What is Ahmet Zappa's net worth?
Ahmet Zappa is an American writer, producer, and publisher who has a net worth of $5 million. He was born Ahmet Emuukha Rodan Zappa in Los Angeles, California in 1974. He is the son of famous musician Frank Zappa. Ahmet and his brother Dweezil have released several albums together, but are no longer close due to a fight over their father's estate.
He has appeared in such television shows as Growing Pains, Roseanne, and MadTV. He has also starred in the films Jack Frost and Ready to Rumble. Ahmet and Dweezil recorded a cover of Britney Spear's song "…Baby One More Time" on the Ready to Rumble soundtrack. His debut novel titled The Monstrous Memoirs of a Mighty McFearless was released in 2006. The rights to the movie have been picked up by Disney and Bruckheimer Films. He had been hired by The Jim Henson Company to write a remake of Fraggle Rock. Zappa's production company Monsterfoot Productions released The Odd Life of Timothy Green by Walt Disney Pictures in 2012. In 1999 Zappa had a short run on the TV game show Hollywood Squares.
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Frank Zappa Estate
The exact value of Frank's estate at the time of his death is extremely difficult to pin down. By some reports, years after Frank's death the estate was "beyond broke," perhaps even millions of dollars in debt at the time he died. His daughter Moon would later claim that she was pressured into selling a home to help raise $250,000 needed for Frank's cancer treatments.
The situation worsened after his death thanks largely to an expensive battle his widow waged with a record company over the digital streaming rights to his catalog. Frank's children have fought for years over the right to perform using the last name "Zappa" and the ability to monetize their father's image. In the years after his death, the estate has earned many millions of dollars through licensing agreements, merchandise sales, film rights, memorabilia and more.
In August 2016, several months after his widow Gail's passing, Frank's famous Laurel Canyon home and studio sold for $5.4 million. Several months after the home was sold, Dweezil claimed in an interview that Gail had:
…"run herself and the business into the ground, spent $20 million in lawsuits and by her demise was $6 million in debt."
Estate Battle
After his death, control over Frank Zappa's estate passed to Gail Zappa. When Gail died in 2015 she chose to NOT leave her four surviving children equal shares of the Zappa Family Trust. Instead she left 30% to Ahmet and Diva Zappa, while also making them co-trustees. Dweezil and Moon Unit Zappa only received 20% and were not trustees. In essence this put control overt the estate in the hands of Ahmet and Diva, with Ahmet taking on the more active business management role.
Because he is not a trustee, technically Dweezil Zappa needs permission from his brother to perform Frank's music at his own concerts. He also would sell Frank-related merchandise. For many years Dweezil performed as a band called Zappa Plays Zappa. When family tensions over the use of the name arose, he defiantly re-named a tour "50 Years of Frank: Dweezil Zappa Plays Whatever the F@%k He Wants – The Cease and Desist Tour." He stopped selling Frank-related merchandise.
The siblings battled for decades. Ahmet and Dweezil ceased speaking to each other. The estate wasn't finally settled until March 2019 when a Los Angeles judge finally approved a settlement agreement between three of the four children (everyone except Moon Unit). According to the 2019 settlement terms, all income generated by the performance of Frank's music or sale of his likeness must be split four ways.
Personal Life
Ahmet married but later divorced actress Selma Blair. He then married Shana Muldoon and the two have a daughter Halo Violetta, born in 2011.
