Akon Net Worth

How much is Akon worth?

Net Worth:$65 Million
Profession:Professional Singer
Date of Birth:April 16, 1973 (age 49)
Country:United States of America
Height:
5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)

About Akon

Akon, born Aliaume Damala Badara Akon Thiam, is a singer and producer who has become known for his ex-con persona. He’s also known for working with some of the greatest singers and performers of all time, such as Michael Jackson, Snoop Dogg, Whitney Houston, and Gwen Stefani. The singer is also known for his solo work, especially for the smash hits, “Lonely” and “Locked Up”. In the late 2000s he gained a lot of attention for kick starting Lady Gaga’s career and writing her breakout single, “Poker Face”.

In total, the artist has released five albums with three of them having gone platinum, producing most of the music himself, and has had guest spots on more than 300 songs by other artists.

Senegalese-American singer, rapper, songwriter, record producer, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and actor Akon has an estimated net worth of $65 million dollars, as of 2023. Billboard ranked Akon No. 6 on the list of Top Digital Songs Artists of the decade.

After claiming he had spent three years in a jail which is where he honed in on his song craft, Akon released his debut album, Trouble, in 2004. It didn’t waste any time becoming a huge hit thanks to the singles “Locked Up”, “Lonely”, “Belly Dancer,” and “Ghetto”, all of which charted high thanks to Akon’s chipmunk sounding production, something that was wholly unique at the time but went on to inspire many other producers to imitate the alien sound. “Ghetto” reached even bigger audiences when it was remixed by DJ Green Lantern who added verses from The Notorious B.I.G. and 2Pac.

Not long after the release of Trouble, Akon jumped on Young Jeezy track “Soul Survivor”, from the trap rapper’s debut album, Lets’ Get It: Thug Motivation 101, laying down one of his most memorable verses to date and forming a great working partnership with Young Jeezy in the background.

The singer’s sophomore effort, Konvicted, now released under Akon’s own label KonLive Distribution as part of Interscope Records, was an even bigger success than his debut, as the record saw him chart at number two on the Billboard 200, the highest Akon would ever reach in his career. The record sold over 280,000 units in its first week and well over a million within six weeks. By week seven Konvicted had gone platinum and the record shockingly stayed in the top 20 for more than half of the year in 2006.

Now sitting at over three million copies sold, the album has been certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. Konvicted hosts the massive singles “I Wanna Love You” featuring Snoop Dogg, “I Can’t Wait” featuring T-Pain, and “Smack That” featuring Eminem. The latter of which reached number two on the Hot 100 and remained untouchable for five whole weeks. With the help of a great guest feature from Snoop Dogg, “I Wanna Love You” became Akon’s very first number one single on the Hot 100.

Besides the artist’s solo career, Akon has accrued what seems to be an exhausting amount of fame featuring on other singers’ and rappers’ tracks, such as “The Sweet Escape” by Gwen Stefani (which was also written by Akon), Shaggy’s “What’s Love”, and the iconic David Guetta track “Sexy Bitch”. Akon had even spoken with T-Pain and Pharrell about forming a rap supergroup.

It wasn’t just one record label Akon owned, but two. Both Konvict Muzik and KonLive Distrubition were highly influential and seemingly signed on any artist that’s of any worth today, almost predicting the future.

The labels were a stepping stone for T-Pain and Lady Gaga, both artists of which would have made Akon a fortune, especially the latter as Gaga has gone on to have many of her own number one albums, sell out arenas on giant tours, and even star in movies that have gone on to gross over $400 million.

Though it is unclear exactly how much Akon has made from record sales, it’s possibly hundreds of millions of dollars as at one point he had both the number one and number two spots on the Hot 100, being the first solo artist to ever achieve such an amazing accomplishment. The producer also has four songs certified triple platinum and twelve other hits that have all reached platinum status. On top of that, Akon has produced a multitude of hits by other pop stars, many of which you’d have no idea he was behind the boards on.

Akon has produced Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face”, “Tonight” by Mary J. Blige, “Hold My Hand” by Michael Jackson, and “I Got You” by Whitney Houston, among many, many others.

Akon has seen a lot of success in part thanks to promoting himself as an ex-convict, even going on to name his sophomore record Konvicted. That is his brand so much that at the beginning of a lot of his solo tracks, the sound of a jail cell door being slammed shut can be heard before Akon whispers “convict”. This record has helped him earn millions of dollars in sales.

However, the time he claims he has served in jail has been highly disputed, as investigative website The Smoking Gun concluded that the singer never actually served any time in prison whatsoever, and this was based on interviews with detectives and court records.

On top of his brand as an ex-con, Akon’s success is owed to sheer hard work, smart business decisions, and strangely enough, being able to smash through language barriers. As Akon has sung songs in other languages such as Hindi and Spanish, the singer has been able to become successful in other languages where his peers couldn’t. The producer has also featured on other artists’ songs, almost as many songs as there are days in a year, having recorded over 300 guest verses.

Akon’s Total Net Worth

Akon has earned estimated total career income of $110 million dollars. Akon has sold 35 million albums worldwide. In 2008, he earned a reported $12 million, in 2009, $20 million, in 2010, he earned a reported $21 million, and in 2011, $13 million. While his career in music has slowed down his business career has added to his earnings with the release of Konvict Clothing and Aliaune.

As Akon lives in the state of Georgia, he will have had to pay around 41% in taxes on his career income. After tax, it is estimated that his career earnings are at around $64.9 million dollars, having paid $45.1 million dollars in taxes.

Akon is married to Tomeka Thiam. In his personal life he has likely spent $5-6 million dollars of his career earnings, including his donations, but also earned some $10 million dollars from his investments. He will have also had to pay around $3-4 million dollars in business related costs. Therefore, it is estimated that Akon has a net worth of about $65 million dollars.

Summing-Up

Thanks to being a great singer in the booth and a fantastic producer behind the boards, Akon was one of the most in demand musicians in the 2000s, and a lot of his wealth can be attributed to his featured verses and productions just as much as his solo work. After a brief hiatus, Akon has returned to music and is currently working on his sixth album, tentatively titled Konnect.

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