What is 50 Cent's net worth? A look at the rapper's financial setbacks, bankruptcy and painful decline of wealth
50 Cent's 'Get Rich Or Die Tryin’ money-minting album from 2003 was all about his life. With millions to his name and a history of success in music, the rapper has a life that many dream of, but how much is he worth exactly? Before we dive in, let's take a look at his career history below.
Rough start
It is not uncommonly known that many hip-hop artists have had challenging lives early on and for Fiddy it is no different. The 'Patiently Waiting' rapper, whose real name is 'Curtis James Jackson III' was brought up in the South Jamaica neighborhood of Queens and lived with his drug-dealing mother, named Sabrina. Growing up in the atmosphere of drugs and his mother dying when he was in the young age of eight, Curtis also began dealing narcotics at the age of 12.
In high school, he was arrested for drug possession and again in 1994 for selling cocaine to an undercover police officer and a third time when police searched his home and found heroin, crack cocaine and a pistol. Things may have taken a positive turn for Curtis when he served six months in a boot camp and earned his GED.
He then adopted the nickname "50 Cent", which was inspired by a 1980s Brooklyn robber . He used that same moniker as a metaphor for change. Curtis said he chose it "because it says everything I want it to say. I'm the same kind of person 50 Cent was. I provide for myself by any means."
Record deal
Following his controversial underground single 'How to Rob', surviving a shooting, and a mixtape 'Guess Who's Back?', 50 Cent made headlines when he was discovered by Eminem in 2002. After signing a $1 million record deal with Eminem he released his classic debut album 'Get Rich or Die Trying', which has had a No 1 spot on the Billboard charts. The album rapidly became popular and sold a million copies in four days.
Becoming quickly noticed in the industry, Interscope gave the rapper his own label, G-Unit Records. His musical journey has seen him selling over 30 million albums globally and winning several awards, including a Grammy Award, thirteen Billboard Music Awards, six World Music Awards, three American Music Awards, and four BET Awards.
Net worth
Fiddy's net worth is currently $30 million as of this year, a much lower figure than when Forbes declared his net worth as $150 million in 2015. Some reports have considered the decline is due to his responsibilities to maintain his properties.
Real estate
With several other pursuits besides music, including acting, producing, launching a clothing company and a boxing promotion company and even seeking business in the realm of beverage, one aspect that negatively affected his money is his real estate. As noted above, it is high maintenance.
In 2003, Curtis bought a 17-acre property in Connecticut that features a 50,000 square-foot mansion with 37 bathrooms, 21 bedrooms, a gym, a casino, and a nightclub. He bought the house out of foreclosure from a bank that had recently evicted the previous owner, Mike Tyson. 50 Cent spent $4.1 million for the property and then an additional $6 million on upgrades including adding a private movie theater, infinity pool, and a helicopter pad thrown in for good measure.
50 Cent has been reported as having a monthly income of around $184,000 but, according to CelebrityNetWorth, to typically maintain and finance the home, it costs an estimated $72,000 per month and utilities alone cost $18,000. Going as far back as the year 2007, 50 Cent has tried to sell the property, continually lowering the price over the years to painfully less than his initially intended offer - from $18.5 million down to $8.5 million when he declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy and then it finally sold at an 84% price cut. In 2019, the property was sold for just $2.9 million after 12 years.
He also has other homes, including investment properties in Long Island and Atlanta, as well as a New Jersey apartment that the rapper leases.
Bankruptcy
Another contributing factor to 50 Cent's history of health woes is when he declared bankruptcy in 2015. The rapper declared bankruptcy a few days after he was found guilty of releasing a sex tape online and had to pay $5 million to the victim. Prior to that, Curtis had to pay $17 million to headphone manufacturer Sleek Audio for copying their designs.
50 Cent was allegedly under $32.5M in debt with estimated assets of $16M, leaving him $16.5M in the red. The case was resolved and the rapper agreed to pay off $23M in debts over five years, according to TMX, but it impacted his net worth. Bankruptcy allowed him to start afresh. He signed on as executive producer (and actor) on the successful American TV crime drama series 'Power'. Soon after filing for bankruptcy, he signed a $150m deal with Starz network.