How Rich Are Entertainers?

This might be one of the most informed reports both for young people venturing into entertainment and industry veterans. Less than 0.1% of the richest people in the world are from the entertainment industry - sports, music, talk show, movie and all combined. This in a way contradicts the hyper popularity they get through the media and the big sign up fees promoters offer to get them. 

Interestingly, some of the highest paid entertainers do not end up becoming the richest in networth. I guess Michael Jackson was one of such. Those who become wealthy normally start off early, plowing their earnings into worthwhile investments and keeping their eye on it with all carefulness and skill. Out of about 1011 known billionaires in the world, Oprah Winfrey is the only entertainer on the list. Her closest two, Steven Spielberg and Tiger Woods are worth $110m and $90m respectively. A close study of the reasons most entertainers are scarcely wealthy is because of the lack of financial intelligence in recognizing the difference between what is an investment into asset and investment into their showbiz trade. For instance, it was recently mentioned that a top ranking comedian in Nigeria purchased a house in a high profile area worth N100m. Working on the numbers may reveal more liability from the property than income. An asset is what brings money to you while a liability is what takes money from you. At the later years of Michael, his Neverland Ranch was probably his biggest liability as the authorities quickly took hold of it when it seemed obvious his debt profile hindered him from keeping up with its huge bills.

Another reason entertainers fail to build wealth during their hay days is because of the tendency to assume that their top form and rating will continue and attract high cash flow for a long time. Gone are those days when, for instance, that once upon a time the music scene was at a point or another colonized by Don Williams, Jim Reeves, Bob Marley, The Beattles, and a couple others for a long period of say 4 years and some. There are so many stars these days begging to shine and it is very difficult, if not impossible, to be on the top chart for as long as 12months. The seemingly omnipresence status of today's negative headline hungry media beaming searchlights on the social and private lives of these stars can wreck a robust career within just minutes. This can get their image, corporate endorsements, earnings and net worth tumbling like a crashing plane. Tiger Woods is one of the recent examples.

A third reason entertainers are broke in their old age, if attained, is that the average monthly personal expense of some stars many times are equivalent to annual earnings of 5 high profile corporate executives combined. I once heard of a a rap star who is a car freak with over 50 customized cars. Well, some argue that many of these excess properties are not personally purchased. That some are complimentary gifts from their promoters. True to some extent. However, the gifts tend to build up their psyche on how they are expected to live even when the freebies are no more coming. The desire to impress is no doubt a fundamental attribute in entertainment business. For this reason, most would pay any price to impress, even if they have to be in deep debt doing just that- riding big cars, living in big houses, wearing the latest blings, doing designers, flying first class and private jets, appearing in top functions with top paid body guards, to mention just a few.  True it's difficult to gain fans and patronage without impressing. But Some of the wealthiest stars have discovered where the need to impress ends and who should pay for it - the fans and their promoters. Keeping this in mind helps to remain focused and to know that the best ways to impress has, and will always remain, self improvement, strong character, discipline, hard work and consistency. A friend said of a top female artist that her dad advised her to always "go straight home after the show" and not to "hang around", which she claims is her number one secret to her career success and stable marriage. This brings us to the last point to be treated in this article...

The high divorce rate among entertainers account not just for depletion of wealth but some psychological trauma which ultimately affects their bottom line in image, performance and earnings. No matter how normal our modern age laws have made divorce to appear, a failed marriage still affects the subconscious mind that one has failed in life's most fundamental procreational relationship. The reason is that most people that ever get involved in marriage never ever thought of a chance of divorce while taking the vows. Many had boasted their union would be a model of Shakespear's Romeo and Juliet kind of love, only to face uncomfortable divorce suit not too long after saying "I do". Many entertainers marry and had to divorce a few times which splits their wealth each time and many times lead to certain addictions that bring them to zero level and sometimes suicide. 

It is good that young people hoping to make a future in entertainment for the sole aim of becoming wealthy get to read this and make further findings before deciding if this is the best route for them to tow. If one is not passionate about what he is doing besides the money, ending up broke is just as normal no matter what comes in in the short term. Many times, you can have a passion for the trade but not as the art, probably as the promoter. This is also very okay. Don King, for instance, has never thrown a punch at anyone I know, but if you can name the biggest boxers in history, you can be sure he got rich from their punches because he promoted them - most of them (boxers) went broke, fighting him with lawsuits and still fighting to eat at old age. In all endeavours, however, the need for financial intelligence cannot be overemphasized.

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