What Is Chamillionaire's Net Worth?
Chamillionaire is a Grammy-winning rapper, entrepreneur, and tech investor who has a net worth of $50 million. Chamillionaire rose to fame in the mid-2000s with his breakout hit "Ridin'," featuring Krayzie Bone. Born Hakeem Seriki in Houston, he built his early reputation through Houston's mixtape scene alongside Paul Wall, eventually launching a successful solo career with his platinum-selling debut album The Sound of Revenge. His follow-up, Ultimate Victory, was notable for containing no profanity, reflecting his desire to stand apart in the rap world.
While his mainstream music output slowed after the late 2000s, Chamillionaire pivoted into business and technology with impressive results. He founded his own label, Chamillitary Entertainment, invested in a custom car business, and launched several other ventures, including a tour bus company and a modeling agency. His biggest wins came in the tech world. He became an early investor in Maker Studios, which Disney acquired in 2014 for approximately $675 million, and later backed other high-profile startups like Ring, Cruise Automation, Lyft, and Dropbox.
In 2015, he made history by becoming the first rapper to be named entrepreneur-in-residence at the Los Angeles venture capital firm Upfront Ventures. He has since become a vocal advocate for diversity in tech, launching pitch competitions to support minority and female founders.
Early Life
Hakeem Seriki, best known by his stage name Chamillionaire, was born on November 28, 1979, in Washington, D.C. The family moved to Houston, Texas, when he was three years old. He attended Jersey Village High School, where he became interested in rap music. He has a younger brother, Rasaq Seriki, who is also a rapper.
Music Career
The stage name "Chamillionaire" is a portmanteau of the words "chameleon" and "millionaire." Seriki and fellow rapper and friend Paul Wall were promoting at an event when they met Michael "5000" Watts, a popular mixtape DJ active in the Houston area. They proposed to help promote Watt's company, Swishahouse, and also convinced him to let them freestyle on an intro to his radio show on Houston hip-hop station KBXX-FM. Watt's put their freestyles on one of his mixtapes, and they soon became regulars in the Houston rap scene and mixtape circuit. Seriki and Wall started the group The Color Changin' Click. They also worked together on the album "Get Ya Mind Correct" (2002), which sold over 150,000 copies. The album was nominated by "The Source" magazine for independent album of the year in 2002, and they began to make a name for themselves, with the Color Changin' Click also performing at the SXSW music festival in 2004.
Seriki released his solo debut album, "The Sound of Revenge," in 2005 through Chamilitary Entertainment and Universal Records. It debuted and peaked at #10 on the Billboard 200 chart in the United States and was eventually certified platinum by the RIAA. The album also produced the hit single "Ridin'," which was #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and won him the 2007 Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group.
"Ultimate Victory" (2007) was Seriki's second studio album and featured guests such as UGK, Lil Wayne, Devin the Dude, and Lloyd. He had plans for a third album titled "Venom," initially scheduled to be released in 2011, but the project was eventually scrapped after he parted ways with Universal Records. He dropped the EP "Ammunition" in March 2012 and was supposed to release a third album, "Poison," in 2013. However, as of this writing, it remains unreleased.
In addition to his studio albums, Seriki's various mixtape projects have been wildly successful. In 2004, he released "The Mixtape Messiah," which featured 61 tracks over three CDs and is the longest and most bought mixtape in Texas history. It was also the first mixtape in what would eventually be one of his most popular and highly anticipated projects, the Mixtape Messiah series. The series had seven mixtapes in total, with subsequent releases in 2005, 2007, 2008, and 2009. Seriki began a new mixtape series titled "Major Pain" in 2009, dropping the first disc in February 2010. He dropped the second "Major Pain" installment in April 2011, followed by the mixtapes "Badazz Freemixes," "Badazz Freemixes 2," and "Badazz Slowmixes."
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Business and Investments
Chamillionaire has built one of the most successful post-music business careers in hip-hop. In 2004, he founded Chamillitary Entertainment, an independent record label he launched while still signed to Universal Records. The label has released over 20 projects, including Chamillionaire's own mixtapes and albums, as well as music from artists like Lil Ken and Troy Henry. Former signees have included Yung Ro, 50/50 Twin, and Chamillionaire's younger brother Rasaq. After parting ways with Universal in January 2011, the label became fully independent.
His entrepreneurial journey began even earlier. In 2003, he invested in Fly Rydes, a Houston-based auto customization company that catered to the city's car culture. He later founded a modeling and personal development agency called Masterpiece Mind Frame, aimed at helping aspiring creatives and professionals set and achieve tangible goals.
In 2009, Chamillionaire co-launched the Global Innovation Tournament at Stanford University alongside Quincy Jones III. That same year, he invested $1.5 million in Maker Studios, a digital media network focused on YouTube content creators. The company was acquired by Disney in 2014 in a deal reportedly worth up to $950 million. Chamillionaire's payout from the sale was reportedly over $20 million. The investment also led to his relationship with Maker Studios founder and venture capitalist Mark Suster, who later brought Chamillionaire on board as an entrepreneur-in-residence at Upfront Ventures in 2015 — making him the first rapper to hold such a role at a major VC firm.
His investment portfolio expanded to include early stakes in Cruise Automation (sold to General Motors in 2016 for over $1 billion), Ring (acquired by Amazon in 2018 for over $1 billion), Lyft, and Dropbox. In 2018, Chamillionaire launched Convoz, a social video app designed to help influencers and celebrities connect directly with fans through short, public video conversations.
In 2019, he teamed up with rapper E-40 and Shark Tank's Daymond John to create a pitch competition offering $25,000 investments to startups founded by women or people of color. That same year, he invested in the sneaker brand Atoms, known for offering shoes in quarter sizes for a more precise fit.
In 2022, Chamillionaire's company X Empire Inc. launched Access Club, a private, invite-only platform designed to connect high-profile investors with early-stage startups. The app offers exclusive deal access and curated introductions for members, continuing his mission to democratize venture access and diversify the funding pipeline.
Chamillionaire's business success is rooted in a clear vision: combine brand authenticity with long-term value creation. He has become not only a respected investor but also an advocate for minority entrepreneurship and a bridge between hip-hop culture and the tech world.