Gene Simmons Net Worth: $400M

Who Is Gene Simmons?

Gene Simmons is an American world renowned rock and roll superstar who has a net worth of $400M.

He is probably most well known for being one of the founding members of the band Kiss.

Kiss were extremely successful in the 1970s through to the 1990s. To date, they have sold over 100 million records worldwide.

The brand has also generated over $1 billion in licensing fees since the 1970s.

The Early Years

Simmons was born as Chaim Witz on August 25, 1949, at Rambam Hospital in Haifa, Israel, to Jewish immigrants from Hungary.

His mother, Florence Klein (née Flóra Kovács), was born in Jánd and survived internment in Nazi concentration camps.

She and her brother, Larry Klein, were the only members of the family to survive the Holocaust. His father, Ferenc “Feri” Yehiel Witz, was a carpenter.

Simmons spent his early childhood in Tirat Carmel and was raised in a practicing Jewish household.

He practiced playing his guitar for hours on end. He has said that his family was “dirt poor,” scraping by on rationed bread and milk.

At age seven, he began to pick wild fruit and sell it on roadsides together with a friend.

At age eight, he emigrated to the United States with his mother and settled in New York City. His father remained in Israel, where he had one other son and three daughters.

In the United States, Simmons changed his name to Gene Klein, adopting his mother’s maiden name.

At age nine, he briefly attended a Jewish religious school, Yeshiva Torah Vodaas, before transferring to a public school.

He later attended Richmond College and Sullivan County Community College, both in New York, and chose a stage name in tribute to the rockabilly singer Jumpin’ Gene Simmons.

Before his musical career began, Klein worked a variety of jobs in the city. An “excellent typist”, he served as an assistant to an editor of the fashion magazine Vogue, and also spent several months as a sixth grade instructor on the Upper West Side.

The Beatles had a significant influence on Simmons. “There is no way I’d be doing what I do now if it wasn’t for the Beatles.

I was watching The Ed Sullivan Show and I saw them. Those skinny little boys, kind of androgynous, with long hair like girls. It blew me away that these four boys [from] the middle of nowhere could make that music.”

Career

Going under the name of Gene Simmons he met Stanley Eisen (A.K.A Paul Stanley). The two decided to collaborate and formed the band “Wicked Lester”.

Their efforts paid off quickly because just after seven shows they signed a deal with Epic Records.

They recorded an album but it was not supported by Epic and fell by the wayside. It was never released. After this failure, Simmons and Paul set out to create what they called “The band that would rule the world”.

They invited drummer Peter Criss to join them after seeing his advertisement in Rolling Stone magazine. They would soon be joined by guitarist Paul Frehley (aka Ace Frehley).

The stage was now set for “Kiss” to take on the world. After five months of rehearsal they played their first show. Before the show they decided to experiment with make-up.

Feeling that the make-up made them look too feminine they instead opted to use make-up as a form of art. They came up with the idea to use the make-up to express who they are as a person. “Kiss” quickly gathered a fan base.

They released their self-titled debut album in February 1974. Simmons was the driving force behind their extensive merchandise. But even with a fan base their first three albums were met with little or no critical success.

One thing that was well known is that Kiss put on a great live show. It was decided to record Kiss live in concert. Once the live CD was released, the band’s reputation grew because their live album hit quadruple platinum.

After five extremely successful years, the band members began to feel imprisoned by each other. It was during this time that they went separate ways to record their solo albums.

When the band finally came back they were met with backlash. Many fans grew tired of Kiss’ make-up and Gene’s theatrics of spitting blood on stage. In 1983, Kiss decided to perform without the make-up.

This actually allowed their popularity to grow even more. It was during the 80s that Gene felt like he wanted to take on more of the world.

He began to accept acting jobs from Hollywood in 84 and started his own record label (Simmons Recording). Kiss would release their album Revenge album in 1992.

The album would mark a much darker and rough tone that most of their albums have had. The album was a hit which led to Kiss being back in the lime light. Kiss has played on and off again since 1992 even making an appearance in 1995 on MTV’s Unplugged.

The band hosted fan conventions in 1995. In 1996-1997, Kiss embarked on a highly successful Alive Worldwide Reunion tour.

The band released another album, Psycho Circus, in 1998. The original line up has once again dissolved since then, with Tommy Thayer replacing lead guitarist Ace Frehley and Eric Singer replacing Peter criss on the drums.

In 1999 Simmons co-produced the film “Detroit Rock City” which is the ultimate love letter to Kiss. Simmons conquered the world of music with Kiss but in addition to that he also has as of late entered the reality television business with his shows Rock School and Gene Simmons family Jewels.

Real Estate

Since 1986, Gene’s primary residence has been a 16,500 square-foot mansion in Beverly Hills that sits on nearly 2-acres of the most valuable land in the world.

Gene bought the property in 1984 for $1,327,500, which is the same as $3.1 million today after adjusting for inflation.

Several years later they began a 5-year construction project that cost a reported $12 million to build the current 10-bedroom, 16,500 square-foot home that was seen frequently on the family’s reality show.

In October 2020 Gene and Shannon listed this mansion for sale for $22 million.

Gene and Shannon are reportedly looking to sell so they can move full-time to a recently-acquired 24-acre estate near Mount Rainier in Washington.

In March 2021 Gene and Shannon paid $5.8 million for a hilltop home in Malibu.

Top 5 Gene Simmons Quotes

“Walk amongst the natives by day, but in your heart be Superman.” ― Gene Simmons

“Life is too short to have anything but delusional notions about yourself.” ― Gene Simmons

“I don’t wait for the calendar to figure out when I should live life.” ― Gene Simmons

“To those who said we sold out a long time ago, you’re goddamn right we did. We sell out every single night.” ― Gene Simmons

“Kiss is bigger than any one of us, and the idea and the ideal, is going to continue after we’re not in the band.” ― Gene Simmons

Summary

Gene Simmons is a world famous rock and roll star and his net worth stands at $400M.

He is most well known for being one of the founding member of the band Kiss.

Kiss have sold over 100 million records and brought in over $1B in licensing fees since the 1970s.

As of 2021, Gene Simmons net worth is $400M.

What do you think about Gene Simmons net worth? Leave a comment below.

Disclaimer: This information is correct to the best of our knowledge. If you think any information is incorrect about Gene Simmons net worth, let us know and we will update it. Info collated from Wikipedia & Celebrity Net Worth.

Last Updated on May 1, 2021 by TheGrowthReactor