What is Soulja Boy's net worth?
Soulja Boy is an American rapper, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur who has a net worth of $5 million. Soulja Boy, also known as DeAndre Cortez Way, released his first single in 2007. The song "Crank That (Soulja Boy)" was a massive hit and inspired a dance craze. "Crank That (Soulja Boy)" peaked at number one on the charts. The single was a number-one hit in the United States for seven non-consecutive weeks starting in September 2007.
Soulja Boy's subsequent albums, such as "iSouljaBoyTellem" (2008) and "The DeAndre Way" (2010), didn't achieve the same commercial success as his debut, but they did produce some notable tracks. He continued to be recognized for his catchy hooks and self-produced beats, maintaining a presence in the music charts.
In addition to his music, Soulja Boy ventured into other business endeavors, including fashion and technology. He launched his own clothing line and experimented with digital and social media platforms to promote his music and personal brand.
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$55 Million Private Jet
In 2011, Soulja Boy's management team told news outlets that he had purchased a $55 million private jet, a Gulfstream G5, in honor of his 21st birthday, spending $35 million on the actual Gulfstream G5 jet and dropping an additional $20 million more in upgrades. The upgrades were said to have included custom Italian leather seats, multiple liquor bars, several flat-screen TVs, and updated bathrooms, floors, and cabinets. Soulja's spokesman soon followed up in various interviews to clarify that the "elaborate rumors" were "not true."
$400 Million Contract
In May 2016, Soulja Boy claimed to have signed a $400 million record contract. He went on to say he thinks that "they lowballed" him and that he was "thinking 2 or 3 billion." When you dig into what he signed, the full story is that Soulja Boy did indeed sign a deal with a company called World Poker Fund Holdings to promote an online game called CelebrityWorld.com. The game was meant to allow players to "meet, play games, and hang out with your favorite celebrities." It's a cross between a social network and an online casino where you can play slots, blackjack, and poker. When a spokesman for World Poker Fund Holdings was asked about the $400 million contract, at which point the company's total market cap was $50 million, he explained:
"He really kind of jumped the gun by using the $400 million figure. The deal is capped at $400 million, and it's based on a forward-thinking valuation of the company. He's young, he's 25 years old. He got really excited, and he tweeted something he probably shouldn't have tweeted. He was getting a lot of pressure from within the entertainment community, so he wanted to put a statement out. Obviously, the company's market cap is at $51.8 million. There's no way we could cut a $400 million deal. Endorsement deals are calculated on a lot of different factors. This is not a full cash transaction."
Early Life & Career
Soulja Boy was born DeAndre Cortez Way on July 28, 1990, in Chicago, Illinois. When he was six, his family moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where he became interested in rap music. When he was 14, he moved to Batesville, Mississippi. His father made a recording studio in the family home to encourage his son to work on his music. In November 2005, Soulja Boy posted his songs on the website SoundClick. They got positive reviews, and he opened accounts on YouTube and MySpace.
In March 2007, he recorded "Crank That (Soulja Boy)' and released his first independent album, "Unsigned and Still Major: Da Album Before da Album." He also made a low-budget video to showcase the "Crank That" dance. By the end of May 2007, "Crank That (Soulja Boy) had been played on the radio, and he signed a deal with Interscope Records. By September 2007, "Crank That" was number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and remained there for seven consecutive weeks. The song also went on to earn Soulja a Grammy nomination.
In October of 2007, his first major-label album, "Souljaboytellem.com" was released and reached number four on the U.S. Billboard 200 and has since been certified platinum by the RIAA. Fourteen months later, he released his follow-up album, "¡SouljaBoyTellem."
He released his third studio album, "The DeAndre Way," in 2010. His fourth studio album, "Loyalty," was released in 2015. Soulja Boy has collaborated with several other hip-hop artists, such as Gucci Mane, Sammie, Shawty Lo, and Arab. His fifth studio album, "How Can You Blame Me," was set to be released in 2019 but was delayed following his incarceration. He released several mixtapes over the next few years and singles such as 2021's "Pandemic." In February 2021, Soulja Boy released "Soulja World" featuring Lil B.
(Photo by Marcus Ingram/Getty Images for BET)
Record Label
Way founded his record label Stacks on Deck Entertainment (SODMG) in 2004, while Way was signed to Interscope. Since founding the label, he signed various artists. On May 30, 2016, Way announced that all artists signed to SODMG had been dropped. In 2019, Way re-signed Lil 100 and signed Atlanta artist 24hr. In April 2021, Soulja Boy signed a record deal with Virgin Music.
Controversies
Back in early February 2009, Soulja Boy challenged rapper Bow Wow to a race in their expensive sports cars. Both rappers drove Lamborghinis at the time. To throw fuel on the fire of their controversy, Soulja Boy claimed Bow Wow's car was rented. Bow Wow proved he owned his car and a Twitter feud around the issue arose. Within a matter of days, both rappers sent diss songs to each other. Soulja Boy sent Bow Wow "F*ck Bow Wow." Bow Wow sent Soulja Boy "What I Think About You." Both rappers eventually settled their difference and, in 2016, released a collaborative mixtape called "Ignorant Shit."
In mid-April 2013, Soulja Boy took to Facebook to issue several death threats to rapper Chief Keef. Soulja Boy posted Keef's phone number and asked fans to call Keef and let him know Soulja Boy was coming for him and he was armed with a gun. Soulja Boy kept posting, and eventually, Keef told him he was in London. Soulja Boy claimed that his social media accounts and email were hacked, and he had not sent any of those messages. The two have since resolved their differences.
(Photo by Bennett Raglin/Getty Images for BET)
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Personal Life
In June 2008, on DJ Cisco's Urban Legend mixtape, legendary rapper Ice-T told Way to "eat a dick" and criticized Way for "killing hip-hop" and his song "Crank That" for being "garbage" compared to the works of other hip-hop artists such as Rakim, Das EFX, Big Daddy Kane and Ice Cube. The two then traded videos back and forth over the Internet. Kanye West defended Way by arguing that the younger artist created a new, original work for hip-hop. The feud was parodied in a 2010 episode of The Boondocks.
On December 30, 2008, Way was robbed and beaten in his home. The first reports from the scene said that the robbers were six masked men with AK-47s. However, the day after the incident, a video surfaced on the internet of two masked men claiming sole credit for the crime. In January 2009, Soulja Boy described the night to MTV News. He said he came home very late at night after an album release party and was recording songs with friends when the robbers entered his home with their guns pointed at them. He claimed the robbers kicked in the door and pointed an AK-47 at his friend's head.
On the night of March 22, 2011, Way's younger brother, Deion Jenkins, was killed in a car crash.
In 2020, Soulja Boy had all of his face tattoos removed so that he could transition into roles in film and television. He got his first face tattoo when he was 16, much to his mother's disapproval. He's been talking about having them removed since 2016. He doesn't want to be typecast as a gangster or drug dealer in acting roles and feels he would be if he kept them.
In September 2022, Soulja Boy's girlfriend, Jackie, gave birth to their first child, a son.
Legal Issues
On October 7, 2009, Way was arrested in Atlanta, Georgia, on one count of obstruction, a misdemeanor, for running from police when he'd been ordered to stop while filming a video in an abandoned house. The rapper was released on a $550 bond. Other legal issues include weapon violations and alleged death threats, and a rape accusation that was denied by Soulja Boy's spokesperson.
In 2021, a model named Nia Riley, an ex-girlfriend of Soulja Boy and the daughter of singer Teddy Riley claimed that when she tried to leave the rapper, he put a gun to her head. He also allegedly kicked her in the stomach when she was pregnant, which allegedly led to Nia having a miscarriage.
In February 2022, Soulja Boy was named as a defendant in a class-action lawsuit filed against cryptocurrency company SafeMoon, alleging the company is a pump-and-dump scheme. He had promoted the SafeMoon token on social media along with others such as Jake Paul, Nick Carter, and Lil Yachty using misleading information.
In February 2019, Soulja Boy allegedly kidnapped a girlfriend at his Malibu rental and held a gun to her head after a party. He allegedly pistol-whipped her and held the woman, an ex-girlfriend named Kayla Myers, for six hours. In October 2023, Soulja Boy was ordered to pay Kayla $471,000 in damages. To satisfy the judgment, an LA court order authorized the LA Sheriff's Department to enter Soulja Boy's home in Bell Canyon, California, where Kayla claimed he keeps a yellow Mercedes Benz, a red Lamborghini, valuable jewelry and large amounts of stacks of cash in backpacks.
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Earnings Highlights
In 2012 alone, Soulja Boy earned over $7 million, which was enough to make him one of the Hip Hop Cash Kings for the year.
Soulja Boy claims that the number 678-999-8212 from the song "Kiss Me thru the Phone" with Sammie earned him $100,000 a month in the late 2000s. The 2008 hit reached No. 3 on Billboard's Hot 100.
Real Estate
Over the years, there have been a handful of reports about Soulja Boy buying various homes in Los Angeles. For example, in November 2016, it was widely reported that he had purchased a $6 million penthouse in Hollywood. Several outlets subsequently pointed out that the apartment was an Airbnb rental and was at the time actually listed for sale for $3.2 million. Based on our real estate filing research, it appears as though Soulja Boy has mostly rented mansions around LA for the last decade. He was arrested at his rental in the Hollywood Hills in 2016 on charges that he violated the terms of a previous probation. He appears to have rented a mansion in Northridge, CA, in recent years for roughly $8,000 per month. He also was renting a home in Malibu in early 2019 when he was arrested after an argument at the home led to a woman claiming she was beaten up by the rapper and his manager.
Soulja Boy formerly owned a home in McDonough, Georgia, outside of Atlanta. Real estate records appear to show that he paid $330,000 for the 7,500-square-foot mansion in October 2008 and sold it in 2010 for $132,000.
