,117,569 | $892,794 | $34,876,531 |
2010 | $261,283,792 | $138,219,126 | $1,017,569 | $985,611 | $157,909,239 |
2011 | $106,783,792 | $56,488,626 | $1,017,569 | $4,462,515 | $211,649,351 |
2012 | $106,783,792 | $56,488,626 | $1,017,569 | $5,981,211 | $266,908,159 |
2013 | $106,783,792 | $56,488,626 | $1,017,569 | $7,542,825 | $323,728,581 |
2014 | $806,783,792 | $426,788,626 | $1,017,569 | $9,148,570 | $711,854,748 |
2015 | $17,396,558 | $9,202,779 | $2,609,484 | $20,117,015 | $737,556,058 |
2016 | $20,843,334 | $758,399,392 | |||
Dr. Dre Net Worth Totals | $1,539,226,434 | $814,250,783 | $27,708,965 | $81,132,707 |
Also see: Miley Cyrus Net Worth
Dr. Dre Net Worth in the News
As of 3/23/16, the collaboration between Dr. Dre and LL Cool J is reportedly going strong. LL Cool J had announced his retirement from the music industry on Twitter. Apparently the one thing that could call him back from rocking chair land was Dr. Dre.
Another Dr. Dre collaboration just hit the twittersphere on 4/25/17. Dre got together to record a song with Anderson .Paak. See Dre’s tweet about the match-up below.
Beats by Dre Presents Anderson .Paak, “All in a Day’s Work” f/ Dr. Dre @beatsbydre https://t.co/kRD9mAQI8V
— Andy $ide$tick (@AndersonPaak) April 28, 2016
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