Poll

Just for fun, what do you think MMM's Net Worth is?

500k or less (if you've been on this blog for any time, he had over 600k when he 'retired')
2 (0.9%)
500k - 700k
2 (0.9%)
700k - 900k
12 (5.6%)
900k - 1 million
19 (8.9%)
1 million +
178 (83.6%)

Total Members Voted: 202

Voting closed: August 27, 2014, 10:08:36 PM

Author Topic: What is MMM's Net Worth?  (Read 34546 times)

EscapeVelocity2020

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What is MMM's Net Worth?
« on: May 29, 2014, 10:08:36 PM »
After this latest post (http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2014/05/29/give-yourself-the-gift-of-not-worrying-about-money/), I am interested in where people stand.  When I first came to this site, MMM was just discovering how rich his software job was making him.  It was optimistic, refreshing, and right in line with where I was (also making good money and wondering why people struggled financially).  Not too long ago, JD Roth (of 'Get Rich Slowly') had an interview which gave me new insight on where MMM might be now (http://www.financialsamurai.com/from-debtor-to-millionaire-how-a-windfall-changed-my-life/)  So what are people thinking, that MMM is just like them, well off but not too well to do, or rich and making money hand over fist?  I honestly have no idea.  Thanks for indulging me (but ultimately MMM) with your clicks!

Cheddar Stacker

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Re: What is MMM's Net Worth?
« Reply #1 on: May 29, 2014, 10:30:26 PM »
Easily $1M+. He (they) likely reached that before even starting the blog. A couple years ago he posted about making $70K+ income for tax return, and they only spend maybe $25K/year. Plus the blog which could be worth $1M+ by itself, not that he plans to sell it.

dragoncar

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Re: What is MMM's Net Worth?
« Reply #2 on: May 29, 2014, 11:25:25 PM »
Obligatory complaint about the lack of poll options.

deborah

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Re: What is MMM's Net Worth?
« Reply #3 on: May 29, 2014, 11:41:39 PM »
Why are we having a poll about this???

I think it is intrusive, the poll itself is meaningless (as per the first respondent), and it has nothing to do with the MMM philosophy.

marty998

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Re: What is MMM's Net Worth?
« Reply #4 on: May 30, 2014, 02:24:57 AM »
Who is MMM?

marty998

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Re: What is MMM's Net Worth?
« Reply #5 on: May 30, 2014, 02:27:04 AM »
Who is MMM?

I'm sorry for posting that :)

The devil made me do it. I'm in a crap mood right now hehe

former player

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Re: What is MMM's Net Worth?
« Reply #6 on: May 30, 2014, 04:00:59 AM »
MMM is remarkably open about his expenses, and has made it clear that, through investments, his income is securely in excess of that.   He also gives us full details of his charitable investment endeavour on the side.   The rest, surely, can be silence?

TomTX

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Re: What is MMM's Net Worth?
« Reply #7 on: May 30, 2014, 05:43:06 AM »
Even without counting blog income (which is pretty large from the hints given) - he should be well over $1MM.

1) He retired with $600k+ of liquid investments - plus a house that sold recently for well over $400,000

2) His wife kept working for several years because they kept throwing more money at her.

3) His "side gigs" have likely brought in close to 2x annual expenses.

4) The market is way up, and there was no reason to touch his original 'stache. It has nowhere to go but up.

5) The blog has a lot of value, beyond current income.

Any 2 of these items would put him over $1MM. I suspect the MMM family is closer to $5MM than $1MM - even without counting the value of the blog itself.

EscapeVelocity2020

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Re: What is MMM's Net Worth?
« Reply #8 on: May 30, 2014, 06:34:23 AM »
Why are we having a poll about this???

I think it is intrusive, the poll itself is meaningless (as per the first respondent), and it has nothing to do with the MMM philosophy.

Thanks for the feedback folks, I was tempted try to pin the thoughts on his NW down more (more options above 1MM), but at a spend of 25k, even at 'only 1MM' his SWR is lower than I will be able to manage, so why belabor the point.  I have started to read his blog from the viewpoint that he is not really like me, having a larger retirement income and smaller spend, but still like the overall philosophy.  Sorry if you thought it was intrusive, but this is ultimately a 'retirement blog' and net worth is as big a factor as spending when it comes to understanding where the author and fellow forum members are coming from.  I suspect his NW to be well north of 2MM, but was unsure if I was the only one that thought this.

workathomedad

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Re: What is MMM's Net Worth?
« Reply #9 on: May 30, 2014, 06:51:15 AM »
Definitely over 2mm. Probably 3-5mm. Also, the blog is generating over 200k/year at this point even if you removed all the "recommends" links, though I wouldn't be surprised in the least if someone told me it generates over 1mm/year in revenue (remember taxes could be taking close to 50% of this). Though he may donate heavily to charity.

Remember though, you only need the 300k-500k to retire. We don't have to compete with MMM, also he will be giving almost all of it away to charity before he leaves.

mbl

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Re: What is MMM's Net Worth?
« Reply #10 on: May 30, 2014, 07:38:22 AM »
I agree with estimates in the multi-millions.
What is of greater interest and not just for MMM but for those who have attained a level of
assets that are probably much more than will be required for the remainder of their lives, is what their philanthropy is like.
Would MMM be willing to donate 10% of his total family income each year?  Not time donated but dollars.

How people give of their time and resources is of particular interest and is an interesting insight into one's true character.

soccerluvof4

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Re: What is MMM's Net Worth?
« Reply #11 on: May 30, 2014, 07:58:01 AM »
yea i dont see much point in the question but I would be surprised if not in the 3-5m area at least.  Hes been as others said pretty forward with everything but I don't sit there and try to figure out what hes doing instead focus on the principles here and worry about my #'s.

Mr Mark

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Re: What is MMM's Net Worth?
« Reply #12 on: May 30, 2014, 08:12:14 AM »
What is MMM's net worth?

Growing larger all the time!  :-)

catccc

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Re: What is MMM's Net Worth?
« Reply #13 on: May 30, 2014, 09:14:19 AM »
Why are we having a poll about this???

I think it is intrusive, the poll itself is meaningless (as per the first respondent), and it has nothing to do with the MMM philosophy.

Thanks for the feedback folks, I was tempted try to pin the thoughts on his NW down more (more options above 1MM), but at a spend of 25k, even at 'only 1MM' his SWR is lower than I will be able to manage, so why belabor the point.  I have started to read his blog from the viewpoint that he is not really like me, having a larger retirement income and smaller spend, but still like the overall philosophy.  Sorry if you thought it was intrusive, but this is ultimately a 'retirement blog' and net worth is as big a factor as spending when it comes to understanding where the author and fellow forum members are coming from.  I suspect his NW to be well north of 2MM, but was unsure if I was the only one that thought this.

If MMM did not have a PF blog and an entire MMM empire, and we were sitting around at dinner with me, you, and MMM, and you asked me what I thought MMM's NW was, I think that would be intrusive.  But I don't think it is here.  And yeah, I agree, I wouldn't be surprised if it was north of 2M as well.

dragoncar

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Re: What is MMM's Net Worth?
« Reply #14 on: May 30, 2014, 10:15:06 AM »
Why are we having a poll about this???

I think it is intrusive, the poll itself is meaningless (as per the first respondent), and it has nothing to do with the MMM philosophy.

At first I thought this was satire, but apparently you are serious.

What is the point of your comment?  It offers no additional value to this thread and has nothing to do with the MMM philosophy.  I think it's far more interesting to discuss "how to quote" (http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/ask-a-mustachian/how-to-quote/msg266160/#msg266160) as this really increases my savings rate.

iris lily

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Re: What is MMM's Net Worth?
« Reply #15 on: May 30, 2014, 10:33:09 AM »
Am I wrong for never reading MMM's posts? I just come here for the forums.

CommonCents

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Re: What is MMM's Net Worth?
« Reply #16 on: May 30, 2014, 10:35:24 AM »
hmm, my takeaway here is that blogs are much more financially lucrative than I ever imagined.  Maybe I should start up a blog for my side gig.  And kudos to MMM for staying true to the ideals he espouses despite freedom to do otherwise.  I stopped reading another blog where that happened to the owner. 

tooqk4u22

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Re: What is MMM's Net Worth?
« Reply #17 on: May 30, 2014, 01:33:38 PM »
Also, the blog is generating over 200k/year at this point even if you removed all the "recommends" links, though I wouldn't be surprised in the least if someone told me it generates over 1mm/year in revenue (remember taxes could be taking close to 50% of this).


This is the part that is far more interesting to me (in general, not just as it relates to MMM).....what is the basis of your estimates?  How does one calculate the potential revenue of a website based on traffic/rankings/etc?

Not to mention for MMM specifically there are hardly any ads/links to be monetized.....doesn't mean there couldn't be, but there isn't at the moment.

randymarsh

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Re: What is MMM's Net Worth?
« Reply #18 on: May 30, 2014, 01:59:19 PM »
I seriously doubt the blog generates 1 million per year in revenue. That would be pretty amazing. I don't think the traffic is *that* high. It was rumored that Get Rich Slowly and Five Cent Nickel sold for about 1 million. I'd say both of those blogs were monetized better than MMM, even if MMM gets more traffic which I haven't checked.

100K is definitely possible. Banks pay $100+ for one credit card sign up.

Chuck

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Re: What is MMM's Net Worth?
« Reply #19 on: May 30, 2014, 02:08:36 PM »
It really is amazing what an healthy financial attitude and a little time can do to a 'stache...

It gives me so much to look forward to.

EscapeVelocity2020

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Re: What is MMM's Net Worth?
« Reply #20 on: May 30, 2014, 08:43:01 PM »
hmm, my takeaway here is that blogs are much more financially lucrative than I ever imagined.  Maybe I should start up a blog for my side gig.  And kudos to MMM for staying true to the ideals he espouses despite freedom to do otherwise.  I stopped reading another blog where that happened to the owner.
They can be more financially lucrative than you imagine, but the catch is that it takes a lot of work and luck to actually reach the point where they even break even compared to hosting costs let along turn a profit.

As for the topic at hand, I suspect that either a) the figure is around $1M to $1.5M or b) the number is much higher but is treated as "What do I need this for?" by MMM.

I have a blog, but it's only lucrative if you get people to sign up for things.  This discussion I happened across helped shine a light on why I make pennies when other bloggers make thousands (http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f28/really-frugal-read-on-71915-4.html).  For those that don't have the time to read it all, here's the bit that caught my attention:

"Here's a quick primer internet advertising. There are 3 types ads. PPC, PPM, and PPA. Pay per click, pay per thousand, and pay per action, respectively.

PPC pays a small fee for each click. Google adsense tends to be this type. I don't know what the industry standards are, but I get roughly $0.50 to $2.00 when someone clicks on a google ad at my site.

PPM - these pay a rate per 1000 impressions (times the ad appears on a web page displayed to a visitor). Google adsense runs some of these ads, and private advertisers can also pay based on CPM method. I don't know the rates, but probably a couple bucks per 1000 impressions (under a penny per individual ad).

PPA - these advertisements pay when a specific "action" occurs. It's called a "conversion" in the lingo. This could be signing up for a service, applying or getting approved for a credit card or mortgage, or other financial product or service."

MMM's blog probably has a few hundred PPA's per month (recommending a rewards credit card and Republic Wireless), so I am also of the opinion that he's making money hand over fist.  But he's got a great forum tacked on to his site, so as long as he has enough money to keep paying for this area to stay up, life is good :)

Erica/NWEdible

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Re: What is MMM's Net Worth?
« Reply #21 on: May 30, 2014, 09:32:50 PM »
I seriously doubt the blog generates 1 million per year in revenue. That would be pretty amazing. I don't think the traffic is *that* high. It was rumored that Get Rich Slowly and Five Cent Nickel sold for about 1 million. I'd say both of those blogs were monetized better than MMM, even if MMM gets more traffic which I haven't checked.

100K is definitely possible. Banks pay $100+ for one credit card sign up.

According to worthofweb.com, the first website worth calculator I clicked on, the MMM site is worth about $2,140,000.

Details....

How much can it make?
$ 2,575 / day
$ 77,250 / month
$ 927,000 / year

Website Traffic
171,733 visitors / day
5,151,990 visitors / month
61,823,880 visitors / year
858,512 pageviews / day
25,755,360 pageviews / month
309,064,320 pageviews / year
Alexa Rank: 8,924

Take a look at that Alexa Rank. That's WORLD-FUCKING-WIDE. In the US, the MMM.com Alexa is 2,118, which means if you lined up every single website that Americans are looking at, from Google and Facebook and down to your no-traffic blogspot vanity blogs that haven't been updated in five years, the MMM site would be about 2000th from the top. That's out of just shy of a billion websites globally that Americans could be looking at.

And just for comparison, these viewership numbers are about twice what GetRichSlowly.org is showing from the same source.
Details on GetRichSlowly.org....
Website Traffic
93,024 visitors / day
2,790,720 visitors / month
33,488,640 visitors / year
464,996 pageviews / day
13,949,880 pageviews / month
167,398,560 pageviews / year
Alexa Rank: 13,283

If you don't blog, you may not understand how FREAKISHLY incredible this kind of success is. MMM hit EXACTLY the right nerve with his site, his tone, his no bullshit writing, and his ability to deliver a cult-like personality with a promise of freedom to a recession-battered demographic desperate for hope that getting off the treadmill was possible.

Please, NO ONE run out and start a blog thinking this kind of thing is typical, normal, or even possible. MMM struck gold, but he owns the facepunch-frugality niche now. It's done. So if you want success like his in blogging, you have to find a new way to help people solve whatever problem they have, and it has to be a problem A LOT of people have, and your message has to strike deep about something integral to their very core.

The MMM brand is solid gold, and blogging in general is not necessarilly good as a get rich quick side hustle, is my point.

OzzieandHarriet

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Re: What is MMM's Net Worth?
« Reply #22 on: May 30, 2014, 09:49:00 PM »
According to that site, my blog is worth … $74.

Its earning potential is … $12 per year.

randymarsh

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Re: What is MMM's Net Worth?
« Reply #23 on: May 30, 2014, 11:26:11 PM »
Erica, you're spot on regarding MMM's scale of success not being typical. I've made ~7K blogging - it's definitely not a get rich quick scheme!

I'm not sure how accurate those visitor numbers are though. The traffic stats posted in the footer of the site are showing about 30K unique visitors per day for may. I think maybe that worth calculator is including days where the site gets crazy traffic, like mainstream media mentions. I suspect those visitors probably aren't as profitable as ones specifically searching for "credit card bonus" or whatever.

But breaking down some financial numbers does make me think it's more likely than I originally thought. 10,000 CC signups that paid on average $100 would generate 1 million. Even if we lower the signups, Republic and Adsense could easily get us there.

rmendpara

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Re: What is MMM's Net Worth?
« Reply #24 on: May 30, 2014, 11:46:02 PM »
Thinking about it makes me drool. Nicely done!

former player

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Re: What is MMM's Net Worth?
« Reply #25 on: May 31, 2014, 01:36:21 AM »

According to worthofweb.com, the first website worth calculator I clicked on, the MMM site is worth about $2,140,000.

Details....

How much can it make?
$ 2,575 / day
$ 77,250 / month
$ 927,000 / year

I. had. no. freaking. idea.  Just wow.

FIreDrill

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Re: What is MMM's Net Worth?
« Reply #26 on: May 31, 2014, 01:55:20 AM »
I could see his total net worth (including blog) being around the 5 Million number. 

EscapeVelocity2020

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Re: What is MMM's Net Worth?
« Reply #27 on: May 31, 2014, 06:47:49 AM »
And it seems like only yesterday when MMM was turning down $4,000 per month to keep his freedom of speech :)  http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/06/21/i-just-gave-up-4000-per-month-to-keep-my-freedom-of-speech/

Thanks for the insight Erica, that was an eye opener!

chasesfish

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Re: What is MMM's Net Worth?
« Reply #28 on: May 31, 2014, 06:56:27 AM »
Not counting the blog, its probably in the $1.5mil range..

I actually really liked that recent post.  It shows as you get closer to FI, don't stress out so much. I'm happily watching the monthly net worth go up each month even after my spouse left her job back in January.  I don't know if she'll re-enter the workforce or just enjoy ER.

It won't necessarily go up each month because markets move and expenses are lumpy, but its nice to track.

slugline

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Re: What is MMM's Net Worth?
« Reply #29 on: May 31, 2014, 07:42:43 AM »
Quote
According to worthofweb.com, the first website worth calculator I clicked on, the MMM site is worth about $2,140,000.

Details....

How much can it make?
$ 2,575 / day
$ 77,250 / month
$ 927,000 / year

I have a hunch that those are likely estimates just purely based on contextual display ads. I bet it's likely to be generating much, much more through referral links. (I keyed in a site where I know the true revenue numbers into this same "calculator" and its estimate was low by 75%.)

Another Reader

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Re: What is MMM's Net Worth?
« Reply #30 on: May 31, 2014, 09:20:34 AM »
The trouble with valuing blogs is that the readership is dependent on keeping the original owner as the blogger.  It's a business that depends entirely on the work of one person.  You can evaluate on the accepted parameters and capitalize current income, but the blogger has to be part of the sale.  It's not worth the same amount of money if it's sold without the blogger.

I don't know Longmont, but the whole area has appreciated a lot recently.  My guess is the three houses alone, after the renovation of the third house, are approaching $1.3 to $1.4M.  Paper assets surely exceed $1M, especially with the last couple of years of stock market performance.  So probably something like $1.5M in paper assets, maybe closing in on $2M with all the income he's dumping in.  Without the blog, maybe $3.0M -$3.5M total.  That's the range where folks write posts about not ever worrying about money again. 

My bet is that eventually he walks away from the blog.  Uses it as a fire hose of an income generator until he feels he has said and done everything he can with it.  Shuts it down and does something else.  Time will tell.

iris lily

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Re: What is MMM's Net Worth?
« Reply #31 on: May 31, 2014, 09:38:57 AM »

My bet is that eventually he walks away from the blog.  Uses it as a fire hose of an income generator until he feels he has said and done everything he can with it.  Shuts it down and does something else.  Time will tell.

There is a season for everything. I like this place a lot, but when it expires as it most surely will, we will all have gone on to another place (physical? web?) to set our social fixes.

Now, as far a blogging about personal finances, I suggest one of those "think and grow rich" websites. That idea cycles around every generation. It's due to hit big, according to my sightline, in another 12- 15 years.  Don't know what kind of technology will be supporting blog-type activity then, but someone get your content ready. All you have to do is recycle the writers from the 1880's, the 1950's and the 2000's, those were the peak decades of "think and grow rich".


Jags4186

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Re: What is MMM's Net Worth?
« Reply #32 on: May 31, 2014, 11:44:17 AM »
I could be completely wrong, but if the blog generates 1 million a year it's worth substantially more than 2 million.  I think we greatly overestimate the amount of money it generates. I could be completely wrong though.

Nords

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Re: What is MMM's Net Worth?
« Reply #33 on: May 31, 2014, 03:11:31 PM »
I seriously doubt the blog generates 1 million per year in revenue. That would be pretty amazing. I don't think the traffic is *that* high. It was rumored that Get Rich Slowly and Five Cent Nickel sold for about 1 million. I'd say both of those blogs were monetized better than MMM, even if MMM gets more traffic which I haven't checked.

100K is definitely possible. Banks pay $100+ for one credit card sign up.

According to worthofweb.com, the first website worth calculator I clicked on, the MMM site is worth about $2,140,000.
I ran that on The-Military-Guide.com and at first I thought "That's a good price".

But some of the visitor stats are overinflated (perhaps based on a really big week from last month) and I'm almost positive that the income is overstated.  So the multiple that arrives at the sale price might also be understated.

I can see someone like Quinstreet buying out MMM for $2M-$3M, but they'd want him to stay for the unique tone & writing style.  Given MMM's taste in language and the wisdom that he's accumulated from J.D. Roth, I doubt that there'll be a sale within the next five years.  Maybe not ever.

Jags4186

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Re: What is MMM's Net Worth?
« Reply #34 on: June 01, 2014, 06:13:43 PM »
Here's your answer...he makes approx. 2k/month from the blog.

http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/09/22/weekend-edition-where-do-we-go-now/

ch12

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Re: What is MMM's Net Worth?
« Reply #35 on: June 01, 2014, 06:27:19 PM »
Here's your answer...he makes approx. 2k/month from the blog.

http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/09/22/weekend-edition-where-do-we-go-now/

Good for grabbing the answer from Mr. Money Mustache himself. However, that was so long ago and the traffic has only ballooned since then. The blog revenue is definitely higher.

A much smaller blog RootofGood is netting $876 and he's ranked 90,531 globally.

CommonCents

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Re: What is MMM's Net Worth?
« Reply #36 on: June 01, 2014, 06:46:51 PM »
Please, NO ONE run out and start a blog thinking this kind of thing is typical, normal, or even possible. MMM struck gold, but he owns the facepunch-frugality niche now. It's done. So if you want success like his in blogging, you have to find a new way to help people solve whatever problem they have, and it has to be a problem A LOT of people have, and your message has to strike deep about something integral to their very core.

The MMM brand is solid gold, and blogging in general is not necessarilly good as a get rich quick side hustle, is my point.

I was joking above when I suggested writing a blog as a side hustle...  Not actually serious about it, more was just emphasizing my surprise this one is that monetized.  Again, good for him.

tooqk4u22

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Re: What is MMM's Net Worth?
« Reply #37 on: June 02, 2014, 09:53:42 AM »
I seriously doubt the blog generates 1 million per year in revenue. That would be pretty amazing. I don't think the traffic is *that* high. It was rumored that Get Rich Slowly and Five Cent Nickel sold for about 1 million. I'd say both of those blogs were monetized better than MMM, even if MMM gets more traffic which I haven't checked.

100K is definitely possible. Banks pay $100+ for one credit card sign up.

According to worthofweb.com, the first website worth calculator I clicked on, the MMM site is worth about $2,140,000.
I ran that on The-Military-Guide.com and at first I thought "That's a good price".

But some of the visitor stats are overinflated (perhaps based on a really big week from last month) and I'm almost positive that the income is overstated.  So the multiple that arrives at the sale price might also be understated.

I can see someone like Quinstreet buying out MMM for $2M-$3M, but they'd want him to stay for the unique tone & writing style.  Given MMM's taste in language and the wisdom that he's accumulated from J.D. Roth, I doubt that there'll be a sale within the next five years.  Maybe not ever.

Like most others, once sold the blogs goes downhill.  Even ignoring voice/tone/authenticity if a bunch of ads starting showing up all over for credit cards, debt consolidation, muscle builders, testosterone, etc I would likely tune out fairly quickly.


tooqk4u22

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Re: What is MMM's Net Worth?
« Reply #38 on: June 02, 2014, 10:17:33 AM »
Here's your answer...he makes approx. 2k/month from the blog.

http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/09/22/weekend-edition-where-do-we-go-now/

Good for grabbing the answer from Mr. Money Mustache himself. However, that was so long ago and the traffic has only ballooned since then. The blog revenue is definitely higher.

A much smaller blog RootofGood is netting $876 and he's ranked 90,531 globally.

To bring it back to worthofweb stats for comparison...root is estimated to be making $4,830/month.

EscapeVelocity2020

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Re: What is MMM's Net Worth?
« Reply #39 on: June 02, 2014, 10:36:29 AM »
I was joking above when I suggested writing a blog as a side hustle...  Not actually serious about it, more was just emphasizing my surprise this one is that monetized.  Again, good for him.

It's quite an ironic twist, that a frugality blog turned out to be so valuable.  It took me a while to understand why companies would pay to advertise on a weirdly titled site where the author is cursing and punching everyone in the face for spending too much money, but many of the unique visitors that come to MMM are just starting to get their finances in order.  If they do click on a CC or bank signup link, they are exactly the financial disasters that these industries want.  Now that I have blogged for a while, I understand better what bloggers are up to when they post glowing reviews for products and services with embedded links.  Not that it's secretive or underhanded, but it's good to note that they are not entirely impartial - I'm sure all the savvy Forum folks are aware of these things.  Sadly, it has lead to people not clicking on 'real links' in my own blog, which was a powerful aspect of blogging, that I can say something, and then link to the Wikipedia page or cited work as a basis to back-up my claim or to provide a launch point for someone wanting to know more.  Or maybe people just don't have the time to click around, it can be a huge time drain.

EscapeVelocity2020

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Re: What is MMM's Net Worth?
« Reply #40 on: June 02, 2014, 11:02:49 AM »

To bring it back to worthofweb stats for comparison...root is estimated to be making $4,830/month.

Justin at RoG was averaging 1.5k / month not too long back, prior to the 870 figure people are quoting (http://rootofgood.com/february-2014-financial-update/).  The blog income does vary quite a bit, he does a good job of being transparent with his monthly updates.  I also ran my site at worthofweb and got an answer about 3x too high, so maybe MMM 'only' generates 300k/yr, putting a bookend on the low estimate side. 

Still a pretty decent income for a guy that spends ~25k/yr, I'd probably be pretty comfortable in retirement too, and write a post telling myself to chill out about a spendy event.  As it stands, I spent $7 for a beer once this year (the bar didn't show the price anywhere and I was with a group that already had their beers).  That little moment still smarts, felt like a had a hangover before it even touched my lips.  Ugh.  I don't think I'll ever get over my inclination toward not spending, although my level is already at a ludicrous 40k/yr (for a family of 4).  My hope is that we start to trade-off discretionary spending for necessities as the kids get older and 'need' things like cars and cell phones.

EscapeVelocity2020

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Re: What is MMM's Net Worth?
« Reply #41 on: June 05, 2014, 06:25:16 AM »
Looks like Nords and Erica knew what they were talking about, quoting a reply MMM gave June 3rd on the second page of the comments:

"For me, it is actually very pleasant to give up earning opportunities and I do it every day. Forget piddly software stuff.. recently I got the chance to turn down a couple of seven-figure offers for this blog! Doing so makes me appreciate my real life even more, because it reminds me not to worry about money."

Another Reader

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Re: What is MMM's Net Worth?
« Reply #42 on: June 05, 2014, 06:47:25 AM »
Once you have financial engines in place that produce large amounts of income each and every month, you get in a pattern of saving and investing way more of that income than you spend without even thinking about it, and you can fund all your current spending and a lot more from rents and dividends (i.e. no spend down of principal), it's easy to stop worrying.  I don't think the average person that reaches the goal of 25 times expenses or the 4 percent withdrawal rate stops worrying about having Enough Money.

dude

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Re: What is MMM's Net Worth?
« Reply #43 on: June 05, 2014, 08:09:10 AM »
I seriously doubt the blog generates 1 million per year in revenue. That would be pretty amazing. I don't think the traffic is *that* high. It was rumored that Get Rich Slowly and Five Cent Nickel sold for about 1 million. I'd say both of those blogs were monetized better than MMM, even if MMM gets more traffic which I haven't checked.

100K is definitely possible. Banks pay $100+ for one credit card sign up.

According to worthofweb.com, the first website worth calculator I clicked on, the MMM site is worth about $2,140,000.

Details....

How much can it make?
$ 2,575 / day
$ 77,250 / month
$ 927,000 / year

Website Traffic
171,733 visitors / day
5,151,990 visitors / month
61,823,880 visitors / year
858,512 pageviews / day
25,755,360 pageviews / month
309,064,320 pageviews / year
Alexa Rank: 8,924

Take a look at that Alexa Rank. That's WORLD-FUCKING-WIDE. In the US, the MMM.com Alexa is 2,118, which means if you lined up every single website that Americans are looking at, from Google and Facebook and down to your no-traffic blogspot vanity blogs that haven't been updated in five years, the MMM site would be about 2000th from the top. That's out of just shy of a billion websites globally that Americans could be looking at.

And just for comparison, these viewership numbers are about twice what GetRichSlowly.org is showing from the same source.
Details on GetRichSlowly.org....
Website Traffic
93,024 visitors / day
2,790,720 visitors / month
33,488,640 visitors / year
464,996 pageviews / day
13,949,880 pageviews / month
167,398,560 pageviews / year
Alexa Rank: 13,283

If you don't blog, you may not understand how FREAKISHLY incredible this kind of success is. MMM hit EXACTLY the right nerve with his site, his tone, his no bullshit writing, and his ability to deliver a cult-like personality with a promise of freedom to a recession-battered demographic desperate for hope that getting off the treadmill was possible.

Please, NO ONE run out and start a blog thinking this kind of thing is typical, normal, or even possible. MMM struck gold, but he owns the facepunch-frugality niche now. It's done. So if you want success like his in blogging, you have to find a new way to help people solve whatever problem they have, and it has to be a problem A LOT of people have, and your message has to strike deep about something integral to their very core.

The MMM brand is solid gold, and blogging in general is not necessarilly good as a get rich quick side hustle, is my point.

<blinks eyes repeatedly>  HOLY SHIT.

Well, good for him.  He created a product for which there was obviously a tremendous demand.  That's how capitalism is supposed to work.

The one thing that strikes me though is this -- I recall hearing a Paul Harvey piece on Colonel Sanders, the Kentucky Fried Chicken founder, where he detailed all of the failed ventures the guy'd had in life, until he hit gold with KFC.  I wonder with MMM having hit gold with his first internet venture, if his view of other peoples' ability to succeed might be a little skewed as a result of this?  Frankly, i don't care, but it's just something that occurred to me.

For my money, his no-nonsense message about cutting through the bullshit and ridding our lives of excessive material wants to gain our freedom and save our planet is all that matters.  I've been hugely inspired by this site, and that's priceless.

dragoncar

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Re: What is MMM's Net Worth?
« Reply #44 on: June 05, 2014, 10:19:32 AM »
I seriously doubt the blog generates 1 million per year in revenue. That would be pretty amazing. I don't think the traffic is *that* high. It was rumored that Get Rich Slowly and Five Cent Nickel sold for about 1 million. I'd say both of those blogs were monetized better than MMM, even if MMM gets more traffic which I haven't checked.

100K is definitely possible. Banks pay $100+ for one credit card sign up.

According to worthofweb.com, the first website worth calculator I clicked on, the MMM site is worth about $2,140,000.

Details....

How much can it make?
$ 2,575 / day
$ 77,250 / month
$ 927,000 / year

Website Traffic
171,733 visitors / day
5,151,990 visitors / month
61,823,880 visitors / year
858,512 pageviews / day
25,755,360 pageviews / month
309,064,320 pageviews / year
Alexa Rank: 8,924

Take a look at that Alexa Rank. That's WORLD-FUCKING-WIDE. In the US, the MMM.com Alexa is 2,118, which means if you lined up every single website that Americans are looking at, from Google and Facebook and down to your no-traffic blogspot vanity blogs that haven't been updated in five years, the MMM site would be about 2000th from the top. That's out of just shy of a billion websites globally that Americans could be looking at.

And just for comparison, these viewership numbers are about twice what GetRichSlowly.org is showing from the same source.
Details on GetRichSlowly.org....
Website Traffic
93,024 visitors / day
2,790,720 visitors / month
33,488,640 visitors / year
464,996 pageviews / day
13,949,880 pageviews / month
167,398,560 pageviews / year
Alexa Rank: 13,283

If you don't blog, you may not understand how FREAKISHLY incredible this kind of success is. MMM hit EXACTLY the right nerve with his site, his tone, his no bullshit writing, and his ability to deliver a cult-like personality with a promise of freedom to a recession-battered demographic desperate for hope that getting off the treadmill was possible.

Please, NO ONE run out and start a blog thinking this kind of thing is typical, normal, or even possible. MMM struck gold, but he owns the facepunch-frugality niche now. It's done. So if you want success like his in blogging, you have to find a new way to help people solve whatever problem they have, and it has to be a problem A LOT of people have, and your message has to strike deep about something integral to their very core.

The MMM brand is solid gold, and blogging in general is not necessarilly good as a get rich quick side hustle, is my point.

<blinks eyes repeatedly>  HOLY SHIT.

Well, good for him.  He created a product for which there was obviously a tremendous demand.  That's how capitalism is supposed to work.

The one thing that strikes me though is this -- I recall hearing a Paul Harvey piece on Colonel Sanders, the Kentucky Fried Chicken founder, where he detailed all of the failed ventures the guy'd had in life, until he hit gold with KFC.  I wonder with MMM having hit gold with his first internet venture, if his view of other peoples' ability to succeed might be a little skewed as a result of this?  Frankly, i don't care, but it's just something that occurred to me.

For my money, his no-nonsense message about cutting through the bullshit and ridding our lives of excessive material wants to gain our freedom and save our planet is all that matters.  I've been hugely inspired by this site, and that's priceless.

Yes this is a common complaint about his optimism and I don't think it counts quite as complaint pants.  Yes he made mistakes but I think far fewer than most successful entrepreneurs.

RootofGood

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Re: What is MMM's Net Worth?
« Reply #45 on: June 05, 2014, 02:13:33 PM »
Justin at RoG was averaging 1.5k / month not too long back, prior to the 870 figure people are quoting (http://rootofgood.com/february-2014-financial-update/).  The blog income does vary quite a bit, he does a good job of being transparent with his monthly updates.  I also ran my site at worthofweb and got an answer about 3x too high, so maybe MMM 'only' generates 300k/yr, putting a bookend on the low estimate side. 

I looked at the stats at worthofweb and I honestly have no clue where they get the traffic stats from.  I used to put out monthly stats reports (where I disclose visitors, pageviews, revenue, social media followers, etc) but quit a few months back.  I wasn't sure how interesting or relevant they were to my readership, and it was mostly just interesting to me (maybe I'm wrong?).

The worthofweb stats were way off.  I assume they are pulling from Alexa somehow.  In any event, they reported 10,000 visitors/day for rootofgood.com and I've never had more than 5,000 in one day (thanks, yahoo finance!).  A typical day is 400-500, maybe 600-700 the day I publish an article.  I think I averaged 800 visitors/day in April, and that was the best month ever.  They guestimated 1.6 million pageviews per month, and the actual number is 30-50k.  I've only had 240k pageviews since I started blogging in September 2013.

So my site should be able to generate $4800/month?  That would be nice!  It's a fraction of that:

Jan - $1500
Feb - $1600
March - $1800
April - $900
May - $700
June - $1600 est.

Nothing to sneeze at for sure. 

It's kind of funny considering I set out hoping to cover the $87 per year hosting fee and wasn't sure if I would break even in the first year.  I exceeded that particular goal. 

cdub

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Re: What is MMM's Net Worth?
« Reply #46 on: June 05, 2014, 02:31:39 PM »


 I wonder with MMM having hit gold with his first internet venture, if his view of other peoples' ability to succeed might be a little skewed as a result of this?  Frankly, i don't care, but it's just something that occurred to me.


Yes this is a common complaint about his optimism and I don't think it counts quite as complaint pants.  Yes he made mistakes but I think far fewer than most successful entrepreneurs.

Nah - he's f'n optimistic because he retired when he was f'n 30 years old and knew how to do it. This blog making money has nothing to do with it.

ch12

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Re: What is MMM's Net Worth?
« Reply #47 on: June 05, 2014, 04:36:37 PM »
Justin at RoG was averaging 1.5k / month not too long back, prior to the 870 figure people are quoting (http://rootofgood.com/february-2014-financial-update/).  The blog income does vary quite a bit, he does a good job of being transparent with his monthly updates.  I also ran my site at worthofweb and got an answer about 3x too high, so maybe MMM 'only' generates 300k/yr, putting a bookend on the low estimate side. 

I looked at the stats at worthofweb and I honestly have no clue where they get the traffic stats from.  I used to put out monthly stats reports (where I disclose visitors, pageviews, revenue, social media followers, etc) but quit a few months back.  I wasn't sure how interesting or relevant they were to my readership, and it was mostly just interesting to me (maybe I'm wrong?).

The worthofweb stats were way off.  I set out hoping to cover the $87 per year hosting fee and wasn't sure if I would break even in the first year.  I exceeded that particular goal.

RetireBy40 sends those details out in an email list, so people can self-select for getting them. I would love it. Also, please don't send those out at midnight Pacific Time - getting them in the wee hours of the morning ruined the lovely details, which I really wanted but not enough to remember to turn off the sound on my phone. And also, my do not disturb definitely does not work.

And yes, EscapeVelocity2020, I'm aware that RoG has had some fluctuations lately.

randymarsh

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Re: What is MMM's Net Worth?
« Reply #48 on: June 05, 2014, 05:36:36 PM »
So my site should be able to generate $4800/month?  That would be nice!

I'm sure it could...if you whored it out to every sleazy advertiser out there. Fortunately you have standards.

Eric

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Re: What is MMM's Net Worth?
« Reply #49 on: June 05, 2014, 05:43:35 PM »
So my site should be able to generate $4800/month?  That would be nice!

I'm sure it could...if you whored it out to every sleazy advertiser out there. Fortunately you have standards.

Yeah, he only whores out to one!



(sorry, couldn't help it RoG, I enjoy your blog minus the P.C. plugs)