What is Frances Bean Cobain's Net Worth?
Frances Bean Cobain is an American artist, musician, and model with a net worth of $200 million. She is the daughter of Nirvana's Kurt Cobain and Hole singer Courtney Love. Frances made headlines even before her birth due to allegations that Love used heroin during her pregnancy. Child welfare services investigated after Love's interview with "Vanity Fair," resulting in Frances being taken from her parents for two weeks after her birth before being returned to them.
Frances has appeared as a model in magazines like "Elle" and "Harper's Bazaar." Under a pseudonym, she released a collection of her artwork in 2010. She appeared in Nirvana's 1993 "Sliver" music video and produced the Emmy-nominated 2015 documentary "Cobain: Montage of Heck." Frances turned down a lead role in Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland" to focus on her studies at Bard College. In 2017, she became the face of the Spring/Summer Marc Jacobs campaign.
Frances controls 100% of her father's publicity rights to his name and image. She inherited 37% of Kurt's estate when she turned 18 in 2010.
Nirvana Trust
During her divorce proceedings, information about Frances' financial status was revealed. According to her legal team, Frances is currently worth $11.2 million, which is the money she has inherited so far from the Nirvana estate. It is believed that a substantial amount of money, referred to as $200 million, awaits her when she turns 30. Frances earns over $100,000 per month in royalties, publishing rights, and dividends from her late father's estate, with monthly expenses exceeding $200,000, largely due to legal fees from her divorce. Frances refuted these expense reports on Twitter.
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Early Life
Frances Bean Cobain was born on August 18, 1992, in Los Angeles, California. She was named after Vaselines guitarist Frances McKee, and her middle name came from resembling a kidney bean on the ultrasound. Her mother, Courtney Love, admitted to a heroin binge in January 1992, leading to an investigation by the Los Angeles County Department of Children's Services. Frances was taken from her parents for two weeks but was eventually returned after the case was dropped.
Frances saw her father, Kurt, for the last time on April 1, 1994, at Marina del Rey's Exodus Recovery Center. Kurt was found dead in his Seattle home a week later. After his death, Frances was raised by her mother and other family members, living in Seattle and Los Angeles. In October 2003, Courtney was arrested for drug charges, leading Frances to live with her paternal grandmother Wendy O'Connor temporarily. Courtney regained custody in January 2005. Frances studied art at Bard College in New York.
Career
In 2006, Cobain modeled for "Elle" magazine, wearing her father’s cardigan and pajama pants. Frances stated, "I wore his pajamas because he got married in them to my mom in 1992 in Hawaii. He was too lazy to put on a tux!" In 2008, she did a "Harper's Bazaar" photo spread and modeled for an internet series by Hedi Slimane in 2011. She appeared in "Schön!" magazine in 2016 and became the face of Marc Jacobs's 2017 Spring/Summer campaign.
In 2010, under the pseudonym "Fiddle Tim," Frances debuted an artwork collection entitled "Scumfuck" at L.A.'s La Luz de Jesus Gallery. In 2012, she participated in the group art show "MiXTAPE," creating art inspired by The Jesus and Mary Chain's "Black." In 2017, she had a joint exhibition with artist Lindsey Way titled "Ghosts For Sale" at Pasadena's Gallery 30 South. Frances interned at "Rolling Stone" magazine in the summer of 2008 and was later photographed by David LaChapelle for the publication. At age 13, Frances chose the cover photo and title for the 2005 Nirvana album "Sliver: The Best of the Box." She provided guest vocals on the 2010 Evelyn Evelyn song "My Space" and was a guest judge on a 2019 episode of "RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars."
(FRANCOIS GUILLOT/AFP via Getty Images)
Personal Life
Frances' godparents are actress Drew Barrymore and R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe. She gave her first interview at age 13 to "Teen Vogue" in September 2005.
In late 2009, her paternal grandmother, Wendy O'Connor, and her aunt, Kimberly Cobain, were appointed temporary co-guardians of Frances, and a restraining order was issued against Courtney Love. In July 2018, Frances attended the "Growing up Kurt Cobain" exhibition in Ireland with her paternal grandmother and aunt, where she expressed her intention to reclaim her father's phrase "peace, love, empathy" for health and compassion.
Frances married musician Isaiah Silva on June 29, 2014, divorcing in November 2017. During the settlement, Isaiah retained one of Kurt's acoustic guitars, a 1959 Martin D-18E, used in Nirvana's "MTV Unplugged." On October 7, 2023, Frances married Riley Hawk, son of skateboarder Tony Hawk. They began dating in January 2021, and the ceremony was officiated by her godfather, Michael Stipe.
Real Estate
In 2011, Frances bought a 3,357-square-foot home in the Hollywood Hills for $1.825 million and sold it for $2.4 million in 2018. In January 2021, Frances purchased another home in the Hollywood Hills for $2 million and sold it for $2.3 million in January 2022. She also bought a house in San Diego's Point Loma neighborhood in 2021, which she sold in October 2023 for $2.4 million.
