How Prince's $156 Million Fortune Was Divided After His Death

When Prince died at Paisley Park in April 2016, the press guessed his fortune at $300 million. Six years later, a Minnesota court put the official number at $156.4 million — and the amount of actual cash left to hand out was just $5,638,878.29. Not to one person, but split in two, between his family and a New York music company. And by the time the checks could be written, two of the six people who inherited him were already dead. This is the full story of how it happened: a global superstar who spent twenty years fighting to own his own masters — who changed his name to a symbol and wrote "slave" on his face to win that war — and then died without leaving a will. No will, no trust, no instructions. A locked vault and no key. What followed was six years of banks billing by the month, a $31 million deal that collapsed, an $80 million gap with the IRS, and a family who could agree on almost nothing — until half of Prince belonged to a company called Primary Wave. The most controlling artist of his generation left the one document he never signed to decide everything. 🎵 Do you have a will? If this story surprised you, it's worth thinking about. Let me know in the comments — should Prince's music have gone to his family, or to the company that now owns half of it? Subscribe for more stars and heirs who had it all, and what happened to the fortunes they left behind. ⏱ CHAPTERS 00:00 $156M on paper, $5.6M in cash 01:20 The man who left no key 03:03 What Prince actually left behind 03:54 No will — and a family that wasn't simple 04:26 The claimants: 29 thrown out at once 05:11 $25,000 a day, before a single heir 05:51 The kingdom he built alone 06:42 The war to own his masters 08:37 Six owners, none held the key 10:26 The $31 million deal that collapsed 13:52 Following the money out the door 16:22 The tax bill: an $80 million gap 17:41 The heirs start to die 18:00 Primary Wave buys half of Prince 19:25 Split in two: the final distribution 21:28 What one document would have prevented 23:43 The music survived 26:39 The fight that never ended