Ayumi Hamasaki's Bank Account
 

Well how much money does the "Empress of J-Pop" really have? I've heard many rumors like over 500 million to a simple 70 million this is all in USD btw. I've also heard that she was the 2nd highest female tax payer in Japan? Is that even true? Was it ever true? It's just all a blur to me with this subject of Ayumi's life. I mean in America a lot of people know how much a celebrity is worth a lot because MTV & VH1 have shows exposing their financial situations & incomes all the time!

So anyone know?

nobody knows. but if her dogs eat from gucci and LV paper bags, she's pretty damn rich. plus she has SO MANY pairs of manolo blahnik shoes + countless LV dior gucci products.

They don't like to disclose the income of artists in Japan so they judge it based on how much taxes they pay. I remember Utada Hikaru payed the most taxes in Japan one year, but I'm not sure about Ayu.

Check Wikipedia maybe? :p

This is a question with no exact answer. However, I think that your estimates are greatly exaggerated. Japanese stars do not make nearly the amount of money as western stars. In the past, there has been a lot of confusion due to incorrect currency conversion and people listing Avex's profits and claiming they were Ayumi's income.

In the 2003 Forbes (not the American print), it was estimated that Ayumi's estimated income for 2002 was $9 million USD. That year, she was ranked 37th highest tax payer in Japan (they no longer list the highest tax payers anymore). FYI, Ayumi's highest grossing year is undoubtably 2001.
Just to put things into perspective, you do not necessarily need to be a multi-millionaire to afford the luxuries that Ayumi has.

Also, just so you know, the American TV shows showing the wealth of celebrities are not really accurate. I've seen shows from the same channel listing vast differences in income. Although house listings, etc. are public, the exact worth of a person is estimated. Forbes magazine probably has the closest estimate as far as earnings go.

Added post from May 16, 2003 (links are now expired):

Well, Madonna is the richest female star with $500 000 000 so I don't think Ayu would be anywhere near that. 70 million would probably be alot closer to the truth.

omg ayumi is so rich lol, our money :D

Mm, Ayu.

I think she makes more than the average musician in Japan, but probably lower than 10millionUSD..

No, Oprah is the richest female. You may be right if you're referring to pop stars though.

Devilayu, I Don't think she neccessarily makes less now than back in 2001. IF her investments (among other in avex stocks) has gone well she might be better off atm.

Yeah, I meant singer, was'nt thinking that hard about it when typing that.

US$10 000 000, really? I think it would be muchmore than that, like about 5 times more. She makes alot of money from her other **** she does, I'd say her record sales only make up a considerably small fraction of her total wealth.

She should release a fragrance and clothing line already, now that would rake in cash.

^ yeah i wonder if they included everything or what they didnt include

It was reported that Hikki paid the most taxes for a female (singer) between the 80's and 2004. It was something like 7 billion yen? Some of the information is in the 'Who do you think is the richest singer" thread at the Asian Music Chat section.

EDIT: Hikki was 8th overall when it came to who paid the most taxes between 1986-2005. It was rumoured that she paid 5 billion yen in taxes. So I think Ayu has probably earned US$25-30 million?

I don't think Ayu earns huge amounts from her CD-sales; her biggest money maker has to be the tours. The tour has many stops, each with a packed huge arena & tons of tour merchandise sold.

I think the tax info is only a estimate , it doesn't tell the whole truth. Hikki might have to pay more taxes since she owns her music herself.

I'm sure Ayu has a lot of stock & shares, most likely some Avex shares too. income thru that most likely won't show up in the regular tax log. I'm not sure about the japanese tax laws.

Do her tie-ins also add into her income? If so I'm sure she gets a hefty amount especially from Panasonic.

I think the ~9 million profit is everything included...

Also, Ayumi is probably on the kind of contract that guarantees her a fixed monthly/yearly salary, independent of the profits Avex makes on the CD sales, I've heard it's a very popular solution in Japan. I'm not sure how is the deal with her writing lyrics - if she profits from them like they do in the west, basing on publishing and royalties deals, or if her songwriting thing is included in her contract somehow... actually, everything else might be included in the contract, as in "You get XXXX a month and you do everything we tell you", which would mean she doesn't profit directly from her music activities at all, but only basing on the contract salary.

Advertising is a different thing, I suppose... I bet Avex has their say when it comes to chosing which offers she's gonna accept, but I think she gets all the money for advertisement deals... and since Japan is a huge consument market, I think she might be earning millions USD per a single deal...

ayumi is also one of the SHAREHOLDERS of AVEX, remember last time when rumours broke out saying she will retreat from the music station? THe share of AVEX dropped drastically~>..
I heard that AYU has 10-20% of AVEX shares in JAPAN.. I believe that she earns more than her fixed salary..

I don't really remember any source saying she owns Avex shares, although it's definately possible, and I'm not sure that shares actually bring you money... if you own shares you technically own a part of the company, but I don't think you earn money that way (tho you can, if you sell the shares).

As for the quitting thing, I remember it was just that she would leave with Matsuura, if they fired him... the stock value drop was around "I am..." release, when the album was postponed, the shares price went down becouse of the delay.

Yeah, you can earn from shares depending on the way the avexdoes business with its shareholders she may or may not. Depending on how taxes are done her value in shares may be taxed for.

I think ayu makes money in many ways, CD sales, radio airtime, TV airtime, ads, magazine shots, stocks, tours, tour goods, a fixed salary by avex and probably more. She might have saved a sum that pays off monthly, yearly or whatever that she doesen't manage herself, money making more money for her.

Does Japan have many rich stars using cheap tricks to avoid taxes? Because that would have an impact on calculations depending on taxes paid :P

all i know is that she has more money in her bank account than i have in mine. :yes

and all that money she has, once belonged to all you fans:yes

I think the record companies pay companies to have one of their artists' songs to be a song tie-in to that CM. But if the artist appears in the CM, then the artist will get paid.

The income listed in those old estimates should include anything that she has made in that past year (including profits from tie-ins, tours, appearances, etc.) because NOT including those profits would be illegal, as that is tax evasion.

As for the question of her being a shareholder, I don't remember many, if any, articles even mentioning it in relation to her. However, it is important to note that shareholders of a company do not profit from these shares unless they decide to sell their shares & part from the company. Essentially, being a shareholder means having some impact on the way a company runs and gives them the right to vote on company issues. Most shareholders do not get any money from these shares ever.

The bottom line is that she is making a lot of money and is certainly one of the top earners amongst females in the entertainment industry.

She probrably blows what money she has given her expensive habits. I think that her expenses wouldn't be all that high though, since avex seems to pay for a lot of her...upkeep.

Well, I think whatever money she does "blow" is eventually made back in the form of CD-sales / tour ticket sales.. :O~

Well thanks everyone for these very educational responeses. Didn't know so many people would respond! Haha.

Well, I think that the majority of money that we spend on her stuff doesn't go back to her.

avex probably pays her from funds combined from all the artists that have sold in the avex group..

are japanese artist like uk artist?

if you write your own songs you get a bigger share of the sales?

e.g gary barlow of take that earned the most in the pre take that years due to him writing most of the songs

It's not just UK where people get royalties from songwriting credits, it's the majority of the world, I believe. It's not sure how record labels in Japan deal with this... we suppose Ayumi is on a fixed slary contract, but nobody knows for sure. Also, different record labels might be going different ways in these terms (I believe Utada Hikaru is on a the same kind of contract as western artists - she gets an advance for her work and when the money from the sales starts coming, she also gets royalties), so it's pretty hard to tell.

its very interesting all this talk about japanese artist and their income

I would suppose that Ayu is under a salary contract, no? In addition to that, royalties maybe?

I assume she would get royalties. Ecspecially for CREA songs.

all i koe is that ayumi earnings is something which i could not earn possibly in tis lifetime.. she is just too rich..