Suge Knight Net Worth - Pulptastic

What is Suge Knight’s net worth?

Suge Knight, the American record executive, music producer, and entrepreneur, has a net worth of $200 thousand. He is known for co-founding Death Row Records, a music label that achieved great success in the 1990s, thanks to prominent artists like Tupac, Dr. Dre, and Snoop Dogg.

Early Life and Career

Suge Knight, born Marion Knight, Jr. on April 19, 1965, in Compton, California, was nicknamed “Suge” after his childhood nickname “Sugar Bear.” He attended Lynwood High School where he excelled in football and track, and went on to play football at El Camino College and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. During the 1987 NFL Players Strike, Knight became a replacement player for the Los Angeles Rams and played two games with them.

Suge Knight’s Career in Music Publishing and Artist Management

After leaving the NFL, Suge Knight worked as a concert promoter and bodyguard for celebrities such as Bobby Brown. He went on to form his own music publishing company in 1989 and secured a major deal with Vanilla Ice for the royalties of “Ice Ice Baby.” However, the agreement was controversial as Knight and his bodyguards allegedly harassed Vanilla Ice and even dangled him off a balcony to coerce him into signing over the rights.

Following this success, Knight founded an artist management company and signed hip hop artists DJ Quik and The D.O.C. Through this venture, he met members of the gangsta rap group N.W.A.

Suge Knight and Death Row Records

Suge Knight co-founded Death Row Records, which played a significant role in bringing gangster rap to mainstream audiences in the 1990s. The label was founded with Dr. Dre, The D.O.C., and a silent partner named Michael “Harry-O” Harris, who was incarcerated at the time for drug trafficking. Harry-O provided the label with $1.5 million in startup capital, and in return, Suge promised to make Harry-O’s wife Lydia a popstar. Death Row signed artists such as Dr. Dre, Tupac Shakur, and Snoop Dogg, whose albums achieved multi-platinum status in the US. Suge had public feuds with 2 Live Crew and Sean Combs. Death Row’s decline began after Suge was jailed on parole violations, and several prominent artists left the label, including Dr. Dre. During its peak, Death Row sold over 150 million albums worldwide and generated an estimated $750 million in revenues.

Suge Knight and the Murders of Tupac and Biggie Smalls

Suge Knight has been the subject of multiple theories involving the murders of Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. Tupac Shakur was shot in a drive-by shooting on September 7, 1996, while in the car with Knight. While multiple theories have swirled on who killed Tupac, The LA Times indicated that the shooting was carried out by a Compton gang.

Biggie Smalls was murdered in a similar fashion on March 9, 1997. Speculation arose that Knight was involved in both murders and that Biggie’s death was a revenge killing. The most prominent theory is that he was killed by the Crips street gang, but his murder has never been solved.

Snoop Dog’s release “Tha Doggfather” contains open criticism of Knight for the murder of Shakur. In 2006, Snoop again verbally attacked Knight over the murder of Biggie Smalls.

Death Row Records’ Assets Change Hands Multiple Times

In 2002, the IRS announced that Suge Knight owed $6.5 million in back taxes. In 2006, he filed for personal bankruptcy, claiming to have assets valued between zero dollars and $50,000 and debts totaling more than $100 million, largely due to a $107 million judgment awarded to the former wife of his business partner. These debts caused Death Row Records to file for bankruptcy later that year.

In 2009, Death Row’s assets were sold at auction for $18 million to WIDEawake Entertainment Group, which was later sold to New Solutions Financial Corp. However, in 2012, New Solutions Financial Corp filed for bankruptcy, and in 2013, Death Row’s assets were bought by eOne, which was acquired by Hasbro in 2019.

In 2021, Hasbro sold its music division, including Death Row’s assets, to The Blackstone Group, who then sold the brand name and intellectual property rights for “Death Row Records” to Snoop Dogg in February 2022 for an undisclosed amount. However, Blackstone retained ownership of the music company’s valuable master recordings.

Suge Knight’s Troubled Past

Over the years, Suge Knight has had multiple legal troubles. He served four years in prison from 1997 to 2001 for parole violations. He was sent to prison again in 2003 for another parole violation. Between 2008 and 2009, Knight was involved in several physical altercations. In February 2012, he was arrested on marijuana charges in Las Vegas. In 2014, Knight was shot six times at a party hosted by Chris Brown. That same year, he was arrested and charged with robbery in connection with the theft of a camera from a paparazzi photographer. In August 2017, Knight was indicted for threatening the life of F. Gary Gray, the director of “Straight Outta Compton.” Knight suffered from blindness and blood clots in 2017, which prevented him from attending his court hearings.

Suge Knight’s Involvement in Fatal Hit and Run Incident

In January 2015, Suge Knight was allegedly involved in a hit and run accident in Compton that resulted in a fatality. Witnesses reported that Suge backed his truck over the victim before fleeing the scene and abandoning his car in a parking lot. The incident may have been linked to a fight that occurred on a movie set earlier that day.

On September 20, 2018, Suge pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter and faces up to 28 years in state prison. As of 2023, he is incarcerated at the RJ Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego and is not eligible for parole until 2034.

Suge Knight’s Personal Life

Suge Knight married American R&B singer Michel’le in 1999 while he was in prison, helping her get clean by sending her to rehab. They divorced six years later after she discovered their marriage was invalid due to his technical marriage to an ex-wife. They have a daughter, Bailei (b. 2002).

In 2018, Suge’s fiance Toi Lin Kelly was sentenced to three years in jail for assisting Knight in corresponding and communicating with the producers of a Death Row Records tell-all in 2015. During this time, a judge had previously barred Knight from all communication with anyone but his lawyer ahead of his murder trial.

Suge Knight has five children in total, and in 2019, VH1 released the real estate series “Love & Listings” featuring his son Jacob Knight.