Here's How Gene Simmons Made His Massive $400 Million Net Worth
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Israeli-American musician, singer and songwriter Gene Simmons is widely known as the co-lead singer and bassist of the rock band Kiss. The highly popular rock band was among the most popular bands since the early 1970s even until today. Simmons who has the stage persona of 'The Demon' has been able to amass an impressive net worth of $400 million thanks to his brilliance with their merchandise and licensing deals. Take a look at how he lived his life prior to the band success and how he generated his massive net worth.
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Living In Poverty And Migrating To The US
Gene Simmons whose real name is Chaim Witz was born on August 25, 1949 in Haifa, Israel. His mother Florence Klein is a survivor from internment in Nazi concentration camps while his father Ferenc Yehiel Witz used to be a carpenter. Both of his parents were Jewish immigrants from Hungary. Simmons spent most of his early childhood living in Tirat, Carmel and he was raised in a household where Jewish is being religiously practiced. He said that his family was dirt poor and even scraping by from the rationed bread and milk from the government. When Simmons turned seven, he began picking some wild fruit to sell it on the roadsides together with his friend at the time.
When he turned eight years old, he immigrated to the United States alongside his mother and lived New York City. His father remained in Israel because he has another son and three daughters. Simmons decided to change his name to Gene Klein when they went to the United States, adopting his mother’s maiden name. When he turned nine years old, he attended the Yeshiva Torah Vodaas which is a Jewish religious school. He then transferred to a public school soon after. He went to attend Richmond College and Sullivan County Community College which are both located in New York.
Simmons’ Interest in Music And Musical Influence
He developed interest in guitars and practiced playing the instrument for hours daily. The Beatles had a huge influence on Simmons and he even said during one of his interviews that if it wasn’t for The Beatles, he would not be doing what he is doing now. He was watching The Ed Sullivan Show and happened to see the band on the show. He was blown away by the four little boys who are a little androgynous with their long hair just like girls. Simmons was amazed when the band started playing and singing out of nowhere and that’s when he knew that he wanted to do what they are doing.
Simmons chose the stage name Gene Simmons as a tribute to the American singer and songwriter Jumpin' Gene Simmons who is best known for his novelty single Haunted House released on 1964. Before Simmons even started his musical journey, he has worked at different jobs in the city to make ends meet. He is also a proficient typist which is why he landed a job as an assistant to one editor of Vogue. He also spent some time on the Upper West Side as a sixth grade instructor.
Gene Simmons’ Musical Journey
Simmons became involved with Lynx which is his first band. They renamed themselves to Missing Links later on. However the band eventually disbanded and he formed another band called Long Island Sounds which is a pun on Long Island Sound. During the time when he was playing with the band, he was also attending the Sullivan County Community College in located in the Loch Sheldrake, New York. He then joined the band Bullfrog Bheer and they recorded a demo titled Leeta which was later included on Kiss’ box set. Simmons then formed yet another band called Wicked Lester during the 1970s together with the lead singer Paul Stanley and they even recorded one album unfortunately it was never released. As they were both disappointed with the sounds of their band, Simmons and Stanley attempted to get rid of their band members however the band members resisted. They eventually just quit the band, leaving behind a record deal with the Epic Records at the time.
Simmons and Stanley knew what they wanted and decided to form the ultimate rock band. They started looking for a drummer and eventually found an ad by Peter Criss who was already playing at some clubs in the Brooklyn area. The three met and started out as a trio. At the time, Simmons and Criss appeared on the unreleased album by Captain Sanity. The trio decided to put up some ad looking for their lead guitar player which Ace Frehley happened to see and the four of them formed a band. Kiss has released their self titled debut album in 1974.
Taking The Music Industry By Storm And Building A Massive Fortune
When Kiss was still starting out, Stanley took the role of lead performer on stage; on the other hand, Simmons became the band’s driving force in releasing large scale Kiss merchandising franchise. Kiss rose into prominence with their trademark make-up however their fame started to fade around the year 1983. During their peak, the band’s album is selling like pancakes and they are well loved in the music industry. The band decided to take off their make ups and enjoyed a revival of their career which continued until 1990s.
During the time that Kiss is at their peak, the band's drummer Peter Criss was voted out of the group as the original drummer of the band. They were able to find a replacement Eric Carr who played for the band from 1980 until his death in 1991. The band had a concert reunion with all the original members present in 1996–1997 for their Alive Worldwide tour which was highly successful. The band was extremely successful that they were able to sell 100 million records worldwide as of this writing.
Despite the impressive records sold and tour stats, majority of Gene’s wealth came from the licensing deals for their band. Kiss related icons, logos and other intellectual property were all licensed for over 5,000 different products. To this day, the brand has already generated a total of $1 billion in licensing fees since the band started. Since Simmons co-owns Kiss with Paul Stanley, he has claimed about over $100 million annually from touring, licensing deals and merchandise. The rest of the band members were simply paid performers while Simmons banks from different band deals.
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Sources: Celebrity Net Worth, Loud Wire, Biography
