| Net Worth: | US $300 Million |
| Full Name: | David Choe |
| Birth Date: | 21 April 1976 |
| Age: | 46 years |
| Country of Origin: | United States of America |
| Wife: | None |
| Height: | 5 ft 6 inch (1.70 m) |
| Source of Wealth: | Painter, Graffiti Artist, Graphic Novelist, and Muralist |
| Zodiac Sign: | Taurus |
| Lineage: | Korean |
| Parents: | Father: Jimmy Choe
Mother: Jane Choe |
| Instagram: | David Choe |
| Facebook: | David Choe |
| Twitter: | @davidchoe |
| Tik Tok: | @davidchoe |
What Is David Choe’s Net Worth
David Choe is an American Painter, Graffiti Artist, Graphic Novelist, Muralist and former Journalist. Choe became popular for his $200 million stock with Facebook in 2012.
What is David Choe’s net worth? The Talented American Artist is worth $300 as of 2022. Choe has made thousands of paintings for different companies in the last ten years.
Moving on in this article, we will discuss more on his earnings, early life, personal life, career and lifestyle. You keep scrolling and you miss out on this gist.
Earnings Overview
David is one lucky man. One would think that his $300 million net worth came as a result of years of toiling. Partly it did, but chiefly, it was sheer luck.
In 2005, Choe mural-painted the Facebook headquarters in Silicon Valley for $60,000. Instead of Cash, he was convinced to opt for stock.
Choe agreed and in 2012, his stock was estimated to be worth $200 million in shares. This elevated Choe to the status of a multi-millionaire in a space of 7 years.
Since then, Choe’s painting Price has continued to move higher. His paintings are often priced from 199 USD to 32,760 USD in the exhibition.
Early Life
David Choe was born on April 21, 1976, in Los Angeles, US to Korean immigrant parents. He grew up in Koreatown in Los Angeles.
His parents were bonafide Christians. Choe started doing street art in his teens. His paintings were inspired by Los Angeles graffiti artists, Hex and Mear One.
Life took a sick turn in 1992 when his parent’s real estate business was burnt down during the L.A. riots. Choe left high school and travelled across Africa, Europe and America.
At 21, he returned to California and enrolled in the California College of Arts but dropped out 2 years later.
Career
Choe took interest in arts and painting right from his teens. In 1996, he published his first graphic novel “Slow Jams”
Only 200 copies were printed at the time and he gave them away at the San Diego Comic-Con 1998.
In 1999, Choe was motivated by the beautiful reviews from comic-con so he submitted the Novel for the Xeric Grant.
He won the grant and with the $5,000, he published the Novel a second time. This time, it was even better than the first version.
Choe then released 1,000 copies in 1999 and sold them at $4. Today, “Slow Jams” sells for hundreds of dollars on eBay.
David went on to take up a gig that would change his life forever. In 2005, he was hired by the then-president of Facebook, Sean Parker to cover the company’s headquarters in Silicon Valley with murals.
He charged $60,000 for the gig but instead of cash, he opted for stick and became one of Facebook’s first shareholders.
In 2012, the stock was estimated at $200 million. That was the rocketing point of his career.
He went on many vacations and continued street painting. This landed him in Police custody several times but he never stopped.
Before the Facebook gig, he had worked for magazine companies and wrote illustrations for magazines such as “Vice” and the series, “Thumbs up”. It was a documentary of him and his friend, Harry Kim, hitchhiking around the US and across China.
His paintings were also hung on Melrose Avenue in an ice cream shop, Double Rainbow. They were so good that he was allowed to exhibit for 2 years.
Other works by him include
- Dirty Hands: The Art and Crimes of David Choe”, a 2008 documentary that discusses his life as an artist. It remains one of his best pieces as it returned for 2 seasons and gathered a lot of attention. It was through the documentary that “Vice” hired him.
- New York solo exhibit “Gardeners of Eden” in 2007
- UK solo exhibition “Murderous Heart” in 2008
- Jay-Z and Linkin Park’s 2004 “Collision Course” EP
- Voiced the lead character in the 2007 animated film “We Are The Strange.”
3 Key Factors to Success From David Choe
- Money is not always the right option. If David had chosen the $60,000 instead of stock for his Facebook gig in 2012, he wouldn’t have been this rich and famous today
- Never hide who you are. David’s review of his deeds as an artist made him famous irrespective of the criticism
- Do what you love. His love for painting even in his teens brought him this far.
Personal Life
David could be said to be a free man. He is neither married nor known to be in any romantic relationship.
However, he once had a girlfriend named Mylan, in 2008.
Choe often talks about his gambling and sex addictions and his fight through them. In an interview, he opened up on some lies and talked about some dirty things he has been involved in.
Lifestyle
You imagine the lifestyle of an artist with over $300 million net worth. Fame and accomplishments are accompanied by luxury. Let us look at David’s hobbies, house, cars, vacations and charity work
Hobbies
Nothing delights David more than his painting and mural work. He spends a lot of time creating new pieces and working towards improvement.
He also enjoys travelling to different cities and creating art as he moves.
House and Cars
In 2010, Choe purchased the Handsome Spanish Colonial Revival in Los Feliz which was originally owned by Willis Hiram Bullinger, for $3.1 million.
In 2022, he listed it for $6.9 million. The house has had many known builders give it a retouch since the 90s. The likes of Paul R. Williams and Kiyohara Moffitt.
We have no information on his car collection at the moment. We will update you as soon as we can.
Vacations
David enjoys hitchhiking across America and China as well. He has also gone on many road trips.
He also visited Congo in Africa in the 90s in search of a Dinosaur. He nearly died but managed to make his way out of the jungle.
Charity
Despite living a rugged life, David didn’t forget the home he grew up in. He has been helping raise funds for Wyclef Jean’s Yle Haiti.
He has donated many of his paintings to charity.
Summary
David Choe is an American Artist and muralist with a net worth of $300 million.
He became a multi-millionaire in 2012 when his stock with Facebook was estimated at $200 million.
He was supposed to be paid $60,000 in 2005 for his mural work at the company’s headquarters in Silicon Valley but he chose the stock instead.
His career has featured a lot of success ever since then. He has worked for famous singers and government officials including Jay-Z and one-time president of America, Barack Obama.
He came from a Christian family but his lifestyle doesn’t reflect much of that as he has been in and out of prison severally in addition to being a chronic Gambler. Nonetheless, he has been involved in charity and other good deeds.
