What is Tom Scholz's net worth?
Tom Scholz is an American musician, inventor, and engineer who has a net worth of $100 million. Tom Scholz was born in Toledo, Ohio in March 1947. His father, Don Scholz, was an extremely successful home builder who pioneered the design and sale of pre-fabricated luxury homes. The company, Scholz Design, is still an extremely active and successful business today.
Tom Scholz is best known for founding the band Boston. Boston formed in 1976 and Scholz has been the band's guitarist, songwriter, producer, and keyboardist. The band's self-titled debut studio album was released in 1976. Boston's second album, "Don't Look Back," was released in 1978. It reached #1 in the US, where it certified 7x Platinum, and #1 in Canada. Boston's third album "Third Stage" also reached #1 in Canada and the US where it was certified 4x Platinum. They also released the albums "Walk On" (1994), "Corporate America" (2002) and "Life, Love & Hope" (2013). Boston's best known singles include "More Than a Feeling", "Foreplay/Long Time", "Peace of Mind", "Don't Look Back", "A Man I'll Never Been", "Feelin' Satisfied", "Amanda", "We're Ready", "Cool the Engines", "Can'tcha Say (You Believe in Me)", and "I Need Your Love".
Scholz is also an engineer, and after the success of Boston founded his own research and development company to manufacture his music technology inventions.
Early Life and Education
Tom Scholz was born as Donald Thomas Scholz on March 10, 1947 in Toledo, Ohio and raised in the Ottawa Hills suburb. His father was a luxury homebuilder who founded his own design company. Growing up, Scholz studied classical piano and showed a passion for designing and building things. He attended Ottawa Hills High School, where he played on the varsity basketball team. After graduating in 1965, Scholz attended MIT, from which he earned both bachelor's and master's degrees in mechanical engineering. He went on to begin his career working as a senior product design engineer for Polaroid.
Boston
Scholz started writing songs while attending graduate school at MIT. It was during this time he met his bandmates Barry Goudreau and Jim Masdea. After graduating, Scholz built a recording studio in his basement and proceeded to make a number of demos, all of which faced rejection by the record companies. He finally drew the interest of Epic Records with his last batch of demos, which included future hits "More Than a Feeling" and "Peace of Mind." Scholz and vocalist Brad Delp signed a contract with the label, and after the departure of Masdea brought on Goudreau, Fran Sheehan, and Sib Hashian to round out the original lineup of Boston. The band went on to release its self-titled debut album in August of 1976. Supported by the singles "More Than a Feeling," "Peace of Mind," and "Foreplay/Long Time," the album became the best-selling debut LP in the United States to that date. Boston's second studio album, "Don't Look Back," wasn't released until 1978 due to Scholz's perfectionism and the band's tensions with Epic Records. However, it was a big hit, reaching number one on the album charts in both the US and Canada.
Amid a protracted legal battle with Epic Records, Scholz and Boston left the label and signed with MCA Records. The band went on to release its third studio album, "Third Stage," in 1986; it spawned the number-one single "Amanda." Following a long break, Boston released its fourth studio album, "Walk On," in mid-1994; the band's first to feature vocalist Fran Cosmo, it peaked at number seven on the Billboard 200. Boston's next studio album was 2002's "Corporate America," which introduced Anton Cosmo and Kimberley Dahme as band members and songwriters. Moreover, it was the last Boston album that Delp helped record before his death by suicide in 2007. His vocals were posthumously featured on Boston's sixth studio album, "Life, Love & Hope," which was released in late 2013 through Frontiers Records. A world tour followed the next year. In 2015, Boston embarked on another world tour, this time with Scholz, Gary Pihl, Tommy DeCarlo, Tracy Ferrie, and new member Beth Cohen. The same lineup toured in 2016 and 2017. In the latter year, Scholz reported that he was working on new material for Boston's seventh studio album.
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Scholz Research & Development
In 1980, Scholz founded the music technology company Scholz Research & Development, through which he designed and manufactured his various inventions. The company's first major product was the Power Soak attenuator, which was designed to be placed inline between a guitar amplifier and a guitar speaker. Later, in 1982, SR&D created the Rockman headphone electric guitar amplifier, kicking off the Rockman line. The company would add other signal processing equipment to its offerings over the subsequent years, including the Rockmodules, which were professional-quality rack-mount guitar effects. Because the Rockman line was engineered using analog circuit designs, SR&D was put out of business in 1994 when digital effects were becoming more common.
Philanthropy
In 1987, Scholz founded the DTS Charitable Foundation. Among its myriad missions, it supports animal protection; works to combat world hunger; advocates for children's rights; and creates homeless shelters and food banks.
Personal Life
Scholz married his first wife, Cynthia Hartford, in 1971. They had a son named Jeremy before divorcing. Scholz later married Kim Hart in early 2007; they reside in the Boston, Massachusetts area.
