Despite achieving remarkable success with four top 20 songs on the Billboard charts, starring in multiple films, and being one of the most recognizable figures in hip-hop, Tupac Shakur died broke in September 1996. This financial predicament was allegedly orchestrated by Marion “Suge” Knight, the head of Death Row Records, to maintain control over the influential rapper.
A 1997 article in The New Yorker revealed how Suge Knight, a former gang member turned businessman, designed a financial setup that kept Tupac financially dependent and submissive.
Within a year of Tupac’s death, his mother, Afeni Shakur, a former Black Panther and activist, became the executor of his estate and sued Death Row Records, claiming her son had been defrauded of over $50 million. The estate initially sought damages of $150 million.
The “Poetic Justice” actor’s life was extraordinary from the start.
Tupac’s Radical Early Life
Afeni was a member of the Black Panther Party. Early in 1971, while she was pregnant with Tupac, she was on trial for conspiring to blow up several New York department stores. She and her co-defendants — the Panther 21 — were acquitted just a month before Tupac was born.
While some kids watched “The Cosby Show” on television in his teens, Tupac said that he “used to sit outside by the street lights and read ‘The Autobiography of Malcolm X.’”
“It made it so real to me, that I didn’t have any lights at home and I was sitting outside on the benches reading this book,” he once said in a 1995 deposition, adding context to his radical upbringing, “And it changed me, it moved me.”
However, the late 1980s brought severe challenges as Afeni dealt with a crack cocaine addiction, leaving Tupac and his sister, Sekyiwa Shakur, in extreme poverty, prompting him to move to California— where he started his rap career.
Tupac’s rise in the music industry was meteoric, but his financial woes persisted. Despite numerous hits, lucrative merchandise, and successful tours, his recording contract was structured to minimize his earnings. Legal troubles and a lavish lifestyle, both funded by Death Row, created an illusion of wealth that masked his true financial state.
The Rich Rapper Illusion
Tupac’s career took off with the group Digital Underground, where he quickly became a breakout star. He released four albums during his lifetime: “2Pacalypse Now” (1991), “Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z…” (1993), “Me Against the World” (1995), and “All Eyez on Me” (1996). The latter, a double album, was his final release before his death and came out under Death Row Records.
Suge Knight’s financial control over Tupac was extensive.
He paid part of Tupac’s bail in 1995 and provided a significant advance to support his extravagant lifestyle, both of which were recoupable. This arrangement created an illusion of wealth while keeping Tupac financially constrained.
One of Tupac’s lawyers at the time, Charles Ogletree, said legal fees and the civil lawsuits stemming from his assault causes, breach of contracts and talking about people in his rhymes and in media drained whatever money he made outside of Death Row and before signing.
“Tupac came out of jail with no money. He would say, ‘I want to take care of this case.’ I would negotiate a settlement; he would say, ‘Good, Death Row has my money, tell them to send the check,’” Ogletree recalled.
Suge provided Tupac with a hefty advance to fund his lifestyle and even bought a house for Afeni.
Afeni said, “Death Row in the beginning treated us much better than Interscope had.”
A Deal with The Devil
Shortly after signing, it would seem behind the scenes Tupac signed a deal with the devil.
The attorney said, “It was as though he had no life except that given to him by Death Row,” and that came at a price (financially and with his life).
Pac’s financial freedom was essentially nonexistent, as he remained heavily indebted to Death Row. Despite becoming increasingly aware of this financial manipulation, Tupac was unable to extricate himself from music executive’s control.
His lawyer said eventually, the “Dear Mama” chart-topper had a plan to wriggle away from Death Row.
He was building his own business empire, including his company Euphanasia, putting out his own group, and various movie deals, but they were tragically cut short.
He died on Sept. 13, 1996, from injuries sustained in a drive-by shooting. Suge Knight was in the car besides him. Pac’s financial state at death was grim, with his estate owing money to Death Row Records. This debt, primarily from a $1.4 million bail paid by Knight helped put up in exchange for a three-album deal, left Tupac’s net worth around $200,000.
In an interview with ABC, the mother said she discovered he had “next to zero, next to nothing” when he died.
Deception and Death Row, But Redemption in the End
After Tupac’s death, Afeni filed a racketeering suit against Death Row Records, Suge Knight, and their attorney David Kenner, accusing them of conspiracy to defraud Tupac. Kenner was representing her son and working with the label. The lawsuit highlighted Kenner’s conflict of interest, as he represented both Death Row and owned a stake in it.
Afeni sought a complete accounting of the money due to Tupac, resulting in Interscope Records agreeing to pay an immediate $3 million to the estate.
While Suge convinced the “Above the Rim” actor in his life that he had his back, it was Interscope that funded a memorial service for Tupac in Atlanta after he died and worked loosely with the family to extend his legacy.
Posthumously, Tupac’s albums have significantly boosted his estate’s value, despite constant legal battles with Suge and his label, including the California native filing and getting approved a $668,121.76 bankruptcy claim in 2013.
Months later, according to The Washington Post, Afeni would secure an over $2.2 million settlement from the record company and its founder for its 2003 breach of the unauthorized distribution of Pac’s music.
She had also sought at least $500,000 for the unauthorized licensing of certain songs, $750,000 in attorneys’ fees and at least $300,000 in lost profits.
The estate would continue to sue Death Row for everything from music to his personal possessions.
Managed by his record label after his mom’s death in 2016, his estate had an estimated net worth around $40 million by 2022.