Justin Bieber was estimated by Forbes to have earned $58 million as of June 2013. Now, persistent reports claim the singer’s “clueless” spending habits are spiralling out of control. It’s alleged he’s blowing through nearly $2 million a month and could severely deplete his coffers by the time he hits middle-age.
Fans of the 19-year-old superstar and even non-fans who respect his work ethic and self-made wealth, will probably be shocked at the claims given his Midas-like ability to generate money under the guidance of his manager, Scooter Braun.
Bieber has reportedly amassed north of $130 million since his breakout year in 2009 — with record sales of over 15 million , properties including his $6.5 million home in Calabasas, CA, a fleet of high-performance rides, and the fourth highest grossing world tour by the close of 2013 which earned $169 million over 157-dates according to Pollstar.
Add in the Canadian’s tech investments — selfie photo app Shots of Me, messaging platform Tinychat, gaming outfit Sojo Studios, Viddy, a video-sharing app, Spotify, the social-curation app Stamped, and those revenue streams increase.
Factor in 2011’s biopic Never Say Never which punched in close to $100 million worldwide, vast social media numbers (in 2010 a Twitter employee said 3% of its infrastructure dealt with Bieber–related traffic) – 49.7 million on Twitter, over 63 million on Facebook, 14 million plus at Instagram – made Bieber attractive to product-pals sports giant Adidas NEO and the “SpendSmart” prepaid debit card aimed at teens.
But a lot can happen in a year and certainly a lot happened to Bieber last year, and since.
A laundry list of incidents both on and off his Believe tour, encored by a shockingly poor box office of just over $6 million for the 2013-releasing Believe film according to Box Office Mojo, segued into a catastrophic 2014 start for the star.
Bieber was accused of egging his estranged neighbor’s house on January 9, kicking off a Los Angeles police raid five days later.
A shock fortnight followed in which he was arrested and charged with DUI and two further counts in Miami Beach, before surrendering to Toronto police six days later to be charged over an alleged assault of a limousine driver.
Suddenly; in addition to a pile-up of lawsuits stemming from paparazzi, accelerated fall-out from a combination of either Bieber’s antics — such as allegedly hotboxing a New Jersey-bound private jet over Super Bowl weekend, to damaging gossip site-driven stories such as the stripper nipple sucking snap featuring a buxom blonde and his DUI pal, Khalil Sharieff — Bieber is stacking up hefty legal fees just as his earning potential may well have peaked.
LA attorney Jim Fedalen told one outlet,
“This young guy is also racking up some phenomenal legal bills, with cases pending in Miami and Toronto and further possible actions here in LA.”
Last month the New York Post’s Richard Johnson reported a source said,
“He’s [Justin’s] blowing through $1 million a month. The guys handling his investments at Mellon Bank complain that there is nothing left for them to invest.”
New reports claim Bieber is spending close to $2 million a month. Given his monthly income is estimated at $2.9 million by Forbes , this doesn’t leave much for emergency payouts which he may well be hit with once plaintiffs start coming after him in civil actions.
The Daily Star quotes a purported relative opining, “He’s clueless about how much money he throws away.”
As to where Justin’s millions are going, sources and observers point to Bieber’s ever-present entourage — which sometimes includes his father Jeremy, 38 — and whom he recently and pretty generously spent $241.78 on in movie-theater snacks in Atlanta, Georgia.
Other outgoings include private jet trips to Miami, Panama, New Jersey, always with a huge crew, some of whom live with him and enjoy the facilities of his homes and lavish parties he occasionally throws. Reports of Justin making it rain to the tune of $75,000 at a Miami strip club last month before hiring the same expensive, exotic cars in which he and Sharieff were later arrested for suspected DUI, is also likely to give his accountants cause for concern.
Mail Online and others allege Bieber spends $8,000 a week on marijuana which may or may not be true. The UK paper also claimed the singer has a sizzurp habit — sizzurp is a cough syrup cocktail containing codeine and promethazine often combined with soda and candy — which clearly isn’t true as codeine opiates were not present in his DUI toxicology report .
The state of Bieber’s present personal finances will likely be revealed when plaintiffs request a statement of assets during actions.
It’s possible there is some truth to the reports, in which case we are reminded of the adage:
When people make a lot of money, they’re able to spend a lot of money . The problem isn’t a single extravagant purchase, but a lavish lifestyle in which they spend more than they earn. Even the rich are subject to the fundamental prosperity law: Real wealth isn’t about earning money; it’s about keeping money.
And Bieber, we sincerely hope you keep what you worked your a** off for.