You might assume the members of the Rolling Stones and their families are all financially set for life given the enduring success of the band’s music. But as revealed in a recent court case concerning Ronnie Wood’s son Jesse, not everyone in the Stones’ world is rolling in it.
As reported by the Daily Mail, Jesse Wood stood before magistrates in West London last month after pleading guilty to an unspecified minor driving offence, revealing he was living on around £1,000 per month with an annual income of £14,000, and was surviving on savings. The 49-year-old guitarist and model asked for leniency, it’s said, after being handed a £957 court bill.
As one of rock music’s all-time commercially successful bands, it’s easy to assume the money would be of no concern to any member of the Rolling Stones and their families.
Ronnie Wood’s net worth is reported to be substantial – somewhere in the region of £150 million as quoted by numerous sources – but it’s important to note that the point at which he joined the Stones was instrumental in shaping his financial position later down the line.
Wood joined the band in 1975, after many of their most royalty-generating hits had already been written. For example, the royalties generated by hits like Satisfaction (1965) flow to Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.
An anonymous industry source quoted by the Daily Mail explains: “People see stadiums and assume it’s one big pot of money for everyone. It never has been.
“Mick and Keith operate in a different financial stratosphere. Ronnie’s world has always been more complicated, and that has trickled down.”
While Ronnie Wood no doubt earns a considerable wedge for being a Rolling Stone – from touring revenue and songs written since he joined, for example – the source notes that there’s a reason for the disparity in what each Stones member takes home.
“He gets paid handsomely to be a Rolling Stone, but he doesn’t own the jukebox,” they go on.
People often incorrectly assume that a person’s quoted net worth is a liquid pot of cash they have in the bank ready to distribute as needed. But the picture is always more complicated than that. The Daily Mail notes that much of Ronnie Wood’s fortune is tied up in illiquid assets, including a multi-million-pound art collection, as well as property and investments.
“His wealth is structural,” a financial advisor tells the Daily Mail. “It’s in paintings and properties and future tour revenues. That’s not the same as having millions in a bank account to distribute.”
Sam is the Associate News Editor for Guitar.com and MusicTech. Thoroughly immersed in music culture for the majority of his life, Sam has played guitar for 20 years, studied music technology and production at university, and also written for the likes of Guitar World, Total Guitar, Metal Hammer and MusicRadar.