Highlights
- Whitney Houston's net worth was actually negative $20 million, despite her previous success and $100 million recording contract with Sony.
- After her death, her estate was worth $40 million and was used to pay off Houston's debt, with the remaining money left to her daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown.
- Houston's estate recipients, including her mother and brothers, continue to manage her earnings and have successfully quadrupled the estate's earnings through partnerships, merchandise, and media enhancements.
In 2012, the world mourned the untimely death of the greatest voice of her generation, Whitney Houston. She was 48 years old and was about to make a major comeback in music. The Greatest Love of All hitmaker was found dead in a Beverly Hills hotel. She died of accidental drowning, with heart disease and cocaine abuse as contributing factors.
At the time, Houston was reportedly worth $20 million, and a biopic of Houston's life was released at the end of 2022. But after her passing, her family discovered that there was only one person listed in her will... and that Houston was worth much less than $20 million... she was actually broke at the time of her death.
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Whitney Houston's Net Worth Was Actually Negative $20 Million
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Houston was worth negative $20 million. The singer was "flat broke" when she signed a $100 million recording contract with Sony in 2001. It was a huge downfall from the annual $30 million she used to earn from touring alone. Since artists are paid in stages, Houston only made $40 million of her contract. Her records were also a flop, leaving her in debt of $20 million to the label.
When the Queen of the Night performer divorced Bobby Brown in 2007, "she had $4 million in debts/obligations, a life insurance policy worth $300,000, $225,000 in a stock portfolio, and just $40,000 cash."
She also owned two properties — a $6.5 million home in New Jersey with a pending $3.3 million mortgage and a $1.2 million townhouse in Atlanta that had a $1.05 million mortgage.
Adding her $2 million worth of art and jewelry, she had a total of $10 million in assets and just about $4 million in debt. At that point, her net worth was $6 million.
But before she died in 2012, Houston was reportedly so broke that she was asking her mentor, Clive Davis, for handouts. Davis even loaned her $1.2 million to sober up and pay off her debts. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to make that comeback. But nine months after her death, her estate was worth $40 million. Her record sales skyrocketed. The estate also benefited from releasing her movie Sparkle.
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After earning $40 million, the estate was able to pay Houston's $20 million debt. The rest of the money was left to Houston's only heir, Bobbi Kristina Brown. Her inheritance was placed in trust to be released in increments until she turned 30. But in 2015, Brown died after months in a medically induced coma. She was 22. She was found unconscious in the Georgia home she had inherited from her mother. According to Fulton County Medical Examiner's office, she died of "immersion associated with drug intoxication."
In 2021, her father told Red Table Talk that they were supposed to meet two days after she was found unresponsive in a bathtub. "The three [or] four months before her passing, we had become closer and closer," he said. "I know she had a plane ticket and everything ready to come stay with me. It was just a matter of two days before she would've been on a flight. Two days before this all happened. If I could just get those two days back, she'd still be here, because I would have found out what was going on to do something about it."
At the time of her passing, Brown had already received $2 million from her trust fund when she turned 21. She was scheduled to get $2.7 million when she turned 25, while the rest would have been given to her on her 30th birthday.
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Houston's will stated that if Brown died unmarried and without children before the age of 30, the estate would go to the singer's mother Cissy Houston, and her brothers Gary and Michael. Upon Cissy's request, the Run to You singer's sister-in-law, Pat Houston became the executor of the estate. Since everyone named in the will is still alive and well, they continue to manage Houston's earnings, which "quadrupled" in 2022.
The estate has also partnered with Primary Wave Music to preserve the artist's legacy. "We have massively, over the course of our three-year partnership, improved the earnings of the estate," said Primary Wave founder and CEO Larry Mestel.
"We've basically quadrupled the earnings stream of the estate through a lot of low-hanging fruit: renegotiation of partnerships, focusing on merchandise, digital strategy and social media enhancement — upping the game in general."
With the release of the biopic I Wanna Dance With Somebody starring Naomi Ackie as Whitney Houston, the Houston estate has dramatically increased since the beginning of 2022. The film was released on December 23rd, 2022, but that was not the only source of income for the Houston estate recipients. A makeup line was created in association with Mac Cosmetics, which includes the "Nippy" eyeshadow palette. Nippy was Houston's nickname as a child. There are also now Houston fragrances, apparel, and Funko Pop dolls.
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