This year, Drake is at #5 on Forbes Five – the American business magazine’s annual listing of the richest hip-hop artist across the face of the planet. What’s so interesting about Drake being on the said list is that he’s just way too young compared to the rest of the list members – Diddy, Jay-Z, Dr. Dre and Birdman – so much so that he could easily be the considered as the child of any one of them.
At just 30 years of age (he’ll be turning a year older this coming October 24th), Drake’s net worth this 2017 is estimated to be at a whopping $90 million.
However, there really is no big surprise there. When one considers just how successful Drake is as an international hip-hop artist – not to mention the various booming ventures of his outside the music industry – then it seems so perfectly fine. But then when you take into account his entire career from being a teen drama series star, a newbie musician distributing mixtapes, to being an award-winning hip-hop artist, it can be a very breathtaking thing to brood over.
So how did Drake rake in his riches and where does his money go? Whether you are a huge, huge Drake fan or you simply find delight in checking out the lifestyle of the rich and famous, continue reading.
He Holds the Record for the Highest Grossing Hip-Hop Tour Ever
Not too long ago in the past (okay, that’s just back in 2016) Drake proudly announced on social media that his Summer Sixteen Tour, which consisted of a total of 54 shows in a span of a little over 3 months, made $84.3 million all in all. With such record-breaking earnings, the said tour is considered as the highest grossing hip-hop tour to date.
The Summer Sixteen Tour was such a hit that it actually knocked out of the picture previous record holders Kanye West and Jay-Z who made a total of $75 million during their collaborative Watch the Throne Tour that took place back in 2011.
However, Drake’s Summer Sixteen Tour would have actually brought even more moolah to the Canadian’s bank account had he not figured in an accident – Drake had a severe ankle injury towards the final run of his 2016 tour, which resulted in the cancellations of some of the shows.
Drake Sold $10 Million Albums Across the Globe
Every single record that Drake has released – from his 2010 album Thank Me Later debuting internationally, last year’s Views to More Life which was released earlier this year – has been a massive success. In fact, it is said that his total album sales to date amount to a jaw-dropping $10 million dollars.
American Music Awards, BET Awards, BRIT Awards, Grammy Awards, Juno Awards, MOBO Awards – all of these stellar award-giving bodies have given Drake the recognition that he deserved so well, serving as testaments to the success of his various musical endeavors since he stepped foot into the hip-hop music scene.
Here’s one more reason why the fact that he sold $10 million albums worldwide is not really that of a big surprise: He and fellow hip-hop artist Lil Wayne equally share the record of having the most number of entries (132) on the Billboard Hot 100 which is, hello, only the music industry standard record chart for various singles.
The Record Label OVO is Owned by Him and Two Other Friends
Short for October’s Very Own, OVO is a record label that Drake co-founded with Oliver El-Khatib and Noah “40” Shebib, and it’s under it that three of Drake’s full length albums were released – Nothing was the Same in 2013, If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late in 2015, and What a Time to be Alive in the same year.
OVO’s roster of talents also includes musical artists Roy Woods, Majid Jordan, Dvsn and PartyNextDoor, and a handful of producers, too, such as Mike Zombie, T-Minus, Nineteen85 and Boi-1da.
Actually, OVO hasn’t always been a legit record label – it really started out as a merchandising instrument to separate Drake’s musical masterpieces from everybody else’s. Now that Drake and his co-founders have turned it into a full-fledged record label, he rakes in profit not only from the sales of albums OVO has released, but also from the various merchandizing gigs as well as the annual music festival in Toronto that it hosts.
He Collaborated With THE Michael Jordan
Speaking of OVO’s revenues, Drake’s very own record label and branding had the opportunity to widen its reach and ultimately its earnings when, during one of his live performances back in 2013, the gorgeous hip-hop artist announced his partnership with the Jordan Brand – also stating that it’s one of the best days of his life.
Knowing that both Michael Jordan and Drake have massive followings all over the planet, the collaboration was, needless to say, a huge success. Actually, it’s been reported that early in 2017 Drake’s OVO Air Jordans broke the records by being sold almost immediately, and now pairs of those are being resold these days for as high as $10,000 per pair!
Actually, it is said that the Jordan Brand needed Drake more than Drake needed the Jordan Brand. Rumor has it that Drake’s collaboration with the brand has brought in that oomph factor that hasn’t been around for some time.
Drake Also Partnered With Apple and Sold Tons of Albums
Other than the one with Michael Jordan, another collaborative work of Drake’s that is worth mentioning is with Apple. Back in 2015, he signed with Apple to the beautiful tune of $19 million, and the deal encompassed him to endorse Apple Music. Also included were some exclusivities such as initially selling his albums on and offering streaming via Apple only.
Actually, it’s been reported that the Canadian music artist and looker has sold over 600,000 copies of his last year’s album Views during the first 24 hours of being available on iTunes. In a span of 5 days, the total sales of the said album amounted to more than a million copies.
No one really knows how much money Drake has amassed since his deal with Apple kicked off a couple of years ago. But given the fact that albums of his released exclusively on iTunes all made a lot of attention and sales, one can safely assume that Drake’s collaboration with the American music and video streaming service (among many other things!) has been nothing but a massive success.
He Had a Mansion With a Pool Bigger Than Anyone Else’s
Back in 2012, Drake bought a house in one of the richest neighborhoods in California, which is Hidden Hills. The property, which had a tag price of $7.7 million, quickly garnered lots and lots of attention for its grandiose scale and glitter – some of the amenities included a movie theater capable of seating up to 25 people, waterfalls, and regulation size basketball, tennis and beach volleyball courts.
However, perhaps the most famous attraction at the said flashy abode is his large swimming pool. So just how large it is? Actually, it was designed by its architect to outshine the swimming pool at the Playboy Mansion. Drake even mentioned it on one of his songs (okay, you twisted my arm – it’s Summer Sixteen), saying that his swimming pool is much larger than that of Kanye West’s: “Now I got a house in LA / Now I got a bigger pool than Ye / And look man / Ye’s pool is nice, mine’s just bigger is what I’m saying.”
But earlier this year his house, which Drake nicknamed the YOLO estate — YOLO being short for “you only live once” – since he procured it, has been listed up for sale for $20 million. The listing has already been removed after some time, a sign that someone had already purchased it – and the huge, huge sum of money went into Drake’s pocket.
Drake Just Keeps on Winning and Winning
We all know how great of a hip-hop artist Drake is and how well his records do at the charts. But did you know that he’s a champ not only in the music biz today, but on television ever since he got discovered by an acting agent, who was the father of his high school chum, when he was just 15 and budding?
His first taste of the limelight came when he portrayed a wheelchair-bound character named Jimmy Brooks on Degrassi: The Next Generation, which is a Canadian teen drama TV series that aired back in 2001. Oh, and during those Days, Drake wasn’t Drake – he was known as Aubrey Drake Graham, which was not a screen name, but his real one.
However, Drake has always been inclined to writing beautiful hip-hop music, with Jay-Z as his inspiration. And that’s why in 2006 he dropped the rest of his name except for “Drake” and then launched his very first mixtape called Room for Improvement. Then he released another mixtape and one more after that. In 2010, Drake unveiled his first studio album in Canada entitled Thank Me Later. And from thereon, just like what they say, the rest is history.