Kenny G Net Worth

Kenny G Bio

Full Name	Kenneth Bruce Gorelick
Category	Celebrities
Net Worth	$100 Million
Date of Birth	June 5, 1956 (age 67)
Birth Place	Seattle, Washington
Gender	Male
Occupations	Saxophonist, songwriter, record producer, golfer
Spouse(s)	Janice DeLeon Lydie Benson
Children	2
Instruments	Saxophone, Flute
Website	kennyg.com

How much is Kenny G net worth?

Kenny G is a cool American saxophonist who plays adult contemporary and smooth jazz music. He is super rich. Kenny G net worth is nearly $100 million.

People all around the globe have purchased 75 million of his albums – a big number, making him the most successful instrumentalist ever. That means he is one of the top 100 best-selling musicians ever.

But Kenny isn’t just a musician; he is also really good at making money in other ways. He is a smart investor in finance and real estate.

People say that he made more money from investing in an early pre-IPO Starbucks than he did from his music career.

He got in on pre-IPO Starbucks before it became super famous, and now it is like, whoa, nobody knows exactly how much that investment is worth today, but if you had put $1,000 in Starbucks at that time when it first started, it would be worth $300,000 now.

Besides being a music and finance expert, Kenny is also a real estate tycoon. In a divorce court paper from April 2023, he revealed that he takes in about $600,000 every month just from renting out his properties alone.

Early Life

This famous celebrity named Kenneth Bruce Gorelick was born in Seattle, Washington, on June 5, 1956, but he is famous among people as Kenny G.

He really wanted to join the jazz band back in high school, but they said “no” to him after his first attempt. Bummer, right? But he didn’t give up. He auditioned again after waiting for next whole year. Finally, he got in and even snatched the first spot. Cool, huh?

While he was in high school, he had this fellow named Robert Damper, and guess what? They still play together today in Kenny G’s band. Robert plays the piano and keyboards.

When Kenny was just 17, he got his first music job. He joined as a sideman for Barry White’s Love Unlimited Orchestra.

That’s pretty fantastic for a teenager! And it didn’t stop there. Kenny also played with a funk band from Seattle named Cold, Bold & Together.

He officially became part of The Jeff Lorber Fusion after that. He was making moves in the music universe, even from a young age.

His Successful Career

After hanging out a bit with Jeff Lorber, Kenny G decided to go for a solo career. In 1982, he caught the attention of Clive Davis, who thought he was fabulous and signed a contract with him to Arista Records.

Kenny’s first solo album released on August 1, 1982, and it went gold, which is pretty awesome. Then, he released two more albums named “G Force” in 1983 and “Gravity” in 1985. Both of them went platinum, meaning lots of people were enjoying his music.

But, in 1986, the big breakthrough happened with his fourth album, “Duotones.” It went 5X platinum, thanks largely to the mega hit “Songbird.” Fun fact: “Songbird” is one of only two instrumentals that made it to the top 5 of the Billboard Hot 100.

From there, Kenny G’s career rose like a rocket. His very next album sold 4 million copies, and his 1992 album “Breathless” sold a staggering 12 million – that’s a crazy big number! It is his best-selling work until today.

Then, he released “Miracles: The Holiday Album,” in 1994 which sold 8 million copies and even picked #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100.

Kenny G didn’t just stop there – he worked with a bunch of super famous musicians like Andrea Bocelli, Kanye West, Celine Dion, and even Whitney Houston.

This man is undoubtedly one of the most popular musicians ever, selling over 75 million records all around the globe. That’s a whole lot of fans!

His Successful Investments

Guess what? Did Kenny G go to college to study music? Nope, he studied accounting at the University of Washington. Why? Well, he wanted a backup plan with a solid degree just in case music didn’t work for him.

Turns out, Kenny’s accounting lessons didn’t go to waste. He has been rocking the business world, and rumor has it he has got an extremely valuable stock portfolio.

Back in the early 1980s, Kenny was introduced with a Seattle entrepreneur named Howard Schultz. This guy had just acquired a local coffee spot called Starbucks, and Kenny’s uncle was one of the early supporters.

Kenny decided to pour some of his early music royalties into owning a piece of this coffee startup.

Now, we can’t put an exact price tag today on Kenny’s Starbucks investment, but here’s a fun fact – if you had invested $1,000 into Starbucks when it first went public in 1992, it would be worth more than $300,000 today. Crazy, right? If Kenny invested even earlier, his stake of the Starbucks pie could be worth literally mega millions.

When asked about his smart move later, Kenny said:

“I’d say I’m more lucky than smart. Not lucky that Starbucks became successful, but lucky that I decided to invest.”

In 2015, he told his secrets to CNBC that he is still holding on to stakes in big names like Microsoft, Apple, and United Airlines. This man knows how to play the money game!

Real Estate

We’ve discussed about Kenny G net worth. Now, let’s discuss his many homes all over the world.

Back in 1990, he invested a cool $8.8 million to purchase a big piece of land nearly 4 acres in Hunts Point, Washington. He built a massive mansion of 12,200 square-foot there in 1995.

Just after a few years, he put it up for sale at $26.5 million in 1998. A cellular phone billionaire named Craig McCaw bought it in 1999, but he’s been trying to sell it for $85 million since 2022. He also lowered his asking price to $70 million, but so far, no buyers.

Kenny bought a home for $2.8 million in Studio City, California, in 2007. He tried selling it several times over the years and finally got a buyer in February 2021 for $2.765 million.

But wait, there’s more! Since 1998, Kenny’s main property has been this awesome mansion in Malibu. He first bought a portion of a property in 1997 for $12.5 million.

He spent $3 million on the place next door later in 2000, tore down the old house, and built a brand new mansion. The construction cost for the second home was reportedly over $3.5 million! It features two bedrooms, four bathrooms, tennis court, a huge 9-foot piano, and even a 1,500 square-foot recording studio.

The main property has offices, a guest house, and a screening room with an ocean view. Awesome living, right?

Personal Life

Kenny G married Janice DeLeon from 1980 to 1987. He also married Lyndie Benson from 1992 to 2012. They have two sons.

Rental Income

In legal filings in April 2023, Kenny revealed that he is earning a whopping $600,000 every single month from his property portfolio. That’s a whole lot of cash coming in from his real estate hustle!

Divorce Alimony Payment

When Kenny and Lyndie Benson’s divorce was all done in 2013, Kenny started paying $40,000 every month to Lyndie as alimony. That adds up to $360,000 a year!

But hold up! Fast forward to March 2023, and Kenny requested a reduction in alimony payments. He said his income has decreased significantly because of COVID, and touring hasn’t recovered after COVID impact.

By then, he’d already handed over about $4 million to Lyndie in the past decade.