An inventory of Prince’s assets submitted to a probate court in Minnesota shows he was just as forward-thinking and enterprising with his money as he was with his music.
Records released by the Carver County District Court shows an asset inventory by the the court-appointed estate administrator Bremer Trust for Prince Rogers Nelson includes:
– 67 10-ounce gold bars worth nearly US$840,000.
– A dozen properties in Carver and Hennepin counties worth an estimated US$25.4 million, which he reportedly acquired shortly before he died
last year.
– Unclaimed property, capital credits and cash.
– US$110,000 in four bank accounts.
– 10 cars: a 1993 Ford Thunderbird, 1995 Jeep Grand Cherokee, 1997 Lincoln Town car, 2004 Cadillac Roadsters XLR, a 2010 Mercedes Benz, 2011 Lincoln MKT, 1996 BMW Z3 Roadster, 2006 Bentley, 1985 Cadillac Limo, and a 1999 Plymouth Prowler
Prince also left behind his company assets Paisley Park Enterprises Inc., NPG Records Inc., NPG Music Publishing and LotusFlow3r, his annual subscription-service website.
The inventory sees Prince’s estate valued at between $100 million and $300 million, before taxes, but much of its value hasn’t been defined yet. Unreleased recordings and videos from Prince’s Paisley Park bank vault could satiate fans for the next century, and that’s if his estate decided to release just one album a year. (Sidenote: Bremer Trust had to
drill open the vault as Prince was the only person who knew the key code. Of course he was)
When the unreleased music does see the light of day, it’ll be via Universal Music Group. In a deal with Bremer Trust, UMG’s publishing division won an auction to represent the rights to over 1,000 songs written by Prince, including Purple Rain and Kiss, plus tracks lucratively covered by other artists, such as Cyndi Lauper’s ‘When You Were Mine’, Sinead O’Connor’s ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’, and Alicia Keys’ ‘How Come You Don’t Call Me Anymore’.
As far as Prince’s actual recordings go, Warner Music represents many of his biggest hits, and Jay Z’s Tidal has some streaming rights, depending on who you ask (Prince’s label NPG is suing Roc Nation for exploiting copyrighted works via Tidal).
No value has been assigned to his musical instruments, his jewellery collection, a 2006 Bentley and his famous motorcycle from ‘Purple Rain’/ ‘Graffiti Bridge’.
Prince passed on April 21 at the age of 57 of an accidental overdose of painkiller fentanyl. He did not leave a will.
