Who’s the world’s richest DJ in 2022? Net worths, ranked: from Calvin Harris’ hits for Rihanna and Dua Lipa, and Steve Aoki’s NFTs, to Daft Punk’s retirement and David Guetta’s 50 million album sales
- Calvin Harris went from stocking supermarket shelves to writing for Dua Lipa, while Steve Aoki earns more from NFTs than music – and uses it to strike deals with Elon Musk
- Meanwhile Daft Punk’s Thomas Bangalter branched out into film scoring and Tiësto earns more than US$250,000 per set and does almost 100 shows a year
Performing at some of the biggest music festivals in the world, taking VIP gigs in glitzy clubs across the globe – oh, and producing dozens of chart topping hits over the decades – it should come as no surprise that legendary DJs like David Guetta, Steve Aoki and Tiësto have amassed serious fortunes.
But not all fortunes are created equally – and some are invested more wisely than others. So when it comes down to it, who is the king or queen of the dance floor? This is what the number crunchers say …
9 and 10. The Chainsmokers’ Andrew Taggart and Alex Pall: US$80 million each
Both halves of American EDM duo The Chainsmokers have accumulated most of their wealth thanks to their fruitful production partnership. They reportedly made something close to US$200 million together between 2017 and 2020, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
The reason they’ve done so well? “We have been investing very actively since the minute we became ‘not starving’ artists,” says Taggart. Their “second full-time job” is the venture capital firm, Mantis, which focuses on early-stage tech companies and recently raised US$75 million in its second funding round, Forbes reports.
The firm has invested in everything from software as a service and real estate to dental back-office infrastructure firms. They are the largest investors in spirit brand JaJa Tequila, and YellowHeart, a ticketing platform that runs on the blockchain to connect artists and fans’ directly. Clearly not content with their successes so far, the duo also founded Kick The Habit Productions to produce film, television and digital work back in 2018.
8. Thomas Bangalter: US$90 million
