What is Sir Elton John’s net worth?
▲ £470 million
£450 million in 2023
The Rocket Man has conquered the dizzy heights of the music industry and now has another huge accolade under his sequin-studded belt: bagging an Emmy for Elton John Live: Farewell from Dodger Stadium. The award in January elevated the singer to the coveted ranks of Egot, one of 19 people in history to have won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony. “I am incredibly humbled to be joining the unbelievably talented group of Egot winners,” Elton John said, referring to Mel Brooks, Whoopi Goldberg, Andrew Lloyd Webber, the lyricist Tim Rice, with whom he collaborated on The Lion King, and the like.
Last year was a big one for the megastar. He headlined Glastonbury in June to rave reviews and wound up his swansong, the five-year Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, in Stockholm the next month. The latter proved to be quite the golden goodbye, selling six million tickets and grossing $939 million, according to Billboard. This makes it the second highest-grossing tour of all time — surpassed only by Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour. John’s companies have disclosed very little detail in their filings with Companies House in the UK, nevertheless we are increasing our estimate of his wealth to £470 million.
The Your Song singer may have retired from touring after five decades but there’s no sign of the sun going down on him. The 77-year-old composed the music for the stage musical The Devil Wears Prada, which opens in the West End in October. He also sells a range of dazzling spectacles through his Elton John Eyewear brand, hosts an Apple Music show, Rocket Hour, and apparently has been persuaded to turn the amplifier up to 11 and star in the sequel to Rob Reiner’s 1984 satire This is Spinal Tap.
Born Reginald Kenneth Dwight in Pinner, northwest London, he began playing his grandmother’s piano by ear at the age of three. By 11 he had won a junior scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music. After a series of jobs in and around the industry, including writing material for Lulu, John teamed up with the lyricist Bernie Taupin in 1967 to form one of the world’s most successful songwriting partnerships – and they still work closely together, speaking every couple of days on FaceTime. Between them they have sold more than 300 million records worldwide and collaborated on more than 30 albums, from the first, Empty Sky, in 1969, to Wonderful Crazy Night in 2016. Last November John announced that he had completed a new album with Taupin. “It all starts with him,” John told The Sunday Times last year. “He starts the song; I finish it. So without him, I wouldn’t be here anyway. It’s all down to him. Bless him.” The duo were awarded the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song this year.
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A Watford supporter since he was a boy, John took control of the football club in 1976 after paying £200,000 to clear its debts. He appointed Graham Taylor, previously the boss of Lincoln City, as manager the next year and the club went on to enjoy unprecedented success, reaching the final of the 1984 FA Cup. Three years later, after he had spent more than £9 million transforming the side, John sold it to the property tycoon Jack Petchey. The musician is still an honorary life president at Watford and has a stand at Vicarage Road named after him.
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On top of music sales John has an array of other financial interests, including a music management business that once had Ed Sheeran on its books, and various stage shows. The Lion King, featuring his songs, is the highest-grossing musical theatre franchise worldwide; Billy Elliot the Musical has also been a long-running hit.
John collaborated on Rocketman, the critically acclaimed 2019 biopic that charted his rise to fame, his music and how he overcame drug and alcohol addiction. Taron Egerton won a Golden Globe for his portrayal of the star, and the film was produced by John’s husband, David Furnish. The couple, who have two sons, Zachary, 13, and Elijah, 11, own a townhouse in Holland Park, central London, and an estate in Windsor, Berkshire, as well as properties in Beverly Hills. Their home near Nice, on the French Riviera, is known as the Summer Palace and has hosted a glittering roster of guests, from Elizabeth Hurley to the Beckhams and the Sussexes — the last of whom caused a media furore in 2019 after flying to the villa by private jet.
Just as significant as John’s music career is his philanthropic work. Founded in 1992, the Elton John Aids Foundation has raised more than $600 million to support HIV-related programs across the world. The star was knighted in 1998 for his services to music and his charitable work, and anointed a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour in 2021.
View the full list to see where money was made and lost in the last year
