How much is Awkwafina worth?
| Net Worth: | $4 Million |
|---|---|
| Profession: | Professional Actress |
| Date of Birth: | June 2, 1988 (age 34) |
| Country: | United States of America |
| Height: | 5 ft 1 in (1.55 m) |
About Awkwafina
Awkwafina is the stage name of Nora Lum. She’s an American actress, author, internet personality, rapper, and television host. She became famous in 2012 after releasing her controversial rap song “My Vag” on YouTube. She then released two studio projects – the albums Yellow Ranger and In Fina We Trust. Besides her music, she also gained mainstream recognition with her roles in many films such as Neighbours 2, Crazy Rich Asians, and Jumanji: The Next Level.
Nora was born on June 2, 1988, in Stony Brook, New York. Her father is Chinese-American and her mother is Korean American. They met in the 1970s, just after her mother, who worked as a painter, had immigrated to the States. Nora grew up in Forest Hills, Queens, and attended the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School.
During her childhood, Lum expressed interest in both acting and singing and has cited Anais Non, Charles Bukowski, Chet Baker, Joan Didion, and Tom Waits as her early influences. She played the trumpet, as well as other music instruments, and attended training schools in jazz and classical music. At the age of sixteen, she adopted the stage name (and alter ego) “Awkwafina”. After her graduation from high school in 2006, she enrolled at the University of Albany, State University of New York, from which she earned a major in journalism and women’s studies.
In 2012, the female rapper released her controversial song titled “My Vag”, which helped her gain national popularity and sign a contract with EMPIRE Distribution worth an estimated $300-500,000. A few years later, in February 2014, she self-released her debut studio album – Yellow Ranger.
She continued to create new music towards the end of the decade and eventually released her second album called In Fina We Trust, which was self-released in June 2018. Despite failing to find commercial or critical success, both of Awkwafina’s albums, as well as her non-album singles helped her obtain her own fan base and earn enough to work full time on her music and comedy.
In 2016, she starred in her own documentary named Bad Rap. Starting that year, she became a full-time actress that starred in a bunch of films like Neighbours 2, Storks, Ocean’s 8, and Crazy Rich Asians. Her breakthrough came in the 2019 comedy-drama The Farewell, which earned her a Golden Globe Award.
With her win, she also became the first Asian female actress with a leading role to achieve this. Since then, the internet sensation has taken over the world with her acting and has landed roles in multiple box-office hits such as Jumanji: The Next Level, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run, and Raya and the Last Dragon.
In the early 2000s, prior to her career in the entertainment business and while she was rapping and creating her own songs, Awkwafina worked for several years as an author for New York publications Gotham Gazette, the newspaper Times Union, and the publishing house Royale Books.
In 2014, she made her television debut as herself in the television series Girl Code, followed by a special live edition that aired the following year, in which she served as the co-host. She also became a voice actress that lent her voice for many projects such as Regular Show, Animals., The Simpson, Tuc and Bertie, and The Dark Crystal.
Awkwafina’s Total Net Worth
Awkwafina’s biggest movies that she has appeared in are Shang-Chi, Crazy Rich Asians, Ocean’s Eight, and The Farewell among others. In total, it is estimated that Awkwafina’s career earnings are $9 million dollars from her acting, music and comedy work.
On average, over her 10 year career (2012-2022), Awkwafina has earned $900,000 per year. That would make her effective tax rate about 32% for federal income tax and at about 13% for her California state tax, with an overall effective tax rate of about 45.5%. However her earnings have been higher in some years than others, it seems likely that her average tax rate is actually around 48%.
Therefore, of her $9 million career, $1 million will have been paid in business related costs. The remainder, $8 million, will have been taxed at 48% as Awkwafina has been residing in the state of California. After tax, it is estimated that her career earnings are at around $4.16 million dollars, having paid $3.84 million dollars in taxes.
Awkwafina has never been married and therefore has not had any costly divorces. She has not found herself in any legal trouble, and has shown steady worth ethic which would lead one to believe that would translate into the management of her finances. She has made some investments into property, including paying some $2.28 million for a townhouse in West Hollywood, in 2019. As well as $3.5 million for a home in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles, in 2021.
In her personal life Awkwafina has likely spent $1 million dollars of her career earnings but also probably possesses assets valued at around $450,000, not including investment assets. In her investments, she may have earned investment returns of $700,000. Therefore, it is estimated that Awkwafina has a net worth of around $4 million dollars.
Summing-Up
Awkwafina is a world-renowned entertainer who first rose to prominence with her rapping and then became an actress and television host. In less than a decade, she made millions with her many talents and besides making history with her Golden Globe Award win is also a nominee for a BAFTA, Satellite, and Critics Choice Movie Award. Most recently, she became the main star, co-creator, executive producer, and writer of her own television series called Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens.
