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The death of Jimi Hendrix on September 18, 1970, marked the end of the greatest rock trio ever known, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, but it was not the end of the road. Other battles began, particularly over Jimi Hendrix’s Estate. Band members, former managers and his family face decades of struggle to get their hands on the money they thought they were entitled to.

Key Takeaways

  • From $20,000 to $175 million today, Jimi Hendrix’s net worth has grown dramatically since his death 55 years ago.
  • Decades of intense legal disputes involving family, bandmates, and managers over intellectual property and financial rights.
  • Janie Hendrix took control of Jimi Hendrix’s Estate.
  • Generating $6.6 million annually in 2023, Hendrix’s music remains culturally significant and financially valuable.
  • Experience Hendrix LLC’s careful management maintains the growth of Hendrix’s cultural and financial legacy.

Jimi Hendrix Wasn’t So Wealthy by the Time He Died

After Jimi Hendrix died without a will, his estate was inherited by his father, Al Hendrix. Still, his son’s assets in the vaults were nearly empty. This would be unthinkable nowadays for someone of his status to die and have no money in their accounts. According to the estate’s attorney, Ken Hagood, “When they turned the estate over to us, it had twenty thousand dollars.Jimi Hendrix’s net worth was just $20,000 at the time of his death, the same as around $150,000 today after adjusting for inflation.

Despite the modest amount in his bank account, Jimi Hendrix’s overall fortune was more substantial. His estate, including future royalties and intellectual property rights, was valued at approximately $800,000 in 1970 dollars, equivalent to about $5 million in today’s currency.


Fighting For the Control of Jimi Hendrix’s Estate

The final settlement about Jimi Hendrix’s wealth was made over three years between Hendrix’s family lawyers and the enigmatic Michael Jeffery, who always kept a cloud over the money generated by the guitarist while he was alive.

This management of the money was already somewhat complicated, but it became even more complex when Mick Jeffery died in a plane crash in 1973. With Jeffery out of the equation, Al Hendrix agreed to appoint a lawyer to take control of Jimi’s legacy. His name was Leo Branton.

Leo Branton was an experienced lawyer who had already worked with other renowned music stars. He decided to bring with him the producer Alan Douglas. Douglas had previously worked with Hendrix in earlier years and would eventually take the reins of creative control over Jimi Hendrix’s posthumous music releases for the next 13 years.

Not long after Jimi’s death, bassist Noel Redding agreed to receive $100,000 as a one-time-only payment for all his future rights to royalties from the Experience catalog. On the other hand, in a similar deal, Mitch Mitchell closed an agreement for three times more, that is, $300,000. Left out of these agreements were longtime friends Billy Cox and also Buddy Miles, respectively bassist and drummer of Band of Gypsys. Although Billy Cox was not resentful for never having received money, in 2004, Buddy Miles ended up initiating legal action to try to gain royalties from the Band of Gypsys catalog.


Jimi Hendrix’s Two Children Enter the Scene to Reclaim a Portion of the Estate

Tamika Hendrix, daughter of Jimi Hendrix and Diana Carpenter, was never legally recognized as the guitarist’s daughter and, therefore, never had any right to money from Jimi Hendrix’s estate. In the 1970s, the lawyers of Jimi Hendrix’s second son, James Daniel Sundquist, were more successful and managed to have Swedish courts recognize James Daniel as Jimi Hendrix’s legitimate son. However, this operation was not legal in the USA. Still, in the 1990s, Al Hendrix eventually established a legal agreement with Eva Sundquist (James Daniel’s mother) and granted her compensation of one million dollars.


Jimi Hendrix Estate In Family Hands and the Born of Experience Hendrix LLC

Alan Douglas and Leo Branton managed Jimi Hendrix’s estate for twenty years. Still, with the beginning of the compact disc era and the exponential rise in Jimi’s popularity among a new generation of fans, Al Hendrix began questioning whether this duo was doing a good job. Despite being paid $50,000 a year by the Hendrix Estate board, Al pursued legal action to take control of his son’s legacy. A couple of years later, Al Hendrix succeeded in gaining full control of his son’s estate, but not before having to pay Alan Douglas and Leo Branton compensation of $9 million.

In 1995, exactly 30 years ago, the now well-known Experience Hendrix LLC was born as a family business, and Al Hendrix appointed his stepdaughter Janie Hendrix to lead the company, a person whom Al trusted immensely. Although Al was the CEO, it was Janie who directed the company’s destiny with the help of Bob Hendrix, Jimi Hendrix’s first cousin.


Final Legal Battles and How Jimi Hendrix’s Net Worth Reached $175 Million Today

At the beginning of this century, and after Al Hendrix’s death, Jimi Hendrix’s estate was worth $80 million. Al left most of the estate to Janie Hendrix, reportedly around 48%. However, 20% of this amount was divided among Janie’s four siblings, each receiving 5%. Despite having no blood relation to Al Hendrix, they were included in his will. Ultimately, we can observe that almost no one related by blood to Jimi Hendrix ended up benefiting from the musician’s sales and catalog.

Leon Hendrix, Jimi Hendrix’s brother, and Al Hendrix’s son, was omitted from the will and received only a gold record chosen by Janie Hendrix herself. Faced with such injustice, Leon went to court against Janie Hendrix and his cousin Bob Hendrix, contesting this division of Hendrix’s legacy, and eventually securing a quarter of Jimi’s estate. Leon Hendrix’s lawyer would even speak the controversial words: “We believe that this was not Al’s will, but it was essentially Janie’s will.

While all this was happening, Noel Redding also decided to move forward with a lawsuit against Experience Hendrix LLC. However, a month before the paperwork was officially filed in court, Noel suddenly passed away from liver disease. He was only 57 years old.

After more than two years of an intense and expensive battle, the court ruled in favor of Janie Hendrix, leaving Leon Hendrix with only the gold record already in his possession. The main reason was reportedly his history of drug use, which was apparently the primary justification for his effective exclusion from Al Hendrix’s final will.


Due to the large number of posthumous releases, Jimi Hendrix’s estate continues to grow and is reportedly worth $175 million today, with projections suggesting a potential rise to $200 million by the end of 2025. The estate’s value has increased significantly since Hendrix died in 1970, when his net worth was only around $20,000. Despite his death over 55 years ago, Hendrix’s music remains lucrative, with the estate earning approximately $6.6 million in 2023 only.

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