When he was alive, Prince made hundreds of millions of dollars — for record companies, concert venues and others. That much is certain. What’s less clear is how much he left behind and who’ll come forward to claim it.
Prince owned a dozen properties in and around his famous Paisley Park complex in suburban Minneapolis: mostly rural pieces of land and some houses for family members. Public records show those properties were worth about $27 million in 2016.
Roesler estimates Prince’s post-mortem earnings will match top-earning dead celebrities like Elvis Presley, whose estate made $55 million in 2015, according to Forbes magazine.
If Prince filed a will or created a trust, heirs to his future fortune would be known. But no such documents have yet turned up.
L. Londell McMillan, a longtime lawyer and former manager of the superstar, declined to comment to The Associated Press about whether the entertainer had a will or any other particulars regarding his estate, but added: “I want to make sure his legacy is respected and protected no matter what role I play.” McMillan was Michael Jackson’s lawyer and played a role in his estate, as well as those of rapper Notorious B.I.G. and Sammy Davis Jr.
Wealthy people usually create trusts to avoid the public spectacle of probate court, and it’s probable Prince did so, according to Irwin Feinberg, a Los Angeles trust and probate lawyer.
The AP did not find liens or mortgages on any of his properties, which range from a sprawling 160-acre piece of grassland between Lake Lucy and Lake Ann, to a three-bedroom bungalow in Minneapolis that is home to his half brother, Omarr Baker.
His best-earning touring year, when he took in $87.4 million, was 2004, the year he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and two decades after the soundtrack to “Purple Rain” went multi-platinum.
But what remained in Prince’s hands is, by any estimate, less than the sum of ticket and album sales. In every record deal, a cut goes to the label, background performers and music publishers, though Prince published and wrote his own songs. Concert ticket revenue is split among the venue, the promoter, staff and the cost of travelling around. And prince was known to throw expensive parties.
In April 2013, Prince lost a suit filed in New York State’s Supreme Court brought by perfume maker Revelations Perfume and Cosmetics Inc. for failing to promote the “3121” perfume line named after his album from 2006 and which he touted, but only once, in a massive concert that started July 7, 2007 near Macy’s in downtown Minneapolis and ended at 5 a.m. at the First Avenue club, a famous venue from “Purple Rain.”
“It doesn’t suggest there was oodles of cash lying around,” Slipakoff said.
Records on file with Carver County, where Paisley Park is located, show that he was up to date on his property taxes when he died.
source: WTOP.com