Stepping down from their royal duties and settling in sunny California didn’t prevent the Sussexes from keeping up with their luxurious lifestyle.
Among the rest, Harry and Meghan secured a five-year $100 million production deal with Netflix, which released their documentary, and made deals with Spotify.
Harry published his much-anticipated all-tell memoir Spare which sold in a staggering 1.4 million copies on its first day in the UK, United States, and Canada. Spare has been released in 16 different languages worldwide and is expected to be the best-selling book in 2023.
“We always knew this book would fly, but it is exceeding even our most bullish expectations,” Larry Finlay, managing director of Transworld Penguin Random House, said.
As Harry was cut-off financially when he left his royal family behind, he and Meghan have been forced to worked their way of making money and supporting their lavish lifestyle. With the deals they made, Meghan’s net worth of around $60 million and the $14 million princess Diana left Harry, they seem to be doing just fine.
Later on, the media group run by Harry and Meghan, Archewell Audio, and streaming giant Spotify announced that they had mutually agreed to end their multi-million dollar contract. Allegedly, Spotify expected more content from Archewell Studios.
Harry and Meghan on the other hand issued a statement saying they didn’t like the idea of distributing exclusively to Spotify. In their description, Archewell Audio’s company says its mission is “producing programming that uplifts and entertains audiences around the world,” as well as “spotlights diverse perspectives and voices. What’s most, they want to build “community through shared experience, narratives, and values.”
Bill Simmons, who founded Spotify and later sold it for around $200 million but now serves as the company’s head of podcast innovation and monetization, called the Sussexes “grifters.”
“I wish I had been involved in the ‘Meghan and Harry leave Spotify’ negotiation. The Fucking Grifters, that’s the podcast we should have launched with them,” Simmons said on the Bill Simmons podcast.
“I have got to get drunk one night and tell the story of the Zoom I had with Harry to try and help him with a podcast idea. It’s one of my best stories … Fu*k them. The grifters.”