Nicki Minaj’s net worth is estimated at $150 million, making her one of the wealthiest female rappers in history. Born Onika Tanya Maraj in Trinidad and Tobago and raised in Queens, New York, she built her fortune through record-breaking album sales, sold-out world tours, high-value feature fees, and a diverse portfolio of brand deals and business ventures spanning more than 15 years.
Updated March 2026: According to Billboard‘s touring and chart data, Minaj’s Pink Friday 2 World Tour grossed over $108 million in 2024, setting the record for the highest-grossing concert tour by a female rapper. Industry analysts place her cumulative net worth at approximately $150 million, reflecting earnings from music, touring, endorsements, and licensing.
Nicki Minaj was born Onika Tanya Maraj on December 8, 1982, in Saint James, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. Her father, Robert Maraj, struggled with drug and alcohol addiction and was at times violently abusive toward her mother, Carol, a gospel singer and aspiring singer herself. Minaj lived with her grandmother in Trinidad during her earliest years before joining her mother in Queens, New York, at approximately age five.
She enrolled at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in New York City, the same institution that produced musicians and entertainers including Al Pacino and Jennifer Aniston. At LaGuardia she studied drama, initially aspiring to become an actress. She worked briefly as a waitress at Red Lobster and in other entry-level jobs before focusing entirely on music. Early in her career she joined the hip-hop collective Hoodstar Entertainment and released her first mixtape, Playtime Is Over, in 2007.
Between 2007 and 2009, Minaj released three mixtapes—Playtime Is Over, Sucka Free, and Beam Me Up Scotty—that circulated widely in New York’s underground rap scene and attracted the attention of Lil Wayne, who signed her to Young Money Entertainment in 2009.
Her major-label debut, Pink Friday, arrived in November 2010 and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, marking the largest first-week sales for a female solo rap debut at the time. The album produced the diamond-certified single “Super Bass” (RIAA certified 12× platinum), which spent 30 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100. Her second studio album, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded (2012), also debuted at number one. The Pinkprint followed in 2014, and after an extended hiatus, Queen arrived in 2018.
In August 2022, Minaj released “Super Freaky Girl,” which debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, making her the first solo female rapper to achieve a number-one debut since Lauryn Hill in 1998. Her fifth studio album, Pink Friday 2, dropped in December 2023 and entered the Billboard 200 at number one, completing a remarkable commercial comeback. Across her catalog, she has sold more than 100 million records worldwide, according to RIAA certifications and global sales data.
Beyond solo work, Minaj has amassed an extensive catalog of featured appearances alongside artists including Drake, Lil Wayne, Beyoncé, Ariana Grande, and Cardi B. Her features have commanded reported fees of $250,000 to $500,000 per appearance at the height of her demand, making her one of the most sought-after collaborators in the industry.
Minaj married Kenneth Petty on October 21, 2019, in a private ceremony in Los Angeles. The couple had known each other since adolescence in Queens. Petty is a registered sex offender following a 1995 rape conviction in New York; his status led to legal trouble in 2021 when he pleaded no contest to failure to register as a sex offender in California and was sentenced to three years’ probation. The couple’s son, whom they publicly refer to as “Papa Bear,” was born on September 30, 2020.
Minaj’s family history has been marked by tragedy. Her father, Robert Maraj, died on February 13, 2021, after being struck by a hit-and-run driver in Mineola, New York. A man named Charles Polevich was convicted of the crime. Her brother Jelani Maraj was convicted in 2017 of predatory sexual assault of a child and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison in 2020; Minaj had previously paid for his legal defense. These events followed years of publicly documented family turmoil stemming from her father’s addiction and abusive behavior.
In 2025 and early 2026, Minaj made headlines for her political positioning. She appeared at the Turning Point USA AmericaFest in December 2025, publicly supporting Donald Trump, which drew significant backlash from fans and fellow artists. In January 2026, she attended Trump’s Accounts Summit, where she received a symbolic “Trump Gold Card” as part of her ongoing citizenship process. The political controversy contributed to her being excluded from the 2026 Met Gala guest list—a notable absence given her high-profile attendance at previous years’ events—and she missed the Grammy Awards ceremony amid ongoing public debate about her affiliations. Her public feuds have also included long-running conflicts with Chris Brown collaborators and fellow artists, while her creative partnership with Dr. Dre during her early career helped cement her critical credibility in hip-hop.
Nicki Minaj’s net worth is estimated at $150 million as of 2026. Her wealth derives from record sales, the $108 million-grossing Pink Friday 2 World Tour, feature fees, a fragrance line, endorsements with brands like MAC and Pepsi, and her 2013 American Idol judging contract reported at $12 million.
The Pink Friday 2 World Tour (2024) grossed over $108 million, surpassing all previous concert tours by a solo female rapper according to Billboard Boxscore records. Combined with earlier tours, her career touring gross exceeds $160 million.
Yes. Nicki Minaj and Kenneth Petty married on October 21, 2019. They have one son together, born September 30, 2020. The couple remains married as of March 2026, though Petty’s legal issues—including a no-contest plea to failure to register as a sex offender in California—have been a recurring point of public controversy.