Skrillex net worth is estimated at $70 million, built over roughly 15 years through touring, music production, his own record label, and at least one well-documented real estate transaction. No official figure has been confirmed publicly — this is a widely cited estimate across entertainment finance sources.
Who Is Skrillex?
Born Sonny John Moore on January 15, 1988, in Los Angeles, Skrillex didn't start out as a DJ. He spent his teens as the lead vocalist of post-hardcore band From First to Last, appearing on their 2004 and 2006 albums before vocal problems forced him offstage. He had surgery, left the band, and started over.
That restart turned out to be consequential.Around 2008, Moore began producing and performing electronic music under the name Skrillex at clubs in Los Angeles. It was a sharp pivot from screaming into a microphone at punk shows to building bass-heavy electronic tracks in a studio.
His first official release as Skrillex, "My Name Is Skrillex," came out in June 2010. He was signed to deadmau5's mau5trap label shortly after and toured with him nationally.What followed was fast.
The "Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites" EP dropped later that year, and "Bangarang" came in late 2011. Both became defining tracks in what was then a rapidly expanding dubstep and EDM market.
Music Career: The Moves That Built His Brand
Breakthrough Years (2010–2014)
The Grammy momentum came quickly. At the 2012 ceremony, according to Wikipedia, Skrillex won three Grammy Awards — Best Dance Recording, Best Dance/Electronica Album, and Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical. He repeated the same sweep in 2013. Then in 2016, he won Best Dance Recording and Best Dance/Electronic Album again.
Five Grammys in four years. That kind of recognition doesn't just raise your profile it raises your booking fee.His debut full-length album, Recess, arrived in March 2014. It wasn't quite the commercial blockbuster some expected, but it cemented his status as a serious artist rather than a trend. The touring cycle around it was substantial.
Side Projects and Collaborations
What's often overlooked in the Skrillex financial picture is how much of his income likely traces back to production work for other artists rather than his own releases alone.He produced tracks for Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, Korn, and Bring Me the Horizon, among others.
He composed the score for Spring Breakers (2012) alongside Cliff Martinez and contributed a track to Wreck-It Ralph the same year. These aren't just creative credits — they carry licensing and royalty income attached.His two main side projects added another layer.
Jack Ü, the duo he formed with Diplo, released a self-titled album in 2015 that reached mainstream pop audiences in a way his solo work hadn't. Dog Blood, his project with Boys Noize, was more underground but kept him active across different scenes.
In 2019, he co-wrote "Face My Fears" with Hikaru Utada and Poo Bear for the opening of Kingdom Hearts III — a track that reached a completely different audience than his festival crowd.
OWSLA Record Label
In August 2011, Skrillex co-founded OWSLA alongside Tim Smith, Kathryn Frazier, and Clayton Blaha. The label's first release was Porter Robinson's "Spitfire." It went on to sign Zedd, Marshmello, and Dillon Francis — artists who became commercially significant in their own right.
Running a label while being one of its headline artists is an unusual position. The label's financials aren't publicly disclosed, so its exact contribution to Skrillex's net worth isn't quantifiable. But signing artists who later earned substantial touring and streaming income suggests OWSLA was more than a vanity project.
More recently, Skrillex has publicly stated his intention to operate independently — a move that, in practice, typically means artists retain more direct control over master recordings and revenue streams, though the trade-off is usually less label infrastructure support.
How Does Skrillex Earn His Money?
Touring and Live Performances
This is the primary driver. According to Celebrity Net Worth, Skrillex can earn more than $20 million per year before taxes from touring and licensing. That figure isn't independently verified, and it likely reflects peak years rather than a consistent annual average — but it gives a reasonable sense of scale.
Festival-circuit DJs at his level typically command significant per-show fees. Skrillex has headlined Tomorrowland, Ultra Music Festival, and performed alongside Four Tet and Jon Hopkins at Manchester's Warehouse Project. Performers at that tier of festival billing don't come cheap.
Music Production and Licensing
Production credits on commercially successful songs generate mechanical royalties and sync licensing fees — particularly when those tracks appear in films, video games, or TV shows. Skrillex has accumulated a notable number of these placements over the years.
His song "First of the Year (Equinox)" appeared in the 2011 Beavis and Butt-Head revival. Spring Breakers and Wreck-It Ralph both carry his compositional fingerprints.Streaming adds a recurring, if smaller, layer of income from a catalog that stretches back over a decade a pattern consistent with broader music industry trends, where, according to data from Statista, streaming now accounts for over half of all recorded music industry revenue.
OWSLA Label Revenue
As a co-founder, Skrillex would have had an ownership stake in OWSLA's revenue. Labels earn income through artist deals, distribution agreements, licensing, and publishing. The label's exact structure and any buyout or wind-down terms are not publicly known.
Real Estate
This is the one area where the numbers are documented. In October 2016, Skrillex paid $6 million for 1.11 acres of undeveloped land in Malibu, California. He built a 12,000 square-foot mansion on the site six bedrooms, ten bathrooms, a home theater, gym, and hilltop Pacific Ocean views.
The property was listed in December 2020 for $25 million and sold in July 2021 for $17.5 million.The gross difference between purchase price and sale price is approximately $11.5 million though construction costs, agent fees, and taxes are not disclosed, so the actual net gain would be lower than that figure.
Interestingly, this single real estate move likely represents one of the more traceable wealth-building events in his career — most of his other income streams have no publicly confirmed figures attached.
Skrillex Real Estate Summary
|
Detail |
Figure |
|
Land purchased |
October 2016 |
|
Purchase price |
$6 million |
|
Property size |
1.11 acres |
|
Mansion size |
12,000 sq ft |
|
Listed for sale |
December 2020 — $25 million |
|
Sale price |
$17.5 million (July 2021) |
|
Gross difference vs. purchase |
~$11.5 million |
How Skrillex's Net Worth Compares to Other DJs
Skrillex sits comfortably in the upper tier of DJ wealth but he's not at the top of the list. Several of his contemporaries have accumulated significantly more. Artists who build their net worth primarily through live performance and production tend to accumulate it more gradually than those with major catalog sales or brand deals.
|
DJ |
Estimated Net Worth |
|
Calvin Harris |
$300 million |
|
David Guetta |
$200 million |
|
Gianluca Vacchi |
$200 million |
|
DJ Tiësto |
$170 million |
|
Steve Aoki |
$120 million |
|
The Chainsmokers |
$80 million |
|
Skrillex |
$70 million |
|
Diplo |
$70 million |
The gap between Skrillex and the top earners partly reflects those artists' deeper catalog of mainstream pop crossover hits and longer careers at peak earning levels. What's worth noting is that, as data from Wikipedia's Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronic Album shows.
Skrillex holds the record for most wins in that category alongside The Chemical Brothers a distinction that separates him critically from many of the higher-earning names on this list, even if the net worth figures don't reflect it directly.
Conclusion
Skrillex net worth of $70 million comes from a combination of touring income, production royalties, his OWSLA label, and documented real estate gains. It's a consistent estimate across sources, though the exact breakdown isn't publicly confirmed. His career spans both critical recognition and commercial reach which is rarer than it sounds in electronic music.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Skrillex's net worth?
Skrillex net worth is estimated at $70 million. This figure is widely cited but not officially confirmed. It reflects income from touring, music production, his OWSLA label, and real estate.
How much does Skrillex earn per year?
He is estimated to earn more than $20 million annually from touring and licensing during peak years. This figure is unverified and likely varies considerably year to year.
Does Skrillex own a record label?
Yes. He co-founded OWSLA in 2011. The label has signed artists including Zedd, Porter Robinson, and Marshmello. Its financials are not publicly disclosed.
Did Skrillex profit from real estate?
Yes. He purchased Malibu land for $6 million in 2016, built a mansion, and sold it for $17.5 million in 2021 — a gross difference of ~$11.5 million before costs.
Is Skrillex the richest DJ in the world?
No. He ranks outside the top five among DJs by estimated net worth. Calvin Harris leads at an estimated $300 million.