50 Cent is an American rapper, songwriter, audiovisual producer, actor, and entrepreneur. He released five studio albums, was ranked the sixth-best musician of the 2000s and the third-best rapper by Billboard. Rolling Stone listed "Get Rich or Die Tryin'" and "In da Club" in its rankings 100 Best Albums of the 2000s and 100 Best Songs of the 2000s at numbers 37 and 13 respectively.

50 Cent executive-produced and stars in the show Power, which aired from 2014 to 2020. He is also known for the biopic film Get Rich or Die Tryin', and for his acting in a series of movies co-started with Sylvester Stallone that begins with Escape Plan and continues with Escape Plan 2: Hades and Escape Plan: The Extractors. In his prime, 50 Cent was worth $155 million. He used to own an investment portfolio diversified across real estate, financial markets, vodka, fragrances, consumer electronics, and fashion. But a declining music career, several legal battles, poor investments and more expenses than earnings plunged his net worth, forcing him into bankruptcy in 2015. However, 50 Cent came out from bankruptcy earlier than expected in 2017. He has an estimated net worth of $30 million as of 2021.

50 Cent, by-name of Curtis James Jackson III,was born on July 6, 1975 in Southside Jamaica, a neighborhood located in Queens, New York City. His mother, Sabrina Jackson, was fifteen at the time of childbirth. She worked as a drug dealer and was killed when he was eight. After her death, 50 Cent was raised by his grandmother. At the age of twelve, he was selling narcotics. 50 Cent dropped out of high school, and at nineteen years old was arrested for drug traffic. Sentenced to three-to-nine years, he went instead to a boot camp and got his GED, a group of tests that certifies that the person being evaluated has high school-level skills. In time, 50 Cent, who took the nickname from a dead gangster, was already rapping. He has two sons, Marquise and Sire, with two different women.

In 2000, 50 Cent was the victim of a shooting that left him with multiple injuries, after what was dropped by the music label Columbia without releasing a record. Following his recovery, he made public a series of mixtapes that became popular, and Eminem and Dr. Dre signed him to their record label, Shady Records and Aftermath Entertainment. Then 50 Cent released his five studio albums. The first one, "Get Rich or Die Tryin’", was published in February 2003, debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, was the bestselling album of the year, and has sold 9 million copies in the United States until February 2020.

The tour of "Get Rich or Die Tryin’" reported him $38 million. After the success of his tour, he bought the 50,000 square-foot, 52-room mansion owned by the ex-wife of Mike Tyson for $4.1 million and invested $6 million in renovations, but sold the property in 2019 for $2.9 million. In March 2005, 50 Cent brings out his second album, "The Massacre", which has sold 6 million copies in the United States until February. The third one, "Curtis", was released in September 2007. In November 2009, he put out his fourth album, "Before I Self Destruct". The fifth and last, "Animal Ambition", was published in June 2014.

In 2003, 50 Cent signed a five-year deal with Reebok to distribute a sneakers line for his G-Unit Clothing Company. In that year, he also founded G-Unit Films and Television and the music label G-Unit Records. His most successful venture was in 2004 with Glacéau VitaminWater, for which 50 Cent created a supplemented water drink named Formula 50, and received a share in the company to act as spokesman for the brand. Coca Cola bought Glacéau for $4.1 billion in 2008 and he earned $100 million after taxes. In the same year, 50 Cent signed deals with Right Guard to introduce the body spray Pure 50 RGX, with Steiner Sports to sell his memorabilia, and with Magic Stick to promote its condoms.

Besides, he founded a new audiovisual production company, Cheetah Vision, thus scrapping G-Unit Films and Television. In 2011, 50 Cent partnered with Sleek Audio to launch his Sleek by 50 line, but the deal failed because he sued the company claiming it didn't refund him his initial $2 million investment. 50 Cent then launched an earphones line with SMS Audio, which Sleek Audio claimed he ripped off. Finally, 50 Cent was ordered by a court to pay $17 million to the company. In 2014, he became a minority shareholder in Effen Vodka after investing an unrevealed amount in Sire Spirits LLC. Later that year, 50 Cent signed a $78 million deal with FRIGO, a luxury underwear brand, which sells its product at $100 USD.

He had won around $300 million in two years, but in 2015 declared bankruptcy with a debt of $32,509,549.91. At that time, the value of his assets was $24,823,899.18. 50 Cent made a deal to pay $23 million over five years. He was making $185,000 a month from his interest and dividends in his G-Unit-branded record, film, television, and touring businesses, but was spending $72,000 on his home and $108,000 in other expenses. The filing came days after a court ordered 50 Cent to pay $5 million to Lastonia Leviston, whose sex tape he posted online without her consent. In 2017, 50 Cent came out from bankruptcy earlier than expected. According to his lawyers, he paid off the five-year plan early with $8.7 million of his own money and $13.65 million he obtained in a settlement for legal malpractice against his previous attorneys.

Although his career in the audiovisual industry began in 2005, bankruptcy allowed him a new start after signing a deal to be the executive producer and main actor on the American TV crime drama series Power . In addition to his acting in the aforementioned Get Rich or Die Tryin' (2005), Escape Plan (2013), Escape Plan 2: Hades (2018), and Escape Plan: The Extractors (2019), 50 Cent also played in Righteous Kill (2008) with Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, among others 20 films.

50 Cent seems interested in keeping involved in business, as he made an investment for $10 million at Genies, a company that builds avatars for people and communities, in November 2018, and another one at Self Financial, a fintech startup that helps customers build credit history, for an undisclosed amount through Kickstart, an early-stage venture capital fund.

This article was updated on March 22nd, 2021 by Andres Taurian

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