One Direction’s net worth is $398 million. The One Direction net worth story is a little complicated because group member Zayn Malik split from the band in 2015.
One Direction has earned a staggering total of $820 million since 2011. The band has pulled $544 million from concerts and $135 million from merchandise like hats and t-shirts. They’ve paid out $367 million in taxes, thanks to their slot in the highest UK tax bracket of 45%. Another $82 million goes toward expenses like concerts, staff and agent fees.
The band has earned a combined salary of $164 million per year. Split five ways, that works out to $33 million each per year. The One Direction net worth figure for each band member split five ways is $80 million apiece.
One Direction Net Worth Facts
| One Direction Net Worth | $398,313,661 |
|---|---|
| One Direction net worth vs Taylor Swift net worth | 1.6 times bigger |
| One Direction net worth vs Rihanna net worth | 1.4 times bigger |
| One Direction net worth vs Selena Gomez net worth | 9 times bigger |
| One Direction net worth vs Drake net worth | 5 times bigger |
| One Direction net worth vs Justin Bieber net worth | 2.4 times bigger |
| One Direction net worth vs Adele net worth | 12 times bigger |
| One Direction net worth vs Nicki Minaj net worth | 6 times bigger |
| One Direction net worth vs Jay Z Net Worth | 30% smaller |
| One Direction net worth vs typical American family net worth | 5,858 times bigger |
Also see: Miley Cyrus Net Worth
Taken as a solid sum, the One Direction net worth total is $398 million. Seen that way, One Direction’s net worth is 1.6 times bigger than Taylor Swift’s net worth of $251 million and 1.4 times bigger than Rihanna’s net worth of $281 million. Selena Gomez’s $45 million net worth is 9 times smaller than the One Direction net worth sum. Drake’s net worth of $88 million is 5 times smaller than One Direction’s net worth.
Adele has 12 times less net worth than One Direction with $33 million. Nicki Minaj’s net worth at $65 million is 6 times smaller than the One Direction net worth pile. Jay Z has 30% more net worth than One Direction with $514 million. Finally, the One Direction net worth fortune is worth 5,858 times as much as the typical American family’s net worth of just $68,000.
One Direction Net Worth Through Time
| One Direction Net Worth 2011 | $34,674,710 |
| One Direction Net Worth 2012 | $62,163,869 |
| One Direction Net Worth 2013 | $132,393,785 |
| One Direction Net Worth 2014 | $273,704,511 |
| One Direction Net Worth 2015 | $385,589,217 |
| One Direction Net Worth 2016 | $398,313,661 |
|---|
Also see: Katy Perry Net Worth
The chart below shows the One Direction net worth story graphically. Note that although it looks like their earnings slumped at the end, that’s just because 2016 is so new. Their earnings will likely climb as the year goes on.
The One Direction net worth story started out in 2011 when the band launched their first hit album, Up All Night. The album sold an impressive five million copies worldwide. It also spawned the hit single What Makes You Beautiful, which sold another six million copies. The album kicked off their first concert tour, the Up All Night tour, which took in $26.5 million at the worldwide box office.
That was just the beginning. One Direction has worked incredibly hard in the years since 2011 to secure a solid place in the international music scene. They’ve released an album each year, 17 singles and gone on four concert tours. One Direction’s net worth has grown steadily to a 2016 total of nearly $400 million.
On 1/17/16, One Direction announced on Twitter that they’ve got a new song out. The song is called Hey Angel and is available on Spotify.
Sunday Spin: #HeyAngel https://t.co/qoX418m5Ge
— One Direction (@onedirection) January 17, 2016
One Direction Net Worth: Albums, Singles, Concerts, YouTube and More
The One Direction net worth monster is made up of money streams from so many sources. Album sales are just a small part of the band’s earnings, with singles, concert tours, YouTube earnings and merchandising bringing significant cash flow. The table below shows the sources of One Direction’s wealth. It also shows drains on their finances like taxes and expenses.
| One Direction Net Worth Sources | |
|---|---|
| One Direction Album Sales | $27,191,678 |
| One Direction Singles Sales | $3,282,396 |
| One Direction Concert Tours | $543,745,000 |
| One Direction Merchandising | $135,936,250 |
| One Direction YouTube Earnings | $34,827,565 |
| One Direction Endorsment Deals | $75,000,000 |
| Investment Income | $29,321,361 |
| Total One Direction Career Earnings | $819,982,889 |
| Taxes (45% UK tax bracket) | $368,992,300 |
| Expenses (Estimated at 10% of earnings) | $81,998,289 |
| Total One Direction Payouts | $450,990,589 |
| One Direction Net Worth | $398,313,661 |
| One Direction Annual Salary | $163,996,578 |
| One Direction Salary Per Band Member (Split 5 ways) | $32,799,316 |
| One Direction Net Worth per Band Member | $79,662,732 |
Also see: Drake Net Worth
As the table above shows, most of One Direction’s net worth comes from concert tours. The band is hugely popular with concert goers and takes in more money per tour than Taylor Swift or Justin Bieber. The band also does very well with sales of tee shirts, hats and other One Direction gear.
Since there were five band members up until 2015, the annual salary split five ways was $33 million per band member. The net worth of each band member comes to about $80 million.
Album Sales and One Direction Net Worth
Modern piracy problems have sunk album sales industrywide. One Direction isn’t immune to this problem. Even so, they’ve still added $27 million to their net worth from album sales. The table below has the details.
| Album Sales and One Direction Net Worth | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Album Name | Album Type | Year | Album Sales | Album Cost | Total Revenue | One Direction % | One Direction Earnings |
| Up All Night (One Direction debut album) | One Direction studio album | 2011 | 5,000,000 | $10.99 | $54,950,000 | 7.73% | $4,244,888 |
| Take Me Home | One Direction studio album | 2012 | 5,000,000 | $10.99 | $54,950,000 | 7.73% | $4,244,888 |
| Midnight Memories | One Direction studio album | 2013 | 4,000,000 | $10.99 | $43,960,000 | 7.73% | $3,395,910 |
| Four | One Direction studio album | 2014 | 3,200,000 | $10.99 | $35,168,000 | 11.10% | $3,903,648 |
| Made in the A.M. (Worst selling One Direction studio ablum) | One Direction studio album | 2015 | 1,870,000 | $10.99 | $20,551,300 | 11.10% | $2,281,194 |
| EP Albums (6) | One Direction EP Albums | 2012-2015 | 1,000,000 | $10.99 | $10,990,000 | 8.85% | $972,615 |
| One Direction: Up All Night – The Live Tour | One Direction live video album | 2012 | 5,000,000 | $10.99 | $54,950,000 | 7.73% | $4,244,888 |
| Where We Are: Live From San Siro Stadium | One Direction live video album | 2014 | 3,200,000 | $10.99 | $35,168,000 | 11.10% | $3,903,648 |
| Total Album Sales and One Direction Net Worth | 28,270,000 | $310,687,300 | $27,191,678 |
Also see: Justin Bieber Net Worth
Note that in the table above, One Direction’s percentage of sales varies between 7.73% and 11.1%. This is because industry experts say bands that write their own songs earn about 11.1% of revenue. Bands that don’t earn about 6.6%. One Direction had help on about 75% of their songs from Ed Sheeran up until 2014.
Singles Sales and One Direction Net Worth
One Direction has added $3.3 million to their net worth from singles sales since 2011. They’ve released 17 singles in that time. Their top selling single was 2011’s What Makes You Beautiful. That song sold six million copies and added $922,365 to the band’s net worth.
The band’s worst selling single was 2014’s You & I, which sold 50,000 copies and earned the band $11,045. On average, One Direction earned $193,000 per single. They’ve sold a grand total of $20 million in singles.
One interesting side note to the band’s net worth story is their commitment to charity. One Direction has performed on five singles as “featured artists.” They donated all the proceeds from these five singles to charity.
Also see: Nicki Minaj Net Worth
Concert Tours and One Direction Net Worth
Concerts are by far the biggest slice of the One Direction net worth pie. The band has earned a total of $544 million from concert tours. They’ve had four concerts from 2011 through 2015. Their top earning concert was the Where We Are tour in 2014. That tour pulled in $290 million at the worldwide box office. Industry estimates place earnings for big name bands at about 85% of revenue. That means One Direction likely earned $247 million for that one tour alone.
| Concerts and One Direction Net Worth | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| One Direction Concert | Year | Box Office | One Direction % | One Direction Earnings |
| Up All Night Tour | 2011 | $26,500,000 | 85% | $22,525,000 |
| Take Me Home Tour | 2013 | $115,000,000 | 85% | $97,750,000 |
| Where We Are Tour | 2014 | $290,200,000 | 85% | $246,670,000 |
| On the Road Again | 2015 | $208,000,000 | 85% | $176,800,000 |
| Total One Direction Net Worth from Concert Tours | $639,700,000 | $543,745,000 |
Also see: PewDiePie Net Worth
YouTube and One Direction Net Worth
Music stars increasingly earn big chunks of cash from YouTube. One Direction has over five billion views on their YouTube channel. Marketing experts estimate that for every 1,000 YouTube views, a top performer can earn $7.60 from ad revenue. That means YouTube has added $35 million to the One Direction net worth stack.
Their most popular upload is still 2011’s What Makes You Beautiful. That song’s video on YouTube has an unreal 722 million views.
| YouTube and One Direction Net Worth | Views | Earnings Per 1,000 Views | Total Revenue | One Direction % | Total One Direction YouTube Earnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| One Direction Vevo Channel | 5,391,263,968 | $7.60 | $40,973,606 | 85% | $34,827,565 |
Also see: Taylor Swift Net Worth
Merchandise and One Direction Net Worth
It’s inevitable that big name bands rake in huge cash from merchandising. One Direction does very well in this area, getting big sales for items like tee shirts, bracelets, DVDs, throw blankets and even duct tape.
A conservative estimate of 25% of the band’s concert earnings gives a lifetime figure of $136 million from merchandising. That’s $27 million per year or $5.4 million per band member per year.
Endorsements and One Direction Net Worth
One Direction has earned an estimated $75 million from product endorsement deals. That’s $15 million per year since 2011. The band has had deals with Colgate toothpaste, Pepsi, Pokemon and Nokia to name a few. They also have a deal with Honda.
The Honda commercial below shows the band’s sense of fun. In a quick 30 seconds, the band’s members rate the car for features like sound system, curves and storage space. Finally, one member sings to a cute crash test dummy, who then rates the car high on “serious style.” The band was paid an estimated $10 million for their Honda deal alone.
Also see: Selena Gomez Net Worth
One Direction Net Worth Calculations
Unfortunately for One Direction, net worth is more than just how much money they made. Nobody dodges the tax man. Not even One Direction. The band has paid an estimated $369 million in taxes under the UK’s highest 45% tax rate. They’ve also shelled out $82 million in expenses for things like agent fees, concert production, album production, staff and cost of living.
The table below shows the full One Direction net worth story. Album sales, singles sales, concert earnings, plus Youtube and merchandising are rolled into the “total earnings” column. We’ve also added an estimate of 6% per year in investment income to the final number.
| One Direction Net Worth Calculations | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Total One Direction Earnings | Taxes | Expenses | Net | Investment Income | One Direction Net Worth |
| 2011 | $77,054,911 | $34,674,710 | $7,705,491 | $34,674,710 | $0 | $34,674,710 |
| 2012 | $58,544,208 | $26,344,893 | $5,854,421 | $26,344,893 | $1,144,265 | $62,163,869 |
| 2013 | $151,507,798 | $68,178,509 | $15,150,780 | $68,178,509 | $2,051,408 | $132,393,785 |
| 2014 | $304,314,958 | $136,941,731 | $30,431,496 | $136,941,731 | $4,368,995 | $273,704,511 |
| 2015 | $228,561,014 | $102,852,456 | $22,856,101 | $102,852,456 | $9,032,249 | $385,589,217 |
| 2016 | $12,724,444 | $398,313,661 | ||||
| Totals | $819,982,889 | $368,992,300 | $81,998,289 | $368,992,300 | $29,321,361 |
One Direction Net Worth in the Future
The departure of band member Zayn Malik will affect future One Direction net worth calculations. Malik left the band in March of 2015. The band’s earnings have been growing at a slower rate regardless. There will be one less person to split the money with now. There will also be less money coming in. That’s not necessarily because of Malik’s departure. It might be just because the band’s cycle is reaching a slow point.
It may be difficult for a “boy band” to transition beyond their early 20’s. If the band can reinvent themselves as something other than a sensation for teens, they’ll have a strong case for continuing to pull in big money well into the future.