Why Britney Spears' Net Worth Is Lower Than You Think—and How Much Money Was Riding on Ending Her Conservatorship
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Find out why Britney Spears' net worth is so low—and what her father made as her conservator each year.
Britney Spears' net worth is so high because she's been working since childhood. After years of dance lessons (which began when she was a toddler) and voice lessons, plus appearing in pageants and working the talent show circuit, the future pop icon made her showbiz debut when she appeared on Star Search at the tender age of 10.
From there, she became a fixture on Disney's Mickey Mouse Club alongside fellow future stars Christina Aguilera, Ryan Gosling and her first highly publicized love, Justin Timberlake. But it was in January 1999, when Spears dropped her first album, ...Baby One More Time, that she rocketed to instant superstardom—and started raking in the big bucks. The LP debuted at No. 1, largely thanks to its titular lead single and its iconic, schoolgirl-themed music video. It was official: Spears was on top of the world.
Ever since, the megastar has had a rollercoaster of a life in the spotlight: Becoming one of the most famous women on the planet at just 16 years old, Spears' personal and professional ups and downs have been the stuff of tabloid fodder for more than two decades and counting. Her net worth is an undeniably hefty sum, but after a conservatorship was put in place following her mental health struggles in 2008, Spears was not permitted to spend her hard-earned money as she chose to; she also wasn't free to make a shocking array of decisions for herself, according to testimony she'd given in court.
For context: Conservatorships are typically put in place for individuals without the ability to feed, clothe or care for themselves. Under the conditions of Spears' conservatorship, even her choice of attorney to end the conservatorship had to ultimately be approved by her conservator. It wasn't until #FreeBritney got a ton of attention and Spears was able to hire Mathew Rosengart as her attorney that things finally got moving in her favor.
In November 2021, Spears stopped being so "Overprotected" when a California judge ruled that the conservatorship should be terminated. As Judge Brenda Penny declared in court, “The conservatorship of the person and estate of Britney Jean Spears is no longer required."
With so much on the line for the beloved singer, here's what we know about Britney Spears' net worth, how she built her fortune and what living under a conservatorship cost her—financially as well as emotionally.
Related: Freed Britney! Britney Spears' Conservatorship Has Finally Come to an End—Find Out All the Latest
What is Britney Spears' net worth in 2023?
Spears' net worth is estimated to be about $60 million, per Forbes. Most of her assets (over $56 million) are reportedly in the forms of investments and real estate, with just under $3 million in cash.
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Why is Britney Spears' net worth so low?
To the rest of us, $60 million may be a mind-boggling figure—but it's actually surprisingly small for a megastar of Spears' stature. As Forbes has pointed out, Jessica Simpson and Jennifer Lopez, as just two examples, have had careers that mimicked Spears' in many ways, yet both of those women are sitting on fortunes of more than $100 million.
So what happened? Forbes hints that Britney's dad Jamie didn't do a good job of managing her money; the fact that Britney doesn't work as much as she used to, of course, doesn't help. The outlet notes that she "stopped doing television commercials in 2015. Spears hasn’t released new music since 2016 and she stopped touring in 2018."
How much did Britney Spears' father make as conservator?
According to The New York Times, as of 2021, Jamie Spears was receiving a salary of “about $16,000 per month, plus $2,000 a month for office space rent” to act as Britney’s conservator. It’s also been reported that Jamie received a percentage of the profits from Britney’s tours and other endeavors. As just one example from the Times‘ reporting: “In 2014, he was granted 1.5 percent of gross revenues from the performances and merchandising tied to her Las Vegas residency, ‘Piece of Me,’ which went on to earn a reported $138 million across nearly 250 shows.” That stipulation alone would've presumably brought Jamie more than $2 million in income.
In August 2021, Jamie made a shocking decision to step down as one of Britney's financial conservators, which would likely mean that he wouldn't be able to count on any income from his pop-icon daughter anymore. However, some #FreeBritney observers believed that Jamie would likely try to negotiate a payout for himself, as well as some legal protection (Britney has threatened to sue him and have him charged with "conservatorship abuse") before he'd agree to officially walk away—and in fact, his lawyers said basically the same thing in a statement to Yahoo! News.
"Jamie Spears is not stepping down unless the court approves payment of the attorney's fees that he's seeking of $1.2 million dollars and his compensation," attorney Christopher C. Melcher told the outlet. "So he's conditioned his exit on the court approving things that Britney has previously objected to."
While it's not entirely clear which of Jamie's conditions were accepted by his daughter's legal team, the following month, his role as a co-conservator was officially ended.
How much did Britney Spears make off her albums?
Obviously, a large amount of Spears' net worth is from her music career: Billboard estimated in 2017 that Spears sold upwards of 150 million albums worldwide. She reportedly earned album advances as high as $10 million per album during the heyday of her recording career.
Related: Britney Spears Just Recreated Her “Baby One More Time” Look, and We Feel Complete
How much has Britney Spears made from touring?
In addition to album sales, Spears has gone on 10 tours since 1999, most of which had almost entirely sold-out dates. Throughout her career, Spears' tours have grossed between $300,000 to over $4 million per show. Adjusted for inflation, Spears' tour grosses are as follows:
...Baby One More Time Tour: $53.9 million across 56 shows
Oops!... I Did It Again Tour: $63.6 million across 88 shows
Dream Within a Dream Tour: $80.58 million across 69 shows
The Onyx Hotel Tour: $48.2 million across 54 shows
The M+Ms Tour: $361,000 across six shows
The Circus Starring Britney Spears Tour: $198.31 million across 97 shows
Femme Fatale Tour: $79.12 million across 79 shows
Piece of Me Tour: $56 million across 31 shows
How much has Britney Spears made from endorsement deals?
Since 2000, Spears has negotiated an enormous number of endorsement deals. One of her most lucrative partnerships was signed in 2001, when she agreed to rep Pepsi for what was estimated to be $8 million. (Funny enough, it was reported about a dozen years later that Spears' investment portfolio included stock in Pepsi's rival, Coca-Cola!) In 2011, one of Spears' most controversial endorsement deals came to fruition when she was reportedly paid $500,00 for a series of product placements—including PlentyOfFish, Makeup For Ever and Sony—in her "Hold It Against Me" music video.
That move was apparently panned by fellow pop A-lister Katy Perry, who seemed to call out Spears when she tweeted around that time, "You have to get creative with [product placement in videos]. Some artists don't care, though, and you can tell." (Of course, Perry is no stranger to product placement herself.)
Those aren't the only brands Spears has worked for as a spokesperson. She's also repped a slew of well-known products, including:
Skechers
Nabisco
Starburst
Volkswagen
Mazda
Toyota
Nokia
Samsung
Virgin Mobile
Beats by Dre
How much does Britney Spears make on her fragrances?
While many celebrities fail at fragrance lines, Spears made a $1 billion empire with hers. Released through Elizabeth Arden, Spears' first fragrance, Curious, shattered the company's sales records when it debuted in 2004, followed by Fantasy in 2005. Since then, she's released more than 28 scents through her brand.
How much did Britney Spears earn for The X Factor?
Spears spent one season as a judge on FOX's The X Factor and raked in a cool $15 million.
How much did Britney Spears make in Vegas?
Spears performed her first Las Vegas residency, Britney: Piece of Me, from December 2013 to December 2017, grossing $137.6 million with 916,184 tickets sold for 248 shows.
The "Toxic" singer was slated to kick off another residency, called Britney: Domination, in 2019, but it was canceled amid dad Jamie's physical health struggles and the toll it took on her own mental well-being. She reportedly would have had a $500,000 guarantee per show for her Domination residency had it taken place as scheduled.
How much is Britney Spears's real estate worth?
Spears is no stranger to buying and selling properties.
In 2001, Spears purchased a Hollywood Hills mansion for $2.9 million, selling it to the late Brittany Murphy for $3.8 million two years later.
In 2002, Spears bought a New York City penthouse previously owned by Keith Richards, selling it for $4 million in 2004. The same year, she purchased a home in Malibu with ex Federline for $13.5 million, later selling the property and breaking even when they divorced in 2006. She purchased a mansion in Beverly Hills in 2007 for $6.8 million, then another in Calabasas, California, in 2008, which she sold in 2011 for $4.49 million (after plunking down a cool $700,000 worth of renovations first).
By 2012, Spears and her sons resided in a Thousand Oaks, California home, which she listed for $9 million in 2016. She purchased a different home in the same neighborhood in 2015 for $7.4 million.
In July 2020, Spears listed her former Beverly Hills mansion for $6.8 million.
Is Britney Spears retired?
In January 2019, Spears announced that she was on an "indefinite work hiatus," citing her father's ill health. Her then-manager, Larry Rudolph, told Billboard in May 2019 that he wasn't sure if she'd ever work again—but clarified that fans shouldn't necessarily fret.
"I simply said that the Vegas residency is now officially off and that she hasn’t called me in months to talk about doing anything so I’m not sure if or when she will ever want to work again. It’s that simple,” he said. “I have one role in Britney‘s life. I’m her manager. She calls me if and when she wants to work. Other than that, I’m not involved in anything else. Not the conservatorship, not her medical treatment, not her kids. Nothing else.”
Related: #FreeBritney? The Latest on Britney Spears’ Conservatorship
How does Britney Spears spend her fortune?
Spears, like the rest of us, has a Target obsession. According to conservatorship documents obtained by Entertainment Tonight, Spears made 80 trips to the big box retailer in 2018. She reportedly spent $66,000 on household supplies from stores including Target, Bed Bath & Beyond, Home Depot, Walmart, Amazon and 7-Eleven. The singer also plunked down $70,000 on travel in 2018, including $16,000 for four nights at the Montage Beverly Hills hotel.
However, in court testimony surrounding her conservatorship, Spears and her team have alleged that she's actually kept on a strict financial leash. She's even claimed that she's been forbidden from painting her own kitchen cabinets because the project would cost too much.
How much does Britney Spears pay Kevin Federline in child support?
Spears also pays child support to ex-husband Kevin Federline for their two sons, Sean Preston Federline and Jayden James Federline. Spears was paying Federline $20,000 per month, plus about $15,000 in monthly expenses, for the boys until late 2018, when their arrangement changed and Federline received "thousands more" per month, though exact figures were not revealed.
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