Nick Cannon has been a multi-hyphenate for a long time, combining his high-energy personality and business savvy to establish a multi-million-dollar empire and ensure generational wealth for his children.
The 41-year-old actor, singer, TV host, producer, creator has an estimated net worth of $20 million.
In a recent interview, the entrepreneur talked about hard lessons he learned (and is teaching his children) about the value of money, investing in legacy brands, and how empowered he feels when he can support his family members and his community.
The Howard graduate sat with Hip-Hop influencer Angela Yee on her wealth-building-centric podcast “Money Pie with Angela Yee,” and shared how the way he teaches his children about money is way different than what his parents taught him.
The comedian said with his first big check, he went and bought a Range Rover, a depreciating asset he would later regret. In retrospect, he said he wished he would have purchased the condominium his mother lived in with that money bag. He confessed he just didn’t know any better and wanted to look like he had money, a mindset he believes too many African Americans have.
He is working to change that way of thinking with his children, and through the lesson, he endeavored to help a fledgling brand regain some of its previous glory.
Cannon’s Lessons to His Children
After being asked how he is instilling his values about money to his children, he mentioned that the oldest children, Monroe and Moroccan Scott, have allowances and he uses math to help them understand how to work their dollars.
“When Toys ‘R’ Us was on every corner,” he shares, “I remember I used to take Roc and Roe [the kids nicknames] my oldest to Toys ‘R’ Us and I would give them each $100.” Cannon added that he is investing in the venture to reopen the toy chain that closed its U.S. stores in 2021. Some locations are supposed to open this year.
“I would say ‘Go in there and get whatever you want. Now, you guys can combine your $100s, ’cause there’s two of you and can get one thing or you can [get your own],” he explained to the host.
His oldest son, Roc, according to Cannon, “would always go to the biggest thing in the store” and ask him to supplement the rest. His daughter Roe, would buy “a bunch of small little things,” filling her cart with $100 worth of little “trinkets.”
The former chairman of TeenNick said this also taught him about how his kids differently processed money and what he needs to do to strengthen them each to be financially savvy adults.
‘Wild ‘N Out’ Best Investment Ever
One way that Cannon has made money is through his company NCredible Entertainment and the hit MTV show, “Wild ‘N Out.” The hip-hop variety show, which is the longest-running show on MTV and the longest-running hip-hop show in history, is now worth $1 billion, according to sources.
In an interview with AfroTech, he said, “I’ve turned ‘Wild ‘N Out’ into a billion-dollar business, and that’s only because of the entrepreneurial efforts that we put forward.”
In the Yee interview, Cannon said it was the greatest investment he had ever made.
NCredible put the money up first as the executive producers to get the show into production.
“There were many times when people didn’t believe me from the beginning,” he revealed. “I funded ‘Wild ‘N Out’ on my own because MTV didn’t understand it or know what it was. Therefore, I kept the ownership for years until the big boy came around and I had to charge them double for the bag.”
Diddy Inspired Him to Diversify His Portfolio
The double bag has added to his personal net worth of $20 million to $30 million, which comes from him getting his hands into everything including owning a record label, television shows, production companies, publishing, and more. He said mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs was incredibly influential in how many projects he worked on, or invests in.
“When I was in high school, I was looking up to guys like Diddy who could diversify and market himself,” he said. “We see what he’s done and the opportunities he’s created and made for so many of us. Every time I looked up, as much as I knew I wanted to entertain, I was always wanting to be a guy that was kinda moving the pieces behind the scenes.”
Cannon has become that guy.
Outside of hosting and/or producing shows like “Wild ‘N Out,” “America’s Got Talent,” “The Masked Singer,” and the “Nick Cannon” talk show or writing, starring, and /or producing movies, Cannon has invested in merch brands, tech brands and now the Toys “R” Us mega-brand (one he said he was “bringing back in a very big way”), he says he gets great empowerment by giving back to his people.
When talking about what is the greatest advice he could share with someone on the come-up, he said, “Energy is currency. Manage your energy. Invest in your energy. When you can have that concept that the physical money is not real, but the idea of where you put your efforts and your time … that’s what real money is.”
