William James Adams Jr. (a.k.a Will.I.am) is a famous American singer, rapper, and musician who is best known for being the founding member of the popular hip-hop band The Black Eyed Peas. The American entertainer has a net worth of about $75 million. Apart from being a popular singer, he is also a notable entrepreneur, actor, and philanthropist.
Popular to his fans with the name, Will.i.am., he has been actively entertaining us since 1987. Because of this, his arts seem to drown his personality, as well as his fortune and how he came by it. Notwithstanding, we have some revealing facts about the musician in this piece.
Meet The Man, Will.i.am
Born on March 15, 1975, in Los Angeles, Will.i.am was brought up in the Estrada Courts housing projects in the Boyle Heights neighbourhood. He never knew or met his father; he was raised by his mother. Despite the fact that he spends quality time in the UK, William is American. He has been described as an international person, given that he flies around 1,9200,000 miles every year and is never in a place longer than 10 days even while filming ‘The Voice’.
Will.i.am was inspired and encouraged by his mother to become unique and focus on a musical career. He attended Palisades Charter High School where he met his future bandmate, Allan Pineda.
With much enthusiasm and passion for music, Will.i.am started his career in music while he was still an eighth-grade student. Initially, he and Allan sang around Los Angeles and later got discovered by Eazy-E. They were later signed to Eazy-E’s record label “Ruthless Records” in 1992. At that time, William used “Will 1X” as his stage name.
In 1995, William left Ruthless records to launch his own band “The Black Eye Peas”. The band’s first album was “Behind the Front” which had a mediocre performance in the market. The band got its hype as it released its third album in 2003 entitled “Elephunk” which was released under the label A&M records. The band is still very popular for its unique music and composition. Some of the highly popular songs from them are “Pump It”, “My Humps”, “Boom Boom Pow”, I Gotta Feeling” among many others.
Meanwhile, William was also working on his solo music career. Mostly rapping, he has featured in songs of many major artists and bands, including “Pussycat Dolls”. He has released a total of four studio albums that have done well in the market and helped William grow his wealth over time.
Will.i.am’s Fortune and How He Became Rich
William James Adams Jr. is one of those music stars that have continued to work very hard all through the years and have almost always remained relevant. It is thanks to this that he has a massive net worth that is estimated at over $75 million.
He makes his fortune from his very successful music career through which he has sold millions of copies of albums both as a solo artist and member of the bands, Jawbreakers, Atban Klann, and the Black Eyed Peas. He has had more than 40 songs that topped the UK top 40, which explains his success as an artist. More so, he has had good concerts throughout his career.
Another important way through which he makes his money is his involvement in The Voice as a Judge. Will.i.am got involved in the Australian version of the show in 2014 and the UK version since 2012. Since 2017, he has been a judge on The Voice Kids. Currently, he is the highest-paid coach on the show, earning a massive £600,000. When the show switched from the BBC to ITV, he was said to have received £2.5 million so as to stay on the show.
Apart from his involvement in the reality TV show, Will is also involved in acting. He has appeared in a number of movies, including X-Men Origins: Wolverine and the TV show Joan of Arcadia. He has also had voice roles in animations such as Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa and the video game, The Urbz: Sims In The City. That said, his earnings from all these have not been revealed. We also don’t know much about his earning from his numerous appearances in commercials.
The net worth of will.i.am is further boosted by his clothing line business. He launched his i.am brand in 2005 and was expected to start i.am Antik collection in 2007 but he did not go ahead with the project. This has resulted in a $2 million lawsuit against him by Blue Holdings which was supposed to design the collection.
He has many other streams of income which have all made him as rich as he is, including his own glasses, iPhone accessories, and investment in artificial intelligence among other things.
The Interesting Ways He Squanders His Fortune
Despite the fact that he works very hard to make his riches, the rapper is recognized for his philanthropic works. He is behind the i.am.angel foundation through which he helps young people achieve their dreams most especially in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math). He has also supported many causes and charities, including Red Cross, Prince’s Trust, and Music Rising.
He also spends a fortune travelling all over the world. Although he is mostly travelling in the name of work, he also finds the time to relax and vacation with the ones close to him.
Will.i.am has a penchant for cars and there is no limit to the extent he would go to get himself a new car. Being a car enthusiast, he has a collection of many luxury cars, including McLaren MP4-12C, Tesla Roadster, Cadillac Escalade 1958 Chevy Corvette, 1958 Beetle, and more.
He owns some luxurious homes and properties. The Emmy Award-winning star has a home in Los Angeles which was valued at over $2.7 million in 2005. The 4,412 sq ft mansion has 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. He has his personal studio, Los Feliz studio in which he created Fergie’s solo LP.
Finally, he spends his money on his family and those close to him. Raised in poverty alongside his siblings, he grew up thinking of how he would pull the entire family out of poverty for good. Now he has achieved enough fortune and he spends it on his family.