What Is RM's Net Worth?
RM is a South Korean rapper, songwriter, and record and music video producer who has a net worth of $50 million. RM is best known for being the leader of the popular South Korean boy band BTS, also known as the Bangtan Boys, and he is a rapper in the group. BTS has released the Korean-language albums "Dark & Wild" (2014), "Wings" (2016), "Love Yourself: Tear" (2018), "Map of the Soul: 7" (2020), and "Be" (2020) and the Japanese-language albums "Wake Up" (2014), "Youth" (2016), "Face Yourself"(2018), and "Map of the Soul: 7 – The Journey" (2020). The group is known for singles such as "No More Dream," "Boy in Luv," "Danger," "I Need U," "For You," "Run," "Spring Day," "DNA," "Fake Love," "Idol," and "Dynamite."
RM has released the solo album "Indigo" (2022) and the mixtapes "RM" (2015) and "Mono" (2018), and "Indigo" was certified 2× Platinum in South Korea and reached #1 on the "Billboard" World Albums chart, #2 on the South Korean Albums chart, and #3 on the "Billboard" 200 chart. Outside of BTS, he has released the singles "Perfect Christmas" (with Jo Kwon, Lim Jeong-hee, Joohee and Jungkook), "P.D.D" (with Warren G), "Fantastic" (featuring Mandy Ventrice), "Change" (with Wale), "Forever Rain," "Bicycle," and "Wild Flower" (with Youjeen), and four of those singles reached the top 10 on the "Billboard" World Digital Song Sales chart. RM has produced the music videos "BTS: Epilogue: Young Forever" (2016), "RM & Jungkook: I Know" (2016), "BTS: Sea" (2017), and "Jin: Abyss" (2020). In 2018, the members of BTS were honored with the South Korean Order of Cultural Merit, and in 2019, "Time" magazine included the group on its list of the world's 100 most influential people.
Earnings
In 2019 the group generated $170 million touring. The only group to earn more was Metallica. Thanks largely to these touring revenues, between June 2019 and June 2020, the BTS members earned a combined $50 million, roughly $7 million per member.
Big Hit IPO
On September 28, 2020, BTS' management company Big Hit Entertainment went public a South Korean stock exchange. The company ended its first day of trading with a market cap of $4.1 billion. It was the third-largest South Korean stock market debut in three years. As owner of 43% of the company, Big Hit founder Bang Si-Hyuk ended the IPO day with a net worth of $1.4 million. A month before the public offering Bang gave each member of the group 68,385 shares in the company ahead of its IPO. At the end of the company's first day of trading each of the seven members found themselves sitting on stakes worth $7.9 million. By the middle of 2023 those shares, assuming they still held their full stakes, were worth $15 million and Bang Si-Hyuk was worth $2.8 billion.
Early Life
RM was born Kim Nam-joon on September 12, 1994, in Dongjak District, Seoul, South Korea. When RM was a child, his family moved to Ilsan District, Goyang. He has a younger sister, and he learned English by watching the popular American sitcom "Friends." During his youth, he wrote poetry, often winning awards for his writing. At the age of 12, RM spent four months studying in New Zealand. When he was in the fifth grade, he heard the Epik High song "Fly" for the first time and became interested in hip-hop. After a teacher introduced him to the music of Eminem, RM began writing songs, and in 2007, he started rapping in amateur hip-hop circles. He made his first self-composed recording with Cool Edit (which was later renamed Adobe Audition), and in 2008, he took part in his first concert. RM got involved in the local underground hip-hop scene using the stage name Runch Randa and released several tracks and collaborations with fellow underground rappers. As a student, RM discovered that he had an IQ of 148, and he scored in the top 1% of South Korea in university entrance exams for foreign language, math, and social studies. RM earned a Broadcasting and Entertainment degree from Global Cyber University in 2019, then he began working toward a Master of Business Administration in Advertising and Media at Hanyang Cyber University.
(Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)
Career
BTS formed in 2013 and features RM, V, Suga, Jimin, Jin, Jungkook, and J-Hope. In 2014, the band released the Korean-language album "Dark & Wild" and the Japanese-language album "Wake Up," with "Dark & Wild" reaching #2 on South Korea's Circle Album Chart and "Wake Up" reaching #3 on Japan's Oricon Albums Chart. From these two albums, the singles "No More Dream," "Boy in Luv," and "Danger" were top 10 hits in Japan. In 2016, BTS released the Korean-language album "Wings" and the Japanese-language album "Youth," which reached #1 in South Korea and Japan, respectively. In 2018, the group released the Korean-language album "Love Yourself: Tear" and the Japanese-language album "Face Yourself." "Love Yourself: Tear" reached the top 10 on the charts in more than 15 countries and was certified 3× Million in South Korea. "Face Yourself" reached #1 on the Japanese Albums chart, Japan Hot Albums chart, and "Billboard" World Albums chart, and it went 2× Platinum in Japan. "Fake Love" from "Love Yourself: Tear" reached #1 in several countries.
In 2020, BTS released three studio albums, the Korean-language albums "Map of the Soul: 7" and "Be" and the Japanese-language album "Map of the Soul: 7 – The Journey." "Map of the Soul: 7" and "Be" topped the charts in numerous countries and were both certified 3× Million or higher in South Korea. "Map of the Soul: 7 – The Journey" reached #1 in Japan and Portugal and on the "Billboard" World Albums chart, and it was certified Million in Japan. RM has released three solo singles with BTS: "Reflection" (from 2016's "Wings"), "Trivia 承: Love" (from the 2018 compilation album "Love Yourself: Answer"), and "Persona" (from the 2019 EP "Map of the Soul: Persona"). "Trivia 承: Love" and "Persona" both reached the top 10 on the South Korea Songs chart and the "Billboard" World Digital Song Sales chart. RM released the mixtapes "RM" (2015) and "Mono" (2018), and "Mono" peaked at #2 on the Estonian Albums chart and "Billboard" World Albums chart. In December 2022, he released his debut solo album, "Indigo," and it reached the top 10 on the charts in several countries. "Billboard" ranked "Indigo" #1 on its "25 Best K-pop Albums of 2022" list, and "Rolling Stone" magazine ranked the album #3 on its "15 Best Korean Hip-Hop and R&B Albums of 2022" list. "Indigo" featured the single "Wild Flower," a collaboration with Youjeen that reached #1 on the "Billboard" World Digital Song Sales, #6 on the Hungarian Single Top 40 chart, and #9 on the Official New Zealand Music Chart. RM has also performed on Younha's "Winter Flower," eAeon's "Don't," and Balming Tiger's "Sexy Nukim," which all topped the "Billboard" World Digital Song Sales chart. In 2023, RM was named the first celebrity brand ambassador for the Italian luxury fashion company Bottega Veneta.
Kim Namjoon aka RM from BTS/Getty
Personal Life
In 2018, RM underwent septoplasty to correct a deviated septum, and he temporarily missed out on BTS activities during his recovery. To celebrate his 25th birthday, he gave the Seoul Samsun School a ₩100 million donation to "help students with hearing difficulties enjoy music through various means." RM was named one of the Arts Council of Korea's 2020 Patrons of the Arts after he donated ₩100 million to the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art. In both 2021 and 2022, he donated ₩100 million toward "preserving, restoring and utilizing artifacts outside of the country" through the Overseas Cultural Heritage Foundation and Cultural Heritage Administration.
Awards and Nominations
BTS has won more than 500 awards, including 11 American Music Awards, 13 Asia Artist Awards, 12 "Billboard" Music Awards, 32 Circle Chart Music Awards, 23 The Fact Music Awards, 19 Genie Music Awards, 31 Golden Disc Awards, 12 iHeartRadio Music Awards, 34 Japan Gold Disc Awards, 49 MAMA Awards, 38 Melon Music Awards, 15 MTV Europe Music Awards, 10 MTV Video Music Awards, and 27 Seoul Music Awards. In 2023, RM earned a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year for his work as a songwriter on Coldplay's "Music of the Spheres." In 2023, he won Korean Hip-hop Awards for Collaboration of the Year and Music Video of the Year for "Sexy Nukim" (shared with Balming Tiger). That year RM also earned a Seoul Music Award nomination for Fan Choice of the Year – April and a The Fact Music Award nomination for Best Music (Winter) for "Wildflower."
Real Estate
In March 2021, RM paid around $5.7 million for a flat in Seoul's priciest apartment complex Nine One Hannam, which is known as the "Beverly Hills of Korea." Jimin bought an apartment in the building at the same time for approximately $5.3 million. RM previously owned a ₩4.9 billion home in Seoul's Yongsan District, which he sold for ₩5.8 billion the following year.
