How Lil Yachty Landed A Big Fortune With His $8 Million Net Worth
Lil Yachty | Prince Williams/WireImage
TeeJay Small
6 min read
If you’ve been tuned into the landscape of rap music for the last decade or so, you’re no doubt familiar with the work of Lil Yachty. The Grammy nominated Georgia rapper is responsible for releasing such hits as “Yacht Club,” “Oprah’s Bank Account,” “Pardon Me.” Most recently, his hit “Poland” met with viral success. Since first emerging on the scene in 2015, the rising star has made a name for himself. He’s regarded for his unique image, positive message, and subversive musical range. The rapper’s latest full-length solo album Let’s Start Here completely reinvented his sound for a new audience. Today, Lil Yachty has a net worth of over $8 million according to Celebrity Net Worth. However, comments from the artist himself seem to suggest his actual nest egg is worth significantly more.
There’s no way to be 100 percent certain about the overall value of Lil Yachty’s investments. That said, it’s clear that the rapper has elevated himself from humble beginnings to generational wealth in a very brief span of time. This makes him an inspiration to other up-and-coming entertainers everywhere. So, now seems like as good a time as any to examine Yachty’s financial portfolio. Here, we’ll pour over his investment strategies, and see what we can learn about his blueprint for generating millions in net worth. Let’s dive directly into Yachty’s career earnings, gathered mostly through music sales, global tours, and endorsement deals with massive brands.
Early Life and Career Beginnings
Long before Lil Yachty was rocking stages worldwide, he was born Miles McCollum to a modest family in Mableton, Georgia. Throughout his youth, Yachty maintained a passion for crafting beats and rhymes. He found himself influenced by a number of emerging sounds from the Midwest to his hometown of Atlanta.
Eventually, Yachty committed himself fully to his craft, and dropped out of Alabama State University in 2015. While looking for an outlet to launch his music career, the young artist moved to New York on a whim. For a time, he crashed with a friend while networking with other artists online. During this period, the aspiring rapper supported himself by doing minimum wage work at fast food restaurants like McDonald’s. Despite bolstering a sizable following on Instagram, it wasn’t until his track “One Night” found its way into a viral video that Yachty finally blew up.
From there, Lil Yachty had a meteoric rise. Appearing front-and-center as a model during Kanye West’s 2016 Yeezy fashion show in Madison Square Garden helped with that. According to an interview with The Fader, Yachty was originally supposed to be tucked away in the back of the event. He inquired about his placement to the event director, explaining that his vibrant red hair perfectly matched the Aesthetic of Kanye’s latest colorways.
Per his interview, Yachty explained, “They switched it around and like bam, they put me in the front. That opened doors for me. A lot of fashion doors opened up after that.” Years later, Yachty revealed via social media that he had moved back into his mother’s home at the time. The artist explained that he was literally down to his last $70 during the Yeezy show. Clearly, his ascension to millionaire status came fast, and saved him from the throes of poverty.
Lil Yachty’s Music Career
Just one month after appearing in the Yeezy fashion show, Lil Yachty released his debut mixtape, Lil Boat. Lil Boat helped put him on the map for many listeners of the SoundCloud era. Later in 2016, the rising star would see his first Billboard charting hit, with the DRAM collaboration “Broccoli.” The track remains one of Yachty’s biggest singles to date. The rapper quickly found further success after signing to Quality Control Music and joining the likes of Denzel Curry, 21 Savage, Lil Uzi Vert, and more on the 2016 XXL Freshman cover. Today, fans regard the 2016 class as one of the best XXL Freshman lineups of all time. Their YouTube cypher performance touts a staggering view count of over 224 million at the time of this writing.
Since hard-launching his music career in 2015, Lil Yachty has delivered 5 full-length solo studio albums and 3 mixtapes. Most recently, he hopped on a collaborative album with English singer-songwriter and record producer James Blake. Yachty maintains a dedicated following of more than 17.5 million monthly listeners on Spotify alone. Not only that, but he serves as the frontman for a hip hop collective known as the Concrete Boys. There’s no way to directly calculate what percentage of Yachty’s wealth comes through music streaming. That said, the rapper claims that his true net worth is significantly higher than the reported figure of $8 million. Per a July 2024 report in Complex, Yachty stated, “I made 8 million in my first 8 months of rappin in 2016 on god… Y’all be letting this internet guide y’all. In real life s*** is different I’m telling you.”
Brand Deals and Other Ventures
While Lil Yachty’s biggest financial successes obviously stem from his streaming and tour revenue, the artist has also managed to bring in plenty of cash from lucrative brand deals and collaborations with other entertainers. The rapper famously appeared alongside NBA legend LeBron James in a 2017 promotional campaign for Sprite. The campaign saw Yachty sitting at a piano inside an ice cavern, and performing a parody of his own hit song, with lyrics that encouraged consumers to purchase the soft drink. Also in 2017, Yachty announced partnerships with clothing brands such as Nautica and Urban Outfitters, which saw him acting as the face of the brands for the entire Spring season. Since then, Lil Yachty has collaborated with massive brands which include Target, Fortnite, and McDonald’s.
The rising business magnate has also utilized his star-power for a number of crossover deals in the world of entertainment, including a few film and television placements. In 2020, Lil Yachty provided a new and improved rendition of the Saved by the Bell theme song. The new twist on the tune was used for the television revival series of the same name. Likewise, he crafted an original theme tune for Chef Boyardee to use in their ad campaigns. What’s more, he featured on the 25th anniversary soundtrack album for the Pokémon franchise.
In front of the camera, Yachty has appeared in several episodes of the hit ABC sitcom Grown-ish, including a few highly rated episodes in the final season, which aired in April 2024. Lil Yachty is also expected to star in an upcoming film loosely based on the card game Uno, as well as an upcoming TV series named Public Figures.
Obviously, Lil Yachty still has plenty of new and exciting projects in the works. There’s no telling what’s next for this Atlanta-bred superstar.