‘We were very poor, like broke’ – How Drake rose to stardom and built a $200m net worth

Aubrey Drake Graham aka Drake is a Canadian rapper born to an African American father and a White mother. However, his parents divorced when he was only five years old. Drake lived with his mother while his dad relocated to Memphis.

Drake started making money at a very young age. At age 15, he made an appearance on the popular Canadian teen show Degrassi as amateur rapper Jimmy Brooks. Drake was a cast member for seasons 1 through 7, with guest appearances in 2008. For his role, he earned $50,000 per year in salary from the show, that is $2000 per month after taxes.

The money Drake made from Degrassi at the time became the only source of income for him and his mom as she became ill and could not work. “My mother was very sick. We were very poor, like broke. The only money I had coming in was off of Canadian TV,” Celebrity Net Worth quoted the rapper as saying.

Drake ventured into music and started releasing mixtapes. Inspired by rapper icons like Jay-Z, he earned record deals after becoming an independent artiste. He released his first mixtape in 2005 and managed to sell 6,000 copies directly. He then launched another mixtape the following year through his own launched label October’s Very Own (aka OVO Records).

Since then, he has sold out tours, collaborated with A-list artistes such as Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj and Rihanna, and even launched his own champagne brand. In 2002, he was signed onto Lil Wayne’s Young Money label with a $2 million advance. He also went on to become the second most-streamed artiste of all time on Spotify.

According to Forbes, Drake, 34, is worth $150 million as of 2019 while Celebrity Net Worth puts his current net worth at $200 million. His accumulated worth also makes him the fourth richest rapper in the world, per Forbes’s estimates.

Drake’s worth comes from multiple sources. His clothing label, October’s Very Own (OVO), reportedly made $50 million in revenue in 2018, according to Business of Fashion. Also, Drake has lucrative endorsement deals with Sprite, Apple and Nike. He reportedly left Jay-Z’s Tidal to ink a $19 million with Apple.

The Canadian rapper also has an equity stake in Virginia Black whiskey and the Toronto Raptors basketball team. He also has a new tour residency at XS Nightclub in Las Vegas this fall, Evening Standard.

Drake’s last album Scorpion became the first-ever album to gain over one billion streams on Spotify within its first week of release and also became the most popular album in the United States in 2018 – earning 3.905 million equivalent album units. His God’s Plan album was also the most-streamed song of 2018.

Like many celebrities, Drake is also a big money spender. He has investments in real estate. He acquired a 2-acre property in his hometown of Toronto, Canada for $6.7 million and another in the Hidden Hills, California gated community for $8 million.

He also has an impressive car collection, including Rolls Royce, McLaren, and a Bentley. He debuted his cars in his “Started From the Bottom” music video. Beyond his car collection, Drake has also spent money on an extensive Birkin collection, a dowry he’s saving for his wife-to-be, according to the Evening Standard.

Aside from making money and spending it lavishly, Drake is also a big-time philanthropist and a multiple award winner. He is said to have given thousands of his Birkins away. He also donated $200,000 to charity while shooting “Go’s Plan” at Miami Senior High School.

In addition, he gave residents of the Lotus Village homeless shelter $50,000 towards the facility and $150 gift cards, surprised a University of Miami major with a $50k donation towards her tuition, and donated $10k to the school’s music program which serves Miami communities, according to the Evening Standard.

Drake is also a Grammy winner. He has been nominated 42 times and won four.