Kriti Mehrotra
If there’s one thing nobody familiar with the world of Italian media can deny, it’s that Fabrizio Maria Corona is an ambitious entrepreneur for whom money is one of the top priorities. Netflix’s ‘Paparazzi King’ delves into his unusual life and his controversial career to shed light on his reality. It encompasses everything from his rise to fame to his operational endeavors and prison stints, offering a glimpse into his financial journey.
How Did Fabrizio Corona Earn His Money?
As one of three sons hailing from a family of well-respected journalists, Fabrizio Corona knew from an early age that he wanted to be involved in the industry too, albeit not in a traditional sense. Hence, he became affiliated with Entertainment Agent Lele Mora upon completing his studies to develop connections with almost everyone in a position of affluence and power. He organized high-profile events, secured celebrity appearances, and closed million-dollar deals, as well as more under the experienced professional’s banner, before spreading his wings.
Fabrizio gradually dabbled in paparazzi work too, before eventually establishing his own photography agency in Milan called Corona’s, where he held the titles of Director and President. According to his accounts in the aforementioned show, he subsequently utilized his network to gather information, relay it to handpicked paparazzi, and then sell their images for significant profits. He claimed he often received €50,000 per publication deal from local tabloids or newspapers, which he said could often double or triple if the parties involved also paid him to keep their matters private.
However, Fabrizio claimed that he never extorted anybody; instead, he said he was mostly contacted by the team of the public personality in question, but confirmed it did profit him. He also candidly revealed that while he always told the paprazzo he was paying them 50% of the final deal, he only ever gave them 30% at most because he refused to walk away with less than 70-80%. He confessed to secretly doing this all on his own whenever he was on vacation with his partner, especially if they were a high-profile individual, which he mentioned also earned him a lot of money.
Fabrizio had understood the scope of public appearances early on, too, so he spent a lot of his time in the late 1990s and 2000s securing such events for not only himself but also his partners. In fact, he was the manager for Croatian fashion model Nina Morić throughout their relationship, that is, until she filed for divorce following his arrest on charges of extortion in 2007. According to records, he was released into house arrest after 77 days in prison, during which he penned a memoir titled ‘La mia Prigione’ (‘My Prison’) as a way to share his side of the story.
Fabrizio then made the best of all the positive and negative attention he was receiving by agreeing to numerous public appearances, expanding his business, and dabbling in entertainment. As per the docuseries, he admittedly bagged “€4 million in the first four months of leaving prison,” out of which €1.5 million was from appearances while the rest was from a new company. He subsequently participated in the ‘La Fattoria’ (‘The Farm’) reality show in 2009 and made his acting debut in ‘Squadra Antimafia: Palermo Oggi’ (Anti-Mafia Squad: Palermo Today’) in 2010.
Fabrizio spent the ensuing few years in and out of legal trouble owing to the extortion case, along with added charges of blackmail, bankruptcy fraud, and tax evasion, but he didn’t stop working. In fact, he landed an advertisement campaign for a line of designer watches in 2010, featured in a documentary titled ‘ Videocracy,’ and was in the music video for “Bedroom” by Redd. He even promoted the possible creation of the ‘I Magnifici Cinque’ (‘The Magnificent Five’) reality show for an alleged €1.7 million, in which he would be a lead cast member, but it didn’t pan out.
Since then, Fabrizio has been doing his best to focus on his entrepreneurial endeavors, including a new photography agency, a line of merchandise, and a YouTube channel for his podcast. However, most of them did come after he was definitively sentenced to over 13 years in prison for his crimes in 2015, only to be placed under house arrest on medical grounds in 2019. He spent an additional 7 months in prison from March 2021 onwards, though, because he had been arrested, charged, and found guilty of expressing dissent in the form of violence.
Fabrizio Corona’s Net Worth
Since Fabrizio Corona has been active in the world of entrepreneurship and media since the early 1990s, he has undoubtedly amassed significant wealth. Unfortunately, there is no surefire way for us to calculate his precise income, as many of his dealings were conducted in cash over the years. However, he did come under scrutiny for reportedly not declaring everything in the 2010s. He has even been fined nearly $5 million as of the writing. He is still facing lawsuits for defamation and other legal proceedings, which may result in further financial losses. From what we can tell, Fabrizio has earned as little as €50,000 a month through his endeavors and secured as much as €250,000 in a single deal.
A significant portion of his business in the 2000s varied based on pop culture movements and the market’s open-mindedness, which enabled him to adapt his operations in different ways. However, today, we do know that a significant portion of his income comes from his standing as a public figure on social media, specifically from views, followers, sponsorships, and partnerships. In fact, it appears as if, with 2.1 million followers on his primary Instagram account, nearly 6 billion views on his YouTube channel, and close to a million combined followers on his two other Instagram accounts, he makes around $40,000 per month. Taking all these aspects into consideration, along with his potential assets, investments, returns, and expenses as a father of two, we estimate Fabrizio’s net worth to be €30 million, or approximately $35 million.
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