James Brown Documentary: He Left $90 Million to Poor Kids — They Still Haven't Received It
Everyday Nuggets
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James Brown had a will professionally drafted in 2000, six years before he died. He named an executor, stated exactly where his money should go, and included a clause designed to disinherit anyone who contested it. The overwhelming majority of his estate — the rights to his name and his music — was to fund scholarships for underprivileged children in South Carolina, where he was born, and Georgia, where he grew up. He called it the I Feel Good Trust. He died on Christmas Day 2006 at 73. Nineteen years later, those children still have not received the money.
This documentary breaks down why. His partner Tomi Rae Hynie, who received nothing under the will, contested — and the question of whether she was legally his wife took until 2020 to resolve, when the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled unanimously that she had never annulled a previous marriage. Separately, in 2009 the state's Attorney General brokered a settlement that would have given roughly half the estate to the charity, a quarter to Hynie, and the rest to Brown's adult children. The South Carolina Supreme Court struck it down in 2013, calling it "a dismemberment of Brown's carefully crafted estate plan."
By 2009, attorneys reported Brown's accounts held very little; possessions had been auctioned in 2008 for around $850,000, partly to pay debt. What remained was intellectual property. In 2021 the estate sold its assets — music rights, real estate, and control of his name and likeness — to Primary Wave for a price the New York Times reported at approximately $90 million, with no more than $2 million going to a grandchildren's trust as the will specified. That figure is the 2021 sale price, not the estate's value at his death.
The lesson: a good plan is necessary and not sufficient. Prince left no will. Aretha Franklin left three unclear ones. Bob Marley left none and his advisers forged documents. James Brown did it right — and his estate has taken longer than any of them.
All figures are reported or drawn from public record and court rulings.
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#JamesBrown #GodfatherOfSoul #CelebrityDocumentary #CelebrityNetWorth #CelebrityWealth
James Brown Documentary: He Left $90 Million to Poor Kids — They Still Haven't Received It
Everyday Nuggets
326 views
James Brown had a will professionally drafted in 2000, six years before he died. He named an executor, stated exactly where his money should go, and included a clause designed to disinherit anyone who contested it. The overwhelming majority of his estate — the rights to his name and his music — was to fund scholarships for underprivileged children in South Carolina, where he was born, and Georgia, where he grew up. He called it the I Feel Good Trust. He died on Christmas Day 2006 at 73. Nineteen years later, those children still have not received the money.
This documentary breaks down why. His partner Tomi Rae Hynie, who received nothing under the will, contested — and the question of whether she was legally his wife took until 2020 to resolve, when the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled unanimously that she had never annulled a previous marriage. Separately, in 2009 the state's Attorney General brokered a settlement that would have given roughly half the estate to the charity, a quarter to Hynie, and the rest to Brown's adult children. The South Carolina Supreme Court struck it down in 2013, calling it "a dismemberment of Brown's carefully crafted estate plan."
By 2009, attorneys reported Brown's accounts held very little; possessions had been auctioned in 2008 for around $850,000, partly to pay debt. What remained was intellectual property. In 2021 the estate sold its assets — music rights, real estate, and control of his name and likeness — to Primary Wave for a price the New York Times reported at approximately $90 million, with no more than $2 million going to a grandchildren's trust as the will specified. That figure is the 2021 sale price, not the estate's value at his death.
The lesson: a good plan is necessary and not sufficient. Prince left no will. Aretha Franklin left three unclear ones. Bob Marley left none and his advisers forged documents. James Brown did it right — and his estate has taken longer than any of them.
All figures are reported or drawn from public record and court rulings.
▶ Subscribe for a new celebrity money story every week.
#JamesBrown #GodfatherOfSoul #CelebrityDocumentary #CelebrityNetWorth #CelebrityWealth