How much is Jerry Heller worth?
| Net Worth: | $14 Million |
|---|---|
| Profession: | Professional Music Manager |
| Date of Birth: | October 6, 1940 (aged 75) |
| Country: | United States of America |
| Height: | 5 ft 3 in (1.62 m) |
About Jerry Heller
Jerry was born October 6, 1940 in Cleveland, Ohio into a Jewish family. He earned his college degree at the University of Southern California and, as per his memoir Ruthless: A Memoir published in 2006, served in the US Army. Early in his career, Heller co-founded Heller-Fischel Agency in Beverly Hills, California that grossed as much as $7 million per year. Yet this would be nothing compared to the success he would soon experience in the future.
At the time of his death in 2016, Jerry Heller was worth at least $14 million dollars.
How did Heller get rich?
Jerry Heller was a music manager and businessman who is most famous for managing the rap group N.W.A and bringing rap artists to the main stage in American culture. In fact without the work of Heller early on, rap artists like Dr. Dre, Ice Cube and DJ Yeller may never have got the start that eventually propelled them to success. Jerry Heller also managed Eazy-E until his death in 1995.
While Jerry Heller is mostly known for popularizing rap music and gangsta rap, he also imported Elton John and Pink Floyd to America for their first major tours in the 1960s and early 1970s. He went on to represent artists from all kinds of genres and the list of artists and bands include; Van Morrison, Black Sabbath, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Otis Redding, Eric Burdon, Average White Band, Crosby Stills and Nash, Dr. John, Ike & Tina Turner, and Who.
In the 1980s rap music was still street thing that almost nobody sold or bought. That was all about to change with the emergence of a new group straight outta Compton called, NWA or Niggaz Wit Attitudes.
In 1986 Heller co-founded Ruthless Records with Eric “Eazy-E” Wright which was a subsidiary of its parent company, Comptown Records, Inc. This label was ready to shake things up and as could be expected experienced serious outside pressure, even from the FBI. In fact after NWA released the song “F*ck tha Police” they received a threatening letter to their distributor Priority Records from the FBI.
Yet nothing would slow down the success of the NWA rap group and the West Coast rap music movement that it represented. Before long they were helping groups like Black Eyed Peas with rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap, Taboo, and singer J. Rey Soul, get recorded and distributed.
In 2015 the Straight Outta Compton features Jerry Heller played by actor, Paul Giamatti. However as he was portrayed badly in the film Heller filed multiple lawsuits against NBCUniversal as well as members of N.W.A., including against Dr. Dre and Ice Cube according to BBC.
On September 3, 2016 at the age of 75, Jerry Heller died at his mansion in Calabasas. He still lived just two doors down from where Eazy-E used to live and was still seen driving his white BMW that with license plate “RTHLSS2”, which was a gift from the late rapper.
