While most young celebrities are focused on purchasing flashy cars, Rotimi has been focused on investing in his future.
The actor and singer was a recent guest on the “Earn Your Leisure” podcast on July 26 and shared how he was able to save his earnings from acting gigs such as “Power” to finance several investment properties.
“My father told me, ‘If you’re really that guy that you say you are, save it.’” he said during the interview. “I learned early on to save. Have a line of work and find different streams of making money.”
Rotimi currently has a net worth of $5 million from his work as an actor and singer. He got his start with a role on the Starz show “Boss.” Soon afterward Rotimi began appearing on the silver screen in movies such as “Black Nativity,” “Imperial Dreams,” and “Divergent.” In between acting gigs Rotimi pursued his music, releasing two mixtapes, signing to G-Unit Records, and releasing his debut album, “Jeep Music Vol 1.”
Rotimi’s breakout role came when he portrayed Andre Coleman on “Power,” an opportunity that allowed him to save his money and begin investing in his future.
Building Wealth
Rotimi shared that he learned about financial literacy from his father, who worked as an investment banker. Those lessons paid off. While working on the set of “Power,” Rotimi saved all of his salary from acting and lived off of his earnings from music.
“I just let that collect and build and be there. That was like the nest — I didn’t want to touch that,” he said during the interview. “I knew I had to do [club] hostings because that was the only way that I was going to eat because I made sure that I didn’t touch any of the ‘Power’ money.”
Soon, Rotimi was able to purchase his first property without taking out a mortgage. And then, he purchased an investment property in Orlando, Florida, which he placed on Airbnb.
“I tried to research where can I make the most money and what would keep the occupancy rate of my house busy all year,” Rotimi said. “And I realized that if I could build another house three miles away from [Disney World] — five bedrooms, six bathrooms — that’s going to be very valuable.”
Rotimi would realize the value of saving during the COVID-19 pandemic. As acting opportunities were not available, he was able to rely on the Orlando property to support him financially as the home’s value increased by $250,000.
Rotimi has continued to expand his foray into the Airbnb industry. He recently built a home in Lagos, Nigeria. The property is used in films, videos, and other forms of content creation.
