How Much Was Colin Powell Worth When He Died?
Four-star military general and former Secretary of State Colin Powell died on October 18 due to COVID-19 complications.
Powell's family went on Facebook to break the news of his death. "General Colin L. Powell, former U.S. Secretary of State and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, passed away this morning due to complications from COVID-19," the post read. The family also mentioned that Powell was fully vaccinated, and thanked "the medical staff at Walter Reed National Medical Center" for taking care of him to the very end. "We have lost a remarkable and loving husband, father, grandfather and a great American," the post concluded.
According to CNN, a source close to Powell said he had "multiple myeloma," which meant that Powell was immunocompromised prior to his death. Multiple myeloma is a group of plasma cells that becomes cancerous, and attacks the white blood cells in the bone marrow. It can damage the bones, immune system, kidneys, and red blood cell count, per Mayo Clinic.
On October 18, George W. Bush paid tribute to his colleague. "He was such a favorite of Presidents that he earned the Presidential Medal of Freedom – twice," the statement said. "He was highly respected at home and abroad. And most important, Colin was a family man and a friend."
With a historic and storied career, how much was Colin Powell worth at the time of his death?
Colin Powell was worth tens of millions of dollars
Being one of the most highly respected military generals in history must make a lot of coin throughout the years. According to The Richest, Colin Powell was worth $45 million, while Celebrity Net Worth placed Powell at $60 million. Either way, he was living pretty lavishly — and his final net worth is completely different from the humble beginnings he experienced as a child.
According to CNN, Powell was born in 1937 to two Jamaican immigrants, a seamstress and a shipping clerk foreman, who moved to the Bronx to create a better life for their son. "Mine is the story of a Black kid of no early promise from an immigrant family of limited means who was raised in the South Bronx," Powell wrote in his memoir, "My American Journey" (via L.A. Times). There, he learned multiple languages — including Yiddish, while working in a Jewish baby furniture store — and eventually went to school at City College of New York, where he participated in the ROTC, per CNN.
"We came from a family that raised you and sort of programmed you for success," Marilyn Berns, Powell's sister, told CNN in 2004. "The expectations were there that you would go forth and achieve." Powell exceeded those expectations, and joined the Army in 1958 — a move that led him to be an "advisor" to President John F. Kennedy in Vietnam, according to the L.A. Times — and eventually landed him in the Pentagon. Powell moved even further up the ranks in Washington, ultimately becoming the first Black Secretary of State in 2001. An incredible achievement — and a far cry from a childhood with "limited means."