Prince leaves behind estate said to be worth $300 million
By any measure, Prince was rock star royalty. That includes his wealth.
The prolific musician leaves behind a vast legacy of genre-bending albums and gender-bending fashion statements — and an estate said to be worth about $300 million, making him one of the most valuable entertainers in the world.
It’s still unclear who will end up inheriting the singer-guitarist’s fortune. Whoever takes control stands to benefit handsomely from a song library, including hits such as “1999” and “When Doves Cry,” that is only expected to soar in value in the years ahead.
The 57-year-old music icon died Thursday at his Paisley Park compound in suburban Minneapolis. An autopsy was done Friday, but no cause has been announced.
Prince is poised to join a rarefied field of singersongwriter artists such as Michael Jackson, John Lennon and Bob Marley who continue to make money well after their deaths. The purple-clad songwriter’s wealth includes more than just music and his years of concert ticket sales. Paisley Park, where he recorded music and hosted parties, is worth millions. And the Prince name and image are likely to fetch significant licensing income.
However, Prince’s music is expected to remain the cornerstone of his estate — and one that he defended closely as digital shifts turned the recording industry upside down.
Prince scored dozens of top 40 hits throughout his career and sold more than 100 million records worldwide. Then there’s the potential windfall from the famed “vault” of unreleased material housed at Paisley Park.
“There’s tremendous value there,” said Martin Neumann, an estate planning lawyer and partner at the Los Angeles firm Weinstock Manion. “For some- one like Prince who’s been around for so long, obviously the value of his catalog will increase after his death, significantly more so than for other people.”
The fate of Prince’s fortune remains to be seen.
It’s not yet known if Prince prepared a will. If not, under Minnesota law, the estate would go to his nearest relative, leading some to speculate that it could end up in the hands of his sister, Tyka Nelson.
And unless Prince decided to leave his empire to charity, the estate is guaranteed to be closely watched by the IRS potentially triggering a big estate tax bill for the eventual owner, analysts said.
Analysts said those who take charge of the Prince estate could make and release albums of previously unheard material. The estate also could reap rewards by licensing the singer’s music and name to film, television and Broadway productions. Prince was, after all, a film star thanks to “Purple Rain.”