Berry Gordy Net Worth in 2021

Berry Gordy is a well-known American record executive, besides his role as a renowned producer in the industry. As of 2021, he holds a net worth of $400 million. He is most famous for being the founder of Motown Record label, and for shaping the careers of many other celebrities including Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, The Temptation, and The Jackson 5. His record label was the highest-earning African-American business in his time. 

Berry Gordy Net Worth and Overview

We have made an overview of the most important details about this celebrity. 

Net Worth	$400 million
Date of Birth	28 November 1929
Age	91 years
Height	1.75 m
Source of Wealth	Producer, Record Executive of Motown Records, Entrepreneur, Songwriter, Musician
Country of Origin	United States of America
Last Updated	June 2021

Early Life

Berry Gordy (also referred to as Berry Gordy III) came to this world on the 28^th day of November in the year 1929. He was born in Detroit, Michigan in a family of 9- he is the 7^th of the 8 children.

One interesting fact about Berry Gordy is that he shares the same great-father as the former U.S. President Jimmy Carter. There is no information about the ethnicity of this celebrity. However, he is the holder of American citizenship.

Berry Gordy belonged to a middle-class family, where the father owned a grocery and carpentry business. However, Gordy had no interest in the shop or the business. His passion lied in music, besides boxing. 

Berry was a below-average student in terms of academics. He decided to drop out of high school when he was in the 11^th Grade to become a professional boxer. He pursued boxing afterward and was able to gain victory in 13 out of 19 matches he fought. However, he also realized that he did not want to have a career in boxing. 

The artist decided to join the U.S. Army and served in the Korean War for two years. After coming back from the war, he was ready to pursue his passion for music.

He started his first-ever record store named the 3-D Record Mart, which especially sold jazz albums to a large customer base, belonging to African-American origin.

During his leisure, the young Gordy involved himself in writing songs. If you know the hit song, ‘Reet Petite’, sung by Jackie Wilson, you will be excited to know that the lyrics were written by Gordy. After the song hit its peak, Gordy started to write and produce full time. 

Gordy went on to pursue a full-time career in the music industry and came up with several initiatives. The most successful of all these ventures is the Motown Record label, which had a worth of around 61 million dollars. 

Career

Between the years 1957 and 1959, the artist produced several numbers and albums for numerous emerging artists. One of the well-known ones is The Miracles, by Smokey Robinson. When Smokey saw promise in this young musician, he encouraged Gordy to dream bigger. By 1959, Gordy launched Tamla Records, an R&B label.

He needed to take a loan of $800 from his family to make it happen. The first track of the record was titled ‘Come to Me’, and was very well-received by the audience. 

In the same year, Gordy came up with Motown, his second record label, which also peaked pretty fast. He was smart to merge the two labels to give rise to the Motown Record Corporation towards the end of 1959. 

By 1966, his record label was home to 450 employees, generating a review of $20 million (this is equivalent to today’s $144 million). Between the late 1960s and 1970s, the record label became one of the most successful, yet independent companies of its sort to ever be in the picture.

In 1972, Gordy shifted to Atlantis and started to produce films. Some of the well-known names include “Lady Sings the Blues” (1972), starring Diana Ross, “Mahogany” (1975), and the martial arts film “The Last Dragon” (1985).

Around 1988, Gordy sold his share in Motown to MCA Records for what we call $120 million today. He also sold his interests in the song catalog of the label. This contains around 15000 songs, out of which, 240 are written by Gordy himself. In the following years, Polygram purchased the entire catalog, for $330 million. 

Highlights & Achievements

Gordy was welcomed into the honorable Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988 and the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame in 1998. In 2009, he was also introduced to the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame.

On June 13 of the year 2013, the artist was given the Songwriters Hall of Fame Pioneer Award. In 2016, he was conferred the National Medal of Arts by former President Obama for his contributions to the American music industry.  

Age, Height, and Weight

Berry Gordy is 91-years-old has a height of 5 feet 9 inches. He weighs around 80 kilograms today. Berry Gordy is known to be a vegan and has never engaged in smoking. He also does not have a tattoo on his body. 

Personal Life

Berry Gordy is known to have married three times. He was first married in the year 1952, to Thelma Coleman, in Ohio, which ended after 6 years.

He was then married to Ray Singleton in 1960, which was again quite short and ended in 4 years. For the third time, the artist married Grace Eaton in the year 1990, which also ended in 3 years. From all three marriages, Gordy is the father of 8 children. 

Criticism

There have been controversies about Berry Gordy’s relationships. Outside his marriage, Gordy is also known to have a daughter with Jeana Jackson, a son with his former mistress Margaret Norton, a daughter with the well-known singer Diana Ross and a son with Nancy Leiviska. 

Berry Gordy Net Worth in 2021

The artist’s net worth today is $400 million and is one of the most inspiring artists for several people in the world of today. He has achieved a lot through his sheer hard work and initiatives and is celebrated in the music industry for his contributions.  

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