60 Million in Revenue, 4.9 Million in Debt: Tupac's Account at Death Row

Tupac’s albums generated more than 60 million dollars in 1996 alone. When he died, according to his attorney, he was nevertheless 4.9 million dollars in debt to Death Row Records. The Los Angeles Times reported this on December 24, 1996. He had “absolutely nothing to show for it” in the end, said estate administrator Richard Fischbein, accusing the label of withholding royalties.

Hotel Bills Against Royalties

Death Row rejected this and pointed to Tupac’s expenses: advances for cars and a house for his mother, rent for three apartments, a bill of 300,000 dollars at the Peninsula Hotel, jewelry, bodyguards, limousines, and more than two million dollars in studio and video costs. The basis of the dispute was a three-page handwritten contract that Tupac had signed in prison in 1995.

Movement came from another side: When Afeni Shakur threatened in October to block The Don Killuminati, Interscope agreed at a meeting on November 1 to an advance of three million dollars, two more by April, and a higher royalty rate. Suge Knight was already in custody by then. What happened next is shown in Estate and Royalties.