Vanilla Ice’s net worth is estimated to be $12 million. Born Robert Matthew Van Winkle on 31 October 1967, the American rapper, actor, television host, and real estate entrepreneur has been active on the entertainment scene since the late 1980s, and it was through it and other ventures that he earned his net worth.
Vanilla Ice however became famously known for his hit song Ice, Ice Baby. Vanilla Ice’s huge net worth figure mainly comes from income from album sales, royalties from his music, concert tours, business ventures, and reality TV shows.
How Much is Vanilla Ice’s Net Worth?
A large portion of Vanilla Ice’s net worth comes from proceeds from his music career. Royalties accruing from his hit song Ice, Ice Baby, and other songs run into hundreds of thousands of dollars yearly. There is also income from concert tours and associated brand deals. Despite his not-so-successful career as a rapper by today’s standards, his loyal fans and his image as a music icon of the 90s keep him afloat in the music sphere.
Vanilla Ice also has a robust real estate portfolio, with properties worth millions of dollars across the United States. This ties in with his image as a real estate guru with his own televised show (The Vanilla Ice Project), a real-estate company, a mortgage company, and a home-building company. With over twenty years of experience in the real estate industry, he is one of the go-to real estate and remodeling experts for celebrity and wealthy homeowners.
Apart from the fifteen properties worth millions of dollars to his name, Vanilla Ice also has eight cars and a boat as part of his assets. In total, Vanilla Ice’s net worth is pegged at $12, fueled by royalties from his music and income from album sales, concert tours, business ventures, and reality T.V. shows.
According to reports, Vanilla Ice makes around $800,000 annually. More than half of this figure is said to be from royalties connected to Ice Ice Baby. Furthermore, a financial affidavit filed during his divorce proceedings revealed he makes $68,000 a month and has liquid assets worth more than $2.9 million.
How Vanilla Ice Made His Fortune
Music Career
The late 1990s marked the rise to fame of Vanilla Ice. It was when he dropped his first album, To The Extreme. This album would go on to sell 15 million copies worldwide. The album’s hit song Ice Ice Baby also went on to become the first rap song to hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
With this immense success came other incentives; a ghostwritten autobiography, a Scholastic book with MC Hammer, a cameo in Madonna’s Sex book, rock ’n’ roll comics, Vanilla Ice dolls, and a board game. To this day, Vanilla Ice still makes over $400,000 from royalties connected to Ice Ice Baby.
Vanilla Ice’s career as a rapper has seen him release six studio albums, two compilation albums, one live album, one remix album, and 13 singles. Apart from his first album, which was a worldwide success, his other music ventures failed to live up to the initial wave of success. However, he still goes on music tours, participating in the I Love The Nineties Tour, which features iconic 90s artists.
Real Estate Ventures
During his early days of success, Vanilla Ice bought some properties across the united states, which he later sold and made a fortune from. He made as much as between $300,000 and $400,000 in profits for each house on his first sales, thus kickstarting his venture into real estate.
He has since been flipping houses and making a fortune. He currently owes a real estate company, a mortgage company, and a homebuilding company. He easily makes between $500,000 and $5 million on his renovation/sales projects.
TV Shows
A natural consequence of his skill and expertise in house renovation was his own show. In 2010, Vanilla Ice landed a home-flipping show with DIY Network. The reality TV show called The Vanilla Ice Project had him and his crew renovating and selling homes for profit. The show ran for nine seasons, with over 100 episodes. It even won Best Home Show at The Factual Entertainment Awards in 2011. His next big project is The Vanilla Ice Home Show.
Vanilla Ice’s successful run as a TV personality has seen him involved in numerous TV productions. His first gig after his 1990s fame was on the VH1s reality TV show The Surreal Life. He also appeared in Season 23 of Dancing With The Stars alongside professional dancer Witney Carson. The pair ended up in 10th place. Other reality shows include Vanilla Ice Goes Amish and Rachael vs. Guy, a Food Network show.
Acting Career
Vanilla Ice’s lesser-known venture is his career as an actor. He has appeared in several productions, including Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Secret of the Ooze and Cool as Ice, where he was the main lead. Other features include The Ridiculous 6, Da Hip Hop Watch, The New Guy, and Adam Sandler’s That’s My Boy. His acting career is the least successful of all his ventures, but he has nevertheless made some money from it.
A Look at Vanilla Ice’s Houses
As a real estate entrepreneur who has been in the industry for more than a decade, Vanilla Ice owns around fifteen properties across the United States. These properties are valued between hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars. Of course, because he renovated and resold most of his houses, his real estate portfolio keeps changing.
One of Vanilla Ice’s houses in Florida, a waterfront house located in Melbourne Beach, was put on sale for $4.8 million. Another “resort-like property” in Wellington which was transferred to his wife, was on the market for $800,000. These few examples give us an idea of how much his real estate acquisitions are worth, considering he has more of such properties to his name.
Vanilla Ice’s Car Collection
Vanilla Ice has been reported to have about eight cars in his collection. The rapper describes himself as a car enthusiast who loves driving different cars according to his mood and for different purposes. He still has the Ford Mustang 5.0 that was featured in his Ice Ice Baby video. Mustang 5.0 from the 90s is valued at $8,000 or less, or $16,000 for GT models.
Also in his collection are;
- a customized 2008 Lincoln Mark LT within the price range of $32,000 to $42,000
- a Ferrari F430 valued at $240,000
- a Mercedes-Benz AMG GT 63 valued at $102,550
- a 2010 Rolls-Royce Phantom with a price range of $380,000 and $450,000, depending on the model
- a Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder valued at $209,500
- He also has a 2008 Ford E450 van he uses for road trips.
Vanilla Ice loves Cadillac, and so has several models in his collection; a 1964 Cadillac Deville, a 1967 Cadillac, a 1978 DeVille, and several project cars such as a 1968 Cadillac LaSalle.
How Vanilla Ice’s Divorce Affected His Financial Status
So what happened to Vanilla Ice’s net worth following his divorce settlement? In October 2016, Vanilla Ice’s wife of more than two decades, Laura Van Winkle, filed for divorce. Filed documents in November 2018 revealed that as of then, Vanilla Ice had a monthly income averaging $68,000, with $3 million worth of liquid assets. He also owned fifteen properties, eight cars, and a boat with a combined value of around $5 million.
According to the divorce settlement, Vanilla Ice will pay $10,500 in monthly support and an additional $110,000 for failed payments accrued throughout the divorce proceeding. Laura also got one of his properties in Wellington, Florida.
After the settlement, Vanilla Ice was unfortunately entangled in a $500,000 alimony debt over delayed payment. However, he has since settled his debts and will now lose a couple of hundred thousand dollars ($126,000) annually to alimony payments. This is roughly one-sixth of his $800,000 yearly earnings.
