How much is Mariah Carey worth?
| Net Worth: | $385 Million |
|---|---|
| Profession: | Professional Singer |
| Date of Birth: | March 27, 1970 (age 53) |
| Country: | United States of America |
| Height: | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) |
About Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey has been able to amass a tremendous net worth of $385 million dollars throughout her explosive singing career, which is almost exclusively thanks to her album sales, as well as her tours. Her beautiful voice and songwriting skills have carried her through and she has also earned from her television appearances and a little from her acting career.
Mariah Carey is a second generation singer, as her mother, Patricia Carey, was an opera singer. However, Mariah didn’t always get to spend a lot of time with her mother. Her parents divorced when she was young, and her mother worked several jobs to support their family. Mariah was home alone often and began singing at the age of three, using her voice to mimic one of the songs her mother performed.
She excelled in the arts, especially music, from a young age. Mariah began making music in high school, working as a demo singer. She co-wrote material for her demo tape with musicians such as Gavin Christopher and Ben Margulies. She worked several part time jobs to support herself after she graduated and moved to New York City, though it all paid off. Mariah managed to land a job singing backup for Brenda K. Starr, a singer and songwriter.
Mariah’s demo tape, which was now finished, made it into the hands of record executive Tommy Mottola at an event. Tommy, who is the head of Columbia Records, listened to her demo on his way home from the event.
After listening to the tape, he immediately requested his driver to turn around, but Mariah had already left. The record executive spent the next two weeks tracking Mariah down, and she signed a record deal with him once he found her.
One of the things Mariah is most recognizable for is her song “All I Want For Christmas Is You.” This Christmas song is considered one of the most-profitable singles of all time. The song can be heard in dozens of Christmas movies, with global sales of sixteen million records. The song has earned over $60 million in gross royalties, according to The Economist, and that was reported in 2017.
Aside from “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” the sales of Mariah’s other singles and albums were also incredibly profitable. Unlike many other musicians and celebrities, she has earned her fortune with her songbird-like voice and incredible songwriting, which have allowed her to produce music that grew her net worth into the hundreds of millions.
Mariah’s debut album, simply Mariah Carey, was released in 1990. Though sales were slow in the beginning, it eventually became successful.
However, it was her third studio album that launched Mariah into stardom. Though the album, called Music Box, was not well received by many critics, it made Mariah into the star she is today. She embarked on her first tour to promote the album, called the Music Box Tour.
Despite many bad reviews from critics, Music Box continues to be Mariah’s best selling album, as well as one of the highest selling albums of all time. Music Box’s second single, called “Hero,” would later become recognizable as her signature song.
Irregardless of a slow start and a Cinderella-like chase that ensued before she signed her record deal, Mariah was able to achieve worldwide fame for her songwriting skills and beautiful voice. Now she is known for her diva-like charm and gorgeous singing voice, which she continues to use, and it is likely Mariah Carey will not be leaving the spotlight anytime soon.
Mariah Carey’s success comes from her image, which is incredibly glamorous and diva-like, as well as her talents in music. Her beautiful voice, which is able to reach pitches much higher than the voices of others in her industry, as well as her songwriting and producing abilities, have allowed her to have an explosive and incredibly profitable music career.
Carey’s Total Net Worth
Mariah Carey has earned estimated total career income of $650 million dollars. Carey has been earning some of the highest dollar amounts since 2001, when she signed a record breaking $100 million dollar deal with Virgin Music. While the deal did eventually end in Carey’s termination from the label, she was also paid $28 million dollar as per contract. Therefore, when including earnings from the single album that she produced with them, Glitter, she walked away with $50 million dollars from her association with Virgin.
Then, four years later, when Carey was signed by Island Records on a five-year $24 million dollar contract. She released the 2005 song “The Emancipation of Mimi” which sold 10 million singles. Since then she has continued to earn more than almost any female artist in history. She has sold over 200 million albums worldwide, has more number 1 songs than any other female artist and she is the second best-selling female artist of all time, after Rihanna.
Not only has Carey earned monumental paychecks from her music career, she earned $18 million to appear for a single season on American Idol.
Of her $650 million total career income, $29-50 million will have been paid in business related costs. The remainder, $610.5 million, will have been taxed at 49% as Carey has been residing between the states of New York and California. After tax, it is estimated that her career earnings are at around $311.35 million dollars, having paid $299.15 million dollars in taxes.
Mariah Carey married Tommy Mottola, her original knight in shining armor, in 1993. Sadly they divorced five years later, in 1998. There were no children involved but Mottola was worth around $350 million dollars at the time. However, generally it is concluded that Mariah received very little from the music industry titan, as there was a prenuptial agreement in place. Then in 2008, Mariah married Nick Cannon. After eight years of marriage, they were divorced. It is reported that she receives $5,000 per month from Cannon to be put in trust for their two children, twins Monroe and Moroccan Scott Cannon. Other than that, no other money changed hands as there was a prenuptial agreement signed between the couple before marriage.
In her personal life Mariah has likely spent $40-50 million dollars of her career earnings but also probably possesses assets valued at around $9-10 million, not including investment assets. In her investments, she may have earned investment returns of $89-125 million dollars. Therefore, it is estimated that Mariah Carey has a net worth of about $385 million dollars.
Summing-Up
Though Mariah Carey receives plenty of negative feedback because of her personality, which is considered diva-like and overly theatrical, there is no doubt that she is one of the most rich and famous entertainers in the world. She was able to turn her love for music and singing into an explosive career that carried her to these monumental levels of fame and wealth.
