Richard Madden
$8 million
The Weeknd’s net worth is estimated at $600 million, making the Canadian singer, songwriter, and producer one of the wealthiest musicians in the world. Born Abel Makkonen Tesfaye in Scarborough, Toronto, he built his fortune across four revenue pillars: a record-breaking global concert tour, ownership of one of music’s most-streamed catalogs, major brand partnerships, and a landmark $1 billion financing deal secured against his song royalties.
Updated March 2026: According to Forbes, The Weeknd was the highest-paid musician of 2025, earning $298 million — more than any other artist that year. That figure was driven primarily by the After Hours Til Dawn Tour, which crossed $1 billion in gross revenue according to Variety, and a $1 billion catalog-backed financing deal reported by Bloomberg in December 2025.
Abel Makkonen Tesfaye was born on February 16, 1990, in Scarborough, a district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. His parents, Ethiopian immigrants, separated shortly after his birth. He was raised by his mother and maternal grandmother, growing up in a working-class household where Amharic was the primary language spoken at home. He attended French immersion school and later West Hill Collegiate Institute and Birchmount Park Collegiate Institute in Toronto.
At 17, Tesfaye dropped out of school and left home over a weekend to move to the Parkdale neighborhood of Toronto with friends. That move gave rise to his stage name — he dropped the letter “e” from “Weekend” to avoid trademark conflicts. With no formal music education or industry contacts, he began recording tracks in his apartment and uploading them anonymously to YouTube in 2010.
The Weeknd’s career began in 2011 when he released three free mixtapes in rapid succession: House of Balloons, Thursday, and Echoes of Silence. All three were released without label backing and spread virally, earning critical acclaim for their dark, cinematic R&B sound. By year’s end, he had signed to Republic Records through a co-venture with his own XO label.
His debut studio album Kiss Land arrived in 2013, but his commercial breakthrough came with Beauty Behind the Madness in 2015. That album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, sold over 3 million copies worldwide, and produced two Top 5 hits: “Can’t Feel My Face” and “The Hills.” He won two Grammy Awards that cycle and earned $92 million in 2017 alone, according to Forbes.
The 2019 album After Hours extended his commercial dominance. Its lead single “Blinding Lights” became the most-streamed song in Spotify history and spent 57 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 Top 10 — a record at the time. In February 2021, The Weeknd headlined Super Bowl LV’s halftime show, a production he self-funded at an estimated $7 million to retain full creative control.
In January 2025, Hurry Up Tomorrow debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 490,000 album-equivalent units in its first week, according to Billboard. The album serves as the third installment of a trilogy that began with After Hours, and Tesfaye has indicated publicly that it may be his final release under the “The Weeknd” persona. Across his career, he has sold over 75 million records and accumulated more than 120 billion streams.
The Weeknd has been romantically linked to several high-profile figures. He dated model Bella Hadid intermittently from 2015 to 2019 and briefly dated singer Selena Gomez in 2017. Since approximately 2022, he has been in a relationship with DJ and model Simi Khadra, though both have kept the relationship largely private. He has no children.
Tesfaye maintains a primary residence in Bel Air, Los Angeles, and in October 2025 purchased a $55 million waterfront estate in Coral Gables, Florida. He retains Canadian citizenship and has spoken publicly about his Ethiopian heritage and the importance of that identity to his artistic output.
Philanthropically, he founded the XO Humanitarian Fund, which has raised over $6.5 million for the United Nations World Food Programme’s hunger-relief operations. Over the past five years, his total charitable donations have exceeded $10 million, including contributions to aid in Ethiopia, Gaza, and COVID-19 relief funds.
The Weeknd’s net worth is estimated at $600 million as of 2026. Forbes named him the highest-paid musician of 2025 with $298 million in annual earnings, driven by his billion-dollar tour and a $1 billion catalog financing deal reported by Bloomberg in December 2025.
The majority of The Weeknd’s wealth comes from three sources: the After Hours Til Dawn Tour, which grossed over $1 billion making it the highest-grossing tour by a male solo artist; a $1 billion financing deal backed by his music catalog (while retaining ownership of his masters); and cumulative streaming and sales revenue from a catalog exceeding 120 billion streams.
The Weeknd’s real name is Abel Makkonen Tesfaye. He was born on February 16, 1990, in Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, to Ethiopian immigrant parents. He adopted the stage name “The Weeknd” after leaving home on a weekend at age 17 to pursue music in Toronto’s Parkdale neighborhood.
As of March 2026, The Weeknd is 36 years old. The Weeknd was born on February 16, 1990 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
The Weeknd stands 5’8″ tall (173 cm).
The Weeknd has been reportedly dating Simi Khadra since 2022. He has previously been in high-profile relationships with Bella Hadid and Selena Gomez. The Canadian singer tends to keep his personal life relatively private.
The Weeknd lives in Coral Gables, Florida. He purchased his estate for $54.9 million in 2025, making it one of the most expensive celebrity home purchases that year.
The Weeknd earned $298 million in 2025, making him the highest-earning musician of the year according to CNBC. His income was driven by his record-breaking After Hours til Dawn stadium tour and streaming royalties.