All We Want Next Christmas Is Mariah Carey's Net Worth

Highlights

• Mariah Carey's net worth and vast fortune is derived primarily from her successful music career, including hit songs and album sales of over 200 million copies worldwide.
• "All I Want For Christmas" is a major source of revenue for Carey, earning her millions of dollars in royalties each year.
• In addition to her music career, Carey has made money through endorsement deals, fragrance lines, acting appearances, business investments, and real estate holdings.
• Carey also wisely retained ownership of her music catalog, ensuring a steady stream of undiluted income.

Let's step into the glamorous world of chanteuse Mariah Carey, and unravel the extraordinary journey that led to her impressively sprawling career, and even more impressively vast bank balance.

Also known as "Songbird Supreme," Mariah has demonstrated her abilities as a vocal powerhouse and a savvy entrepreneur, and has earned several award nominations and wins.

Carey has increased her cash flow through several successful music tours, endorsement deals, acting appearances, business endeavors, and property and home purchases.

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A Note About Mariah Carey's Net Worth: As of 2024, Mariah Carey's net worth is widely estimated to stand at $350 million. However, that figure appears to originate with a single source, and we were unable to independently validate its legitimacy.

Another source claimed Mariah Carey's net worth is $520 million, falsely attributing the figure to Forbes . A search of Forbes.com did not return any articles claiming that .

Celebrities' net worths are difficult to calculate with precision for a number of reasons. Factors such as private assets or liabilities are often concealed from the public, making it challenging to validate net worth claims.

Whenever available, we've included specific information about Mariah Carey's earnings, assets, and income streams, to provide a more detailed look at her fortune and career.

Join us as we review her key milestones, calculated choices, and the diversified endeavors that have pushed this legendary singer-songwriter to the pinnacle of financial success.

These are some of the ways Mariah Carey slowly and steadily built her stunning fortune.

Releasing Hits: Songs And Albums

As one of the best-selling pop artists, Mariah Carey has topped the charts and drawn huge crowds to her concerts for over 30 years.

Songs like "Vision of Love," "Hero," "Fantasy," and "We Belong Together" made her famous, for having a unique singing voice, and extraordinary vocal range.

She has produced 15 music albums in the studio, including over ten records that sold over 200 million copies worldwide. Carey's sales numbers have made her one of the wealthiest artists ever.

"All I Want For Christmas," Quantified

If Mariah Carey is identified by one of her many songs, "All I Want For Christmas" is arguably her most notable.

According to Investopedia, "All I Want For Christmas" is a giant source of revenue for Carey, and they report:

"For Carey, the song is the gift that keeps on giving — in 2022, it brought in about $8.5 million in global revenue and publishing royalties, according to Billboard.

"The singer took home an estimated $1.86 million in royalties from it last year, Billboard estimates. She earns an estimated average of $2.5 million in royalties every year from the 1994 song, according to a 2016 study by The Economist."

Throughout her lengthy career, the lion's share of her fortune was created solely through her rare talent and vocal skill.

Mariah's Major Music Tours

Mariah Carey has undertaken several major and successful music tours; her fans leap at the chance to see her perform.

Carey's live performances are famous for stunning production values, inventive ensembles, powerful singing, and surprising guests.

Tours like Mimi's Freedom Tour, Mimi's Adventures, and The Elusive Chanteuse Show made more than $100 million each. In 2018, Carey's Caution World Tour made $70 million from a scant 28 concerts.

With tickets often costing more than $200, Carey has stayed in demand by always giving fans a fantastic show, which keeps them returning from tour to tour.

Carey's enormous wealth continues to grow, in part because of the money she has brought in by performing for decades.

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Mariah's Endorsement Deals And Fragrance Line

Carey's status as an iconic artist has enabled her to profit significantly from endorsements she has made over the years.

She has endorsed major brands, such as Motorola, Intel, and Elizabeth Arden Cosmetics, and raked in significant cash promoting Pepsi:

Many celebrities simply promote a product and collect a check commensurate with their public influence, but Carey didn't leave it there.

Partnering with Elizabeth Arden in a licensing deal for fragrances, Carey's scents – like Lollipop Bling, Honey, and M – have charged up more than $150 million in sales. One holiday mini-tour sponsorship with Hallmark Channel involving Carey was reported to cost $8 million.

Mariah Carey leveraged her international notoriety routinely throughout her career, ensuring a tidy stream of income in addition to her music and touring.

Appearing In Films And On TV

Mariah Carey is famous primarily as a singer, but commands significant sums of money to appear in movies and on TV.

She made her acting debut in 1999 with the movie The Bachelor, before appearing in Glitter two years later.

Glitter's release unfortunately coincided with the September 11th attacks, with the soundtrack officially released on that date:

Glitter was perceived as a loosely biographical adaptation of Mariah Carey's rise to fame, a perception Carey herself has contested.

Ahead of Glitter's theatrical run, the subject of the film and her life came up in an interview with MTV, and Mariah explained:

It's really not autobiographical ... The girl is a singer, but it's completely not my life. It kinda couldn't be farther from my life.

In 2009, she received recognition for her performance in the acclaimed film Precious.

Carey also worked as a judge on American Idol for several seasons, earning $18 million yearly from the show.

Even though acting is not her strongest skill, Carey's fame has helped her land roles in films and on TV, adding additional zeros to her massive fortune.

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Investing In Business Ventures

Mariah Carey also augmented her personal wealth by carefully investing in several business entities.

She and Carlo Rossi launched a profitable wine venture, including Angel Red, Angel White, and Angel Rose varieties. Carey also owns a production company, called Butterfly MC Records.

Carey worked with Hostess Brands to market her "Angeliccake" snack cakes. She opened a women's shoe store in Las Vegas, and invested money in firms like Glu Mobile.

Some of her ventures were less lucrative than others, but her clever and consistent investments have ensured that Mariah Carey's net worth continues to rise.

Mariah's Real Estate Holdings

Mariah Carey has amassed an impressive collection of properties during her lengthy career.

The singer has luxuriously appointed houses in sought-after locales like Beverly Hills, Aspen, the Bahamas, and on her native Long Island, the Hamptons.

In 2015, Carey sold her sprawling Bel Air house for $13.2 million. Carey also bought a $7 million rustic-style cabin in Atlanta, close to Tyler Perry's studios.

She purchased a spacious, tony apartment on Franklin Street in downtown Manhattan in 1999 for $9 million, after trying and failing to purchase an apartment in the Ardsley, on Central Park West.

In July 1999, the New York Observer reported on Carey's then-novel acquisition:

"No Central Park West co-op board is going to stand between Mariah Carey and a penthouse triplex. Weeks after being rejected by the board of the Ardsley, where she offered to buy Barbra Streisand’s three-tiered penthouse for $8 million, Ms. Carey is throwing $9 million at a new condominium development at 90 Franklin Street, where she is fashioning a downtown version.

"According to several brokers, in late June [1999,] the singer signed a contract to purchase two apartments, including the $5.5 million duplex penthouse and the $3.5 million apartment directly below it, in the former commercial building that is expected to open to homeowners next year."

Incidentally, Carey's $9 million purchase in July 1999 would be roughly equivalent to $16.56 million in early 2024 — accounting only for inflation, not for the trajectory of housing prices in Manhattan.

Carey also spent money on houses just for her dogs.

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Buying and selling expensive homes in desirable zip codes has certainly helped Carey increase her fortune.

Cashing In On A Vegas Residency

From 2015 to 2017, Mariah Carey had a residency at The Colosseum At Caesars Palace for her Number One To Infinity show in Las Vegas.

She was reportedly paid $400,000 for each performance of her songs in the small arena. Carey made over $15 million from selling tickets during the residency's two years.

For Carey, getting big paychecks from a favorite Vegas show added much to her staggering wealth, and it also made her one of the highest-earning stars.

Owning Her Music Catalog

Mariah Carey retained all the rights to her enormous collection of popular tunes and master copies, known colloquially as her "masters," which ensures she will earn money whenever her music is heard on the radio, television, in movies, or in public places.

Ownership of an artist's masters came to broader notice during a high-profile controversy involving Taylor Swift's masters in 2023:

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In 2022, Carey disclosed that she ensured the rights to her music remained in her possession, and said:

I’m here to do anything we need to do. I own all my old masters. I don’t think it’s about ‘cast the girl who sings the Mariah Carey style,’ whatever that is. It’s about casting a great actress with a somewhat similar look and just making sure the acting is there. Because we have the music – they can sing along to it.

Keeping the rights and control of her music has condensed Mariah Carey's revenue, and proved to be a lucrative decision.

Publishing A Best-Selling Book

In 2020, Mariah Carey wrote a best-selling book about her life called, The Meaning of Mariah Carey.

The book describes how difficult it was for her to grow up, and tracks her road to becoming a recognized superstar. It sold over 500,000 copies, and she was lauded for sharing her unvarnished story.

Though she was already rich, money from the book deal (plus royalties) provided Carey with yet another income stream.

For celebrities like Carey, a publishing project is a near-guaranteed success, as the same people who buy her albums are likely to add her book to their collection of Mariah-abilia.

Conservative Spending

Despite being among the highest-paid celebrities, Mariah Carey spends her money wisely and prudently compared to some other prominent artists.

Carey enjoys finer things, but plans cautiously to increase her cash and protect her fortune; she still shops sales, uses private planes only when necessary, and tends to splurge on items that will last. Carey's frugality ensures her big money is invested, not wasted on unplanned spending.

Mariah Carey's net worth is estimated at a remarkable $350 million, which she accrued by being financially savvy, diversifying her income sources, and investing her wealth strategically.

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