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Last updated on 29 October, 2024.

Bob Marley pioneered reggae music, and became a global symbol of peace and love. His music – a fusion of reggae, ska and rocksteady – addressed social struggles, love and Pan-Africanism. His more than 75 million albums sold worldwide make him one of the bestselling artists of all time, a feat all the more remarkable given the country’s economic realities. Marley was inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall Of Fame posthumously in 1994 and in 2001 was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame.

In July 1977, he was diagnosed with acral lentiginous melanoma, a form of skin cancer. Bob Marley died in 1981, aged just 36.

At the time of his death, his estate was valued at $30 million. Since then, it has grown to more than $200 million.

Marley’s legacy, then, has endured – but his estate has not, at least not in the way it was originally conceived. This article is about the management of his assets over the past four decades.


Bob Marley’s Net Worth At The Time Of His Death: $30 million

It is thus not surprising that, at the time of his death in 1981, the American magazine Forbes placed his estate at $11.5 million – which in today’s inflation-adjusted dollars represents somewhere in the vicinity of $30 million. Although Marley’s estate was ultimately valued at a reported $30 million, he reportedly never left a will because Rastafarianism forbids a commitment to a notion of mortality that the creation of a will implies.

In death – and thanks to an image that has been carefully protected by his estate – his music and image continue to play the roles of a cash cow, generating hundreds of millions of dollars for his heirs since he died. Bob Marley’s estate was worth a fortune when he died – then it became the site of a nasty fight between his heirs for the next decade.


Bob Marley’s Fortune: A Long Legal Battle

So because there was no will, the Jamaican state split Bob Marley’s estate between his heirs anyway, between 12 kids, 7 mothers and 21 former musicians.

The laws specified that 10 per cent of the estate went to the widow of the deceased (Rita Marley), and 45 per cent would be distributed to the widow over a lifetime with the balance of 45 per cent held in equal trust for the children of the deceased.

It was also clear that, while Bob’s estate was being run, Marley’s business attorney, David Steinberg, and accountant, Marvin Zolt, had encouraged Bob’s widow, Rita Marley, to forge her husband’s signature on a number of documents pertaining to the estate, and to date those documents earlier than the actual period of Bob’s death. The objective was to put most of Bob’s corporate holdings, royalty rights and money in her control.

Nonetheless, when one of Marley’s longtime business managers realised that this had occurred, he initiated a 10-year lawsuit (the $6 million, half the estate’s worth, in legal fees) to do something about it.

In a Jamaican court decision that see Rita sharing management of Bob’s estate with Chris Blackwell’s Island Logic Ltd, the company that began managing it in 1989, Island Logic’s management sole until 2001, when it split control between Rita and Bob’s 12 children.


Bob Marley Wealth and Estate Today:  $500 million

In spite of this controversy – and the later precedent-setting court case over copyright – Rita Marley kept Bob’s spirit alive and his fire aflame for the rest of her life. In 2023, Forbes reported that the estate of Bob Marley had earned $16 million this year, putting him ninth on the magazine’s list of the world’s highest-paid dead celebrities.

Marley’s earnings are the product of both his music and his likeness. CD and vinyl sales aside, his likeness is used to sell everything from lighters to t-shirts to a brand of turntables, headphones and speakers called The House of Marley which, according to reporting, earned $3 million of the estate’s profits this year.

Yet in spite of the millions in lost revenue from counterfeit products (Celebrity Net Worth puts it at $5 million), his estate is worth at least $30 million, if not more. Indeed, according to some estimates, it could be as high as $500 million. If it’s as timeless and as profitable as his music, its enduring popularity just might keep it that way.


Who Is the Richest Bob Marley Child?

Bob Marley had 12 children and many of them pursued a career in music. Bob Marley’s wealth was divided among his wife and 12 children. Each of his sons inherited his wealth from Estate, according to “Thethings“:

#NameNet Worth
1Damian Marley$20 Million
2Stephanie Marley$20 Million
3Robert Marley$20 Million
4Stephen Marley$20 Million
5Rohan Marley$20 Million
6Ziggy Marley$20 Million
7Ky-mani Marley$5 Million
8Julian Marley$5 Million
9Cedella Marley$3 Million
10Sharon Marley$3 Million
11Karen MarleyUnknown
12Makeda Jahnesta MarleyUnknown

Who Are Bob Marley’s Children?

Marley had three children with his wife Rita Marley: Cedella, Ziggy and Stephen. He also accepted Rita’s daughters from previous relationships, Sharon and Stephanie, into his family. Then while married to Rita, Marley had children with other women, too: Robbie, Rohan, Karen, Julian, Ky-Mani and Damian.


Which of Bob Marley’s Children Is the Most Well-Known?

Bob Marley had 12 children – many of whom also became musicians – and the most famous – by a long shot – is probably Ziggy Marley. The fact that Ziggy Marley is Bob Marley’s most recognised son has a lot to do with the fact that Ziggy was immersed in music from a very early age. Born in 1968, he started receiving music lessons from his father and was performing in recording sessions by the age of 10. He was clearly immersed in his father’s music-making, which is likely to have been one of the key factors leading to his own musical career and public recognition.

Ziggy later fronted the popular family band ‘Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers’, gaining acclaim with eight albums, then enjoying a successful solo career with eight studio albums released on his own label, securing his status as a major reggae artist.

His eight Grammy Awards attest to his musical prowess and success. More than anything else, though, Ziggy keeps his father’s musical flame alive by releasing his music under his own label, a sure bet to attract anyone who has listened to Bob Marley’s work.


Alexandre G.
He’s just a guy who got tired of bothering his friends with talk about music, so he decided to create a blog to share what he loves most.
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Angela
Angela
3 months ago

One of the most powerful agents of CHANGE!! Bob Marley Rastafari!