BONO, NET WORTH, MONEY AND MORE
NET WORTH: $ 600 million.
PROFESSION: Musician
Bono is an Irish singer-songwriter, musician, venture capitalist, businessman, and philanthropist. Bono being his stage name he was born on 10 May 1960 as Paul David Hewson. He is famous for being the lead vocalist of the popular rock band U2. Bono was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland. He studied in Mount Temple Comprehensive School where he met his future band members and his future wife, Alison Stewart. Almost all of U2’s lyrics are written by Bono frequently using social, religious and political themes. Bono is credited with contributing to U2’s rebellious and spiritual tone in its early years. As the band matured, most of his lyrics were inspired by personal experiences he shared with the other band members.
He has also collaborated with other artists and singers outside the band, and is also the managing partner and director of Elevation Partners. The Clarence hotel in Dublin is jointly owned by Bono and The Edge. Bono is widely known for the social work he has done in Africa, for which he co-founded the ONE campaign, Product Red, EDUN and DATA. He has played in and organized in a lot of benefit concerts and has met with influential politicians. Bono has become a well-known social activist, performing in the Band Aid, Live 8 concerts, and Live Aid, and campaigning for greater international involvement in the African AIDS crisis and third-world debt relief. In 2002, he co-founded the organization DATA (Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa), which he followed up with Project Red, a well-known initiative against disease in Africa. Bono has been both criticized and praised for his activism and involvement with U2. In 2005 he was knighted by the queen of England, Queen Elizabeth II. And in the same year he was named TIME Person of the year along with Melinda and Bill Gates, among other awards and nominations. On 17 July 2013, the BBC announced that Bono had been made a Commandeur of the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Order of Arts and Letters).
BONO’S RICHES
Bono certainly isn’t a poor man. His band U2 until last year was the highest earning rock band in the world. He is already a multi-millionaire and now could be the richest musician in the world after he made a $ 90 million dollar investment in the social networking site Facebook. Elevation partners, Bono’s investment group owns 2.3% of Facebook. This 2.3% is somewhere around worth an estimated $1.5 billion based on the company’s IPO. He also owns a lot of cars, yachts and several estates. His cars range from sports to zero emission ones. He is also known for his luxury glasses which he wears in public. Recently he was chosen by Louis Vuitton to do a commercial for them.
Bono owns three houses/estates in total
1.Killiney Mansion
It is a large manor style house owned by him in Dublin. His ambitious plan to extend this mansion has been approved by the council. His plan includes building a below ground plant room to the west of the house. The house gets a beautiful view out over Killiney Bay and from Bray to Dalkey, with its medieval church and 19th century Martello Tower.
2. New York Apartment
This beautiful Apartment is owned by Bono in the prestigious ‘The Sam Remo’ apartment building in Manhattan New York. Steve Jobs purchased in 1982 and later Bono bought it from him for $15 million. A lot of Celebrities like Steven Spielberg, Demi Moore, Princess Yasmin Aga Khan, and Steve Martin. Rita Hayworth’s daughter also owns apartments in this prestigious The Sam Remo apartment building.
3.Exe bord du Mer Mansion
Bono’s luxurious beachfront villa is four floor high and it got grounds back on to the railway station Exe bord du Mer. The accommodation of this mansion is so private that its living area is five meters up from the beach. Bono’s band member The Edge and Julia Lennon are amongst the famous celebrities living in his neighborhood.
Bono also owns a yacht which is called The Cyan yacht.
The Cyan is a medium sized 140 ft long yacht. The yacht which was formerly known as Renalo, was built in 1997. Bono had originally rented in 2007 for spending vacation time with his family. But later he purchased the yacht and changed its color to blue from white. It’s been reported that Bono had spent estimated $25-30 million to decorate his prized possession as per his choice. The Cyan’s maximum cruising speed is 19 knots.
Apart from a yacht he owns a private jet. It’s called the U2 360/BlueLine MD-83 F-GMLK.
PERSONAL AWARDS
Along the “Al Gore” he is one of the pioneers of recent go green movement. He is a forefront environmentalist who is spreading the message of go green. He is considered as the closest counterpart to “John Lennon”; he also works for reducing global poverty often using his musical talent to champion the cause.
Since he is the lead vocalist of the rock band U2, Bono has won record number of awards which includes the 2003 Golden Globe award for best original song and 22 Grammy awards from 34 nominations (a record). He is a prolific songwriter whose music is known for its socially sensitive theme and politically charged lyrics. He was a nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003, 2005, and 2006.
He also featured in a Simpsons episode ‘Trash of the Titans’. U2 recently recorded a new single ‘Ordinary Love’ for the new Nelson Mandela Movie.
