Kandi Burruss is a multi-talented, multi-hyphenate entertainer, best known by her mononym Kandi. Since first breaking into the entertainment industry as a teenager in the mid-nineties, Kandi has become prolific in the fields of music, television, film, dancing, and business, and has diversified her financial portfolio with a wide array of wise investment choices. According to sources at Celebrity Net Worth, Kandi Burruss’ net worth currently sits at over $30 million.
Burruss is a BET Her Award honoree, with multiple Grammy nods, ASCAP Awards, and a wide array of nominations from the People’s Choice Awards, the Tonys, and other esteemed institutions. Her career, which spans over 30 years, currently shows no signs of slowing or stopping, as she is estimated to draw over $450,000 in salary per season of The Real Housewives of Atlanta. Without further ado, let’s take a moment to examine the life and career of Kandi Burruss, and break down each major contributing factor to her multi-million dollar net worth.
Who Is Kandi Burruss?
Long before Kandi Burruss boasted millions in net worth she was born into a small Georgia family, to a reverend and a homemaker. Ate the age of 15, she began singing and dancing with a music collective called Xscape, which she formed with a few of her high school peers. Kandi and her Xscape crew appeared on the BET talk show Teen Summit, where they performed original music, exposing their talent to a wide array of record industry professionals. Before long, legendary hip hop producer Jermaine Dupri took notice, and signed the group to So So Def, which was the home of such historic acts as Kris Kross, Daz Dillinger, TLC, and other landmark 90s artists.
Xscape released their debut album Hummin’ Comin’ at ‘Cha in 1993, to positive reviews from critics and general audiences alike. Within a year, the record was certified platinum, and the group members had begun to graduate high school, meaning they had more time to fully focus on their budding music career. Xscape subsequently released two additional platinum-selling records, in the form of 1995’s Off The Hook and 1998’s Traces of My Lipstick. Though the group essentially disbanded after their third album, the gang remained in touch with each other while pursuing solo careers, and have reunited on the mic several times since the late 90s.
Solo Career
Once the Xscape crew split up to pursue new endeavors, Kandi Burruss went on to be arguably the biggest star from the group. Before launching her debut solo album in 2000, she penned a number of iconic songs for popular acts such as TLC, Destiny’s Child, and even Pink. If you’re reading this, you’ve likely enjoyed Kandi’s work numerous times over the years without even realizing it, as she holds writing credits for smash hit songs such as “No Scrubs,” “Bills, Bills, Bills,” and “There You Go.” Kandi Burruss also collects checks for the smash hit Ed Sheeran track “Shape of You,” which has undoubtedly boosted her net worth in the years since the track premiered.
Kandi has two solo albums and one EP in her discography, and while the records didn’t perform quite as well as her work with Xscape, they earned her universal acclaim from critics and fans alike. Still, her solo career continued to bring in major checks throughout the early 2000s, before she transitioned into other executive business ventures and reality television.
Film & Television Career
Since first appearing on Soul Train back in 1993, Kandi Burruss has gone on to amass tons of television and film credits. She made her feature film debut as Roxanne in the 2008 film Make It Rain, before going on to star in such films as Second Chance Christmas, Same Difference, Seven Deadly Sins: Envy, and most recently, the Snoop Dogg led venture The Underdoggs on Amazon Prime Video. Kandi has also appeared in many television shows, though her most well-known and long-running project has been The Real Housewives of Atlanta, which Kandi has starred in since 2009. Kandi Burruss is currently the longest-serving performer of any Real Housewives franchise, which has helped to raise her net worth tremendously. She has also received several spin-off ventures, ranging from TV movies to full-order series.
Real Estate & Other Investments
Beyond her roles in the entertainment industry, Kandi Burruss has bolstered her net worth with a wide array of investments and personal business ventures. She launched a line of sex toys under the title Bedroom Kandi in 2011, and later launched a sex and relationship web series which spun off into its own television show. Kandi has also prudently invested in real estate, purchasing two large Atlanta residences in 2002 and 2012 respectively. Her current home was purchased for just over $500,000 and is now estimated to be worth well over $1 million. Clearly, Kandi has a very business savvy mind, which has allowed her to score top-shelf writing credits on a number of hits, and invest her money wisely over the years in her many business outings.