# Whitney Houston's fortune

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitney-houstons-fortune/613334>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 19, 2012, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitney-houstons-fortune/613334 "2012-02-19T17:17:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Minnie\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Minnie\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Minnie_Luna)\
**Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitney-houstons-fortune/613334/21 "2012-02-21T17:41:11Z")

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> [@joebuck20](#):
>
> Probably a lot of relatives, friends, friends of friends, friends of relatives, etc. who latched on to her over the years, but aren’t really providing any type of service other than simply being related to her. For some people being generous, for better or worse, is a big ego boost.

TMZ(?) or someone reported that the Houston-Brown family (while still married) supported a large number of Brown relatives. That might be where a whole lot of her money went.

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**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\
**Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitney-houstons-fortune/613334/22 "2012-02-21T17:56:12Z")

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> [@md2000](#):
>
> Michael Jackson was never so rich as when he kicked the bucket. No entourage to support, no spending like a drunken sailor on the whim of the moment… but the sales keep rolling in. If Whitney made enough money of on-going royalties to keep her in that decent lifestyle, it will be good money for years to come. The future value of her catalog is the fortune they are actually fighting over, I’m sure.

Of course, Michael Jackson wrote most of his own music, and thus his estate benefited tremendously from the boost in sales and airplay when he bought the farm. That’s not the case with Houston; her estate will benefit some from sales royalties, but she’s not getting any songwriter or publishing income, which is where the big bucks are.

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**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\
**Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitney-houstons-fortune/613334/23 "2012-02-21T18:05:24Z")

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It’s still money coming in and I assume not going out.

Not sure what the rights and obligations of the trustee are when it comes to hangers-on and other entourage. If he is not allowed to continue supporting them, there’ll be a lot of sorry relatives.

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**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\
**Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitney-houstons-fortune/613334/24 "2012-02-21T18:15:50Z")

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> [@joebuck20](#):
>
> Songwriting is where the real money’s at in the music business, and it’s probably fair to say that Dolly Parton made more off of Whitney Houston’s rendition of “I Will Always Love You” than Whitney herself did.

As Dolly explained it parabolically: “When I recorded ‘I Will Always Love You,’ I opened a bank account,. When Whitney Houston recorded it, I bought the bank!”

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