Here's How Much Yoko Ono Is Really Worth
"Oh, Yoko!" Yoko Ono may be a tricky subject for Fab Four fans — some are quick to credit the second wife to the late John Lennon with The Beatles' 1970 breakup — but all that aside, Ono's net worth is pretty fab today!
"Born into a wealthy family," as AP reported, in 1933 in Tokyo, Ono still experienced the turbulence many Japanese citizens went through when her family moved back to Asia during World War II. "I remember being hungry and I know it's so difficult to just be hungry," she told AP. "One day I didn't bring a lunchbox. The other kids asked, don't you want to eat? I just said, no, I'm not hungry." In the 1950s, Ono's family returned to the States, with Ono attending Sarah Lawrence College in New York — the same institution, coincidentally, as a young Linda McCartney. She soon began her pursuit of visual and performing arts, meeting Lennon, "in November 1966 at a London gallery," per Vogue, "where Ono was preparing for an exhibition". As the outlet added, "They instantaneously connected."
Lennon divorced his first wife and wed Yoko in 1969, and the rest is music history (forever to be debated in college dorm rooms and subreddits).
The Beatles broke up one year later, and after 10 stagnant years of solo material from Lennon (and of marriage), he was tragically shot. But Lennon's catalog, as well as his well-documented love for Ono, lives on. Here's Ono's net worth today.
Yoko Ono has more money than you'd imagine
So what is Yoko Ono's net worth today? According to Celebrity Net Worth, she is worth a massive $700 million. As the outlet wrote, "Ono and her son, Sean, received the lion's share of the inheritance," being, "$200 million each." Meanwhile "son Julian [who was born out of Lennon's first marriage] was left with next to nothing." Julian had to fight for an even remotely substantive inheritance in court. As Lennon's widow, Ono also makes additional money from royalties and from auctioning "personal items and memorabilia," per Celebrity Net Worth; even the personally significant items son Julian wanted.
After Lennon's death, Ono oversaw the construction of the Strawberry Fields memorial in Central Park to honor her late husband. She also continued with her own art and music career. And as NME wrote, "Ono is finally being recognized ... [for] her unwritten contribution to much of John Lennon's work." According to the outlet, Ono "finally" received a writing credit on "Imagine" in 2017, per NPR. "I am used to people not liking my work, but I created a nice box for me to be sitting in," she told NME. "John would have given me the right credit [On 'Jealous Guy' as well], but it was a difficult time. No famous songwriter would have thought of splitting the credit with his wife."
As of 2020, Ono was still living in New York City's iconic Dakota, where just outside, Lennon was shot.