Nina Simone Signed Away Her Music for $3,000. Here's What It's Worth Now.

In 1957, Nina Simone recorded 14 songs in a single night and signed away the rights for a flat 3,000 dollars. One of those songs went on to sell perfume across Europe, get sampled by Kanye West and Jay-Z, and generate lawsuits worth tens of millions. She never saw most of that money, and neither did her family. Subscribe to master the business behind the fame: 👉 Celebrity Investments:    / @celebrity-investments   We traced the money behind one of the most important voices of the twentieth century, from a single Bethlehem Records contract to a husband who earned 100,000 dollars a year managing her, four record labels she never owned, a tax exile that made her a fugitive, and a will that routed her estate away from her own daughter. This is the forensic story of how ownership, not talent, decided what Nina Simone was actually worth. 📌 CHAPTERS 00:00 The $3,000 Signature 02:54 The Husband Who Earned $100,000 a Year 06:33 Five Companies and a Gun 10:32 Broke in Paris 13:17 The Estate Her Family Lost SOURCES Nadine Cohodas — Princess Noire: The Tumultuous Reign of Nina Simone (Pantheon, 2010) Nina Simone & Stephen Cleary — I Put a Spell on You: The Autobiography of Nina Simone (1991) California Attorney General — Nina Simone estate / charitable trust settlement (oag.ca.gov) #ninasimone #musicroyalties #musicbusiness #rnb #masters #recordlabels #celebritybusiness #investing #networth #entrepreneur #wealth #documentary