Precious Metals

Prince had a serious stash of gold bars when he died

The physical gold holdings of Prince, the late music superstar, were recently revealed as part of an ongoing lawsuit over the rights to his possessions.

Image courtesy of Nicolas Genin (via Wikimedia Commons).

The precious metals holdings of Prince, the legendary musician who died unexpectedly April 21 from a prescription drug overdose, were apparently quite significant, according to a recent report from the Star Tribune.

The Minneapolis newspaper reports that Prince had in his possession at the time of his death 67 gold bars, each weighing 10 ounces. With the price of gold at $1,193 per ounce on Jan. 11, the total value of Prince's gold is around $800,000.

Prince didn’t leave a will, and a lawsuit over the rights to his possessions has been ongoing since April. The lawsuit has led to more clarity about his assets and how much the superstar was worth. 

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It is unclear where he purchased or received the bars. 

Prince’s businesses and properties in total are valued between $100 and $300 million, roughly. In addition, his companies Paisley Park Enterprises Inc., NPG Records Inc., NPG Music Publishing and LotusFlow3r had around $6 million in cash on hand at the time of his death. 

The Minnesota native’s jewelry collection, cars and house furnishings also add to his impressive list of tangible assets. 

Read the Star Tribune's full breakdown of Prince's assets here.

Gold is a safe-haven asset

Why do people like Prince invest in gold?

Gold investing has historically been viewed as a hedge against the unpredictability of the overall economy, and in turn, a safe haven when other markets experience a downturn. 

Gold is valuable. That is based on the fact that we know there’s not a lot of it, and we know it is appealing to people. So while the health of someone’s investments in the stock market is subject to the performance of the companies invested in, gold is a known commodity with a value that, while it does fluctuate over time, generally does not fluctuate with the suddenness that a company’s stock can.


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