What Is Tekashi69's Net Worth?
Tekashi69 is an American rapper, social media personality, and convicted felon who has a net worth of $1.5 million. Tekashi is one of the most controversial rappers in the world, both in terms of his art and his personal life. In 2015, he pled guilty to a felony charge of using a child in a sexual performance. In 2018, he was arrested on racketeering, weapons, drug charges, and conspiracy to commit murder. In return for a reduced two-year sentence, Tekashi testified against his former gang associates. He was released early due to the COVID-19 pandemic and placed under house arrest.
During his relatively brief career (so far), Teskashi has been able to earn extraordinary sums of money. He has purportedly signed several appearance and contract deals that had the ability to pay, cumulatively, tens of millions of dollars. We'll discuss Tekashi's finances in more detail in the next paragraph.
2024 Record Contract
In October 2024, Tekashi69 revealed that he had secured a new record contract with a record company called Kartel Music which would pay $1 million for a future album plus $250,000 per concert for a future tour. The total payout if all milestones are achieved could be up to $6 million.
Financial Issues
Speaking frankly, Tekashi69's finances are a bit hard to pin down from month to month. Without question, he has signed several multi-million dollar record and concert contracts. He has also earned millions from streaming royalties, primarily thanks to his YouTube channel, where he currently has 20 million followers and more than 5 billion video views.
On the other hand, after being sentenced to prison, Tekashi's career was essentially put on hold for two years.
In March 2022, Tekashi submitted documents to a court in which he claimed to be facing severe financial problems due to loss of income, primarily because his career had been on hold for two years. He claimed to be receiving no royalty income and was unable to generate income via touring.
Specifically, his filing claimed:
"Right now, I am struggling to make ends meet. I do not know if I will ever command the kind of advances I was paid before my arrest and my career stalled."
The documents were part of a civil lawsuit brought by two former associates. He further asserted that if the lawsuit proceeded, it could "bankrupt" him.
One month later, Tekashi69 posted the following video to Instagram in which he shows off several million dollars worth of cold hard cash and at least a million dollars worth of cars:
View this post on Instagram
A day after posting the above video to Instagram, Tekashi appeared on "TMZ Live" and was asked point blank by Harvey Levin to explain how he could be flaunting so much cash at a time when he was also claiming to be broke to a judge. Here's a transcript of the conversation:
Harvey Levin:
"So you owe like a million bucks in restitution, and I know you have told a judge that you just didn't have it."
Harvey's co-host then chimed in:
"Right and I think your attorney said you were going to have to file for bankruptcy."
Then Harvey added:
"But then you're dumping two million dollars. Are you not a sitting duck to have that money seized?"
Tekashi's reply:
"I ain't got it right now. I ain't got it. And that was prop money."
Getty
Early Life
Tekashi69 was born Daniel Hernandez on May 8, 1996, in Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York. His mother is from Mexico, and his father is from Puerto Rico. He did not meet his father until he was nine years old. Up to that point, he believed his father was not alive. In reality, Daniel Sr. was a heroin addict who was imprisoned. His father would later claim that the mother's family prevented Daniel Sr. from seeing Daniel Jr., going so far as to rip up the letters he sent from jail.
The family struggled financially, especially after Daniel's stepfather was shot dead on the steps of the family home in 2010 when Daniel was 14. The death caused severe physiological damage and required Daniel to visit a therapist to treat PTSD and depression. He also started acting out in school around this time, getting expelled from school in 8th grade. After leaving school, Daniel began working at a grocery store to help the family financially.
Rap Career
Daniel began rapping when he was 16 years old. An early break occurred when he met the CEO of a record label who came into the Brooklyn bodega where Daniel was working. That record executive, Peter "Righteous P" Rogers, ran a label called Hikari-Ultra. Peter encouraged Daniel to begin releasing original songs.
His first song, appropriately titled "69", was released in 2014. He would release a number of additional singles that year. Over the next three years, Daniel, who by then adopted the name Tekashi 6ix9ine, released a series of albums and videos that earned him moderate popularity in the underground rap scene. Following up on 2018's "Dummy Boy" album, Tekashi69 released his sophomore effort, 2020's "TattleTales," which debuted at #4 on the U.S. "Billboard" 200.
Success
Tekashi69 released his debut mixtape, "Day69," in 2018. His debut single "Gummo" reached #6 on the US Rap chart, #7 on the US R&B/Hip-Hop chart, and #12 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 and was certified Gold. 6IX9INE's single "Kooda" was also certified Gold and reached #29 on the US R&B/Hip-Hop chart and #50 on the "Billboard" Hot 100. His single "Keke" (with Fetty Wap and A Boogie wit da Hoodie) reached #20 on the US Rap chart, #22 on the US R&B/Hip-Hop chart, and #43 on the "Billboard" Hot 100.
(MARCO BERTORELLO/AFP via Getty Images)
Reported Record Deals
6IX9INE has used social media to brag about several different record and management deals. In January 2018, he claimed (in a now-deleted Instagram post) that he had signed a $7.5 million record deal. A month later, he claimed to have signed a $15 million management deal with Birdman's RICHGANG company. About a month later, he claimed to have signed a $4.9 million deal to endorse a headphone company. According to several record industry insiders we reached out to, there's no evidence that any of these deals are remotely real.
$10 Million Deal
In October 2019, Tekashi signed a confirmed record deal with record company 10K Projects. The deal is reportedly worth at least $10 million and will involve two future albums, one in English and one in Spanish.
GlobalStreamNow Deal
In July 2020, Tekashii announced that he had struck a $5 million deal with live-streaming company GlobalStreamNow. The deal covers one virtual performance to be held on September 5, 2020.
Bennett Raglin/Getty Images
Legal issues
Tekashi69 has been arrested on a number of occasions. In 2015, he pleaded guilty to a felony count of using a child in a sexual performance. He was given three years probation and did not have to register as a sex offender as long as he refrained from posting sexually explicit images online and obtained his GED. He ultimately failed his GED test. In July 2018, he was arrested on an outstanding warrant related to an incident where he allegedly choked someone at a mall in Houston.
In 2018, he was arrested on weapons, drugs, and racketeering charges. To avoid what could have been a 47-year prison sentence, he agreed to testify against a group of Nine Trey Bloods gang members. He testified over several days in September 2019. He testified that the Nine Trey Bloods Gang allowed him to essentially pretend to be a member as long as he bankrolled the group. He also testified that after the release of the song "Gummo," he began earning an average of $60,000 per month from YouTube royalties and live performance fees.
In December 2019, he entered a guilty plea as part of his arranged deal with government prosecutors.
For his cooperation, the judge ultimately ordered Tekashi to serve just 13 months. The defendants he testified against are facing life sentences.
On March 22, 2020, he requested to be released early due to the COVID-19 virus that was spreading wildly throughout the prison system. The government did not object, and he was released on April 2nd. He had been scheduled for release in August 2020.
In March 2023, Tekashi was reportedly assaulted in a steam room at an LA Fitness gym in Palm Beach County, Florida. Videos of the attack were shared on social media in which he sustained facial cuts and abrasions, and so far, one suspect has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Release
On May 8, 2020, Tekashi released his new song "Gooba" and an accompanying music video. The video quickly shattered the record for the biggest 24-hour debut for a hip-hop video on YouTube. Within 24 hours, the video had 40 million views. The previous one-day hip-hop record of 38 million was set by Eminem in 2018 for his song "Killshot."
Within a week, "Gooba" had broken 150 million views.
That same day, May 8th, Tekashi69 hosted an Instagram live. More than two million people tuned in simultaneously, shattering the Instagram live record by more than 1.7 million.
Between YouTube ad revenue, Spotify royalties, and other sources of income, Tekashi publicly claimed that he had earned $2 million off "Gooba" alone in under a week. He also announced his intention to donate 10% of the profits to charity.
Personal Life
Tekashi began dating Rachel "Jade" Watley a few weeks before he went to prison at the end of 2018. He has a daughter, born October 2015, with Sara Molina, and another daughter, born November 2018, with Marlayna M.
Tekashi can speak Spanish and has sung in Spanish on four tracks: "Bebe," "Mala," "Yaya," and "Bori." Tekashi suffers from asthma.
When Tekashi was released from prison, he moved into a modest home in Lido Beach. A neighbor outed his location, forcing him to move, and it was reported that he relocated to Water Mill in New York in an 8,500-square-foot home overlooking the estate, which includes a tree farm. The home was listed for rent at the time for $55,000.
