Netflix has explored some extremely dark subjects in its documentary series, from the weird cult at the heart of Escaping Twin Flames to the real-life Gone Girl plot of American Nightmare. While we’re always here for a limited series about the Backstreet Boys, we can count Dirty Pop: The Boy Band Scam among those alarming and upsetting docs thanks to their manager Lou Pearlman’s Ponzi scheme.
Dirty Pop answered a lot of questions about how the Backstreet Boys got started and how Pearlman affected their lives and careers. Now, let’s answer some of the biggest questions, including how much money one of our favorite boy bands earned and how much Pearlman took from them.
What is the net worth of the Backstreet Boys and who is the most successful member?
The Backstreet Boys’ net worth is $200 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth. If we wonder who is the most financially successful, we might be surprised at the answer: Brian Littrell.
Yes, while we might assume that Nick Carter has the most money since one could argue he’s the most famous, Littrell has a net worth of $45 million. Kevin Richardson and Howie Dorough have $40 million net worths, Nick Carter has $35 million, and AJ McLean has $20 million. As we could have guessed, singing about falling in love and being in a globally beloved boy band can make you incredibly wealthy.
How much money did Lou Pearlman steal from The Backstreet Boys?
According to Forbes, when the Backstreet Boys sued Pearlman in 1998, they said he took $10 million from them but only paid them $300,000 between 1993 and 1998. Pearlman got extremely rich while BSB wondered why they were making almost nothing despite their incredible success. Both NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys took legal action against Pearlman, which we definitely support. We were cheering during that part of Dirty Pop. Sadly, he made $64 million from the settlement, so he came out on top — before his arrest and prison sentence, that is.
There is a disturbing scene in Dirty Pop when BSB explains that they had traveled and performed for a long time before receiving a check from Pearlman. And when they finally got paid, they were each given $10,000. There was no way that was all the money they were owed. The band ended up traveling around and performing anywhere they could to get more exposure. They even spent two years in Europe because they were super famous in Germany before North America.
Dirty Pop explains Pearlman’s Ponzi scheme, which added up to $300 million, and the limited series mentioned he committed bank fraud of $200 million. Besides taking money from the Backstreet Boys, Pearlman told people to invest in his company Trans Continental Airlines. He claimed that the investments were FDIC-insured and that if anything happened to the bank, people would still receive their money. The problem? People didn’t get their investments back… ever. Dirty Pop mentioned one couple who lost their life savings of $300,000.
This part of the story is a sobering reminder that while the Backstreet Boys did make a lot more money as they grew older and continued to find success, almost 2,000 people lost everything before Pearlman died in 2016. The Backstreet Boys were young at the time and heartbroken about what Pearlman did, which we completely understand. No one deserves to have their money stolen, no matter how rich or famous they end up.
While we might assume that the Backstreet Boys wanted absolutely nothing to do with Pearlman after he stole so much money from them, Howie Dorough went to Pearlman’s massive birthday parties and called him a “mentor.” This brings up the important question of how you should feel about someone who committed multiple, but who, in doing so, helped you achieve your dreams. Perhaps Michael Johnson, the singer from Natural who worked with Pearlman up until his arrest, said it best: “That’s the monster that was my best friend.”