Wonder how much money Jennifer made after reaching the American Idol finals? You wouldn’t believe it but Jennifer Hudson net worth is now estimated at $20 million. This bright and beautiful artist is the perfect example of how not winning a singing competition is not the end of the world, but the beginning of a successful career in showbiz.

Stay with us to find out everything about her wealth and popularity sources, career development and personal life over the last ten years.

Jennifer Hudson Net Worth: $20 million

With a rising career in music and movie industry, Jennifer Hudson net worth grew tremendously after she got into the American Idol finals, and is currently estimated to $20 million. So, beside singing, her wealth is also due to her acting projects which brought her numerous awards.

Short Bio and Career Development

Born on September 12, 1981, in Chicago, Illinois, Jennifer Hudson is an African American actress, music artist and spokesperson. She started singing from an early age but came into public attention only in 2004, when she entered American Idol reality singing competition. Before that, the church was her stage, where she developed singing and acting skills as a member of the choir and by doing community theatre.

The odds looked favorable to Jennifer after she entered the American Idol, but she didn’t win the competition as expected. However, this didn’t stop her achieve a net worth of $20 million over the next ten years with a successful career in music and films.

In 2006 she got a part in the Broadway musical Dreamgirls, starring Beyonce Knowles, Eddy Murphy and Jamie Foxx. Portraying Effie White brought her 29 awards including Academy Award for Best Actress, BAFTA award, Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Supporting Actress, a Golden Globe, and above all, an Oscar.

As an actress, Jennifer Hudson has also performed in The Secret Life of Bees, Winnie Mandela, The Three Stooges, as well as in The Sex and the City. If her movie debut and career was such a rocking success, let’s have a look at her debut in music.

In 2008, Jennifer releases her first album – Jennifer Hudson – which debuted at no. 2 in the US Billboard 200 and earned her a Grammy Award in the Best R&B Album category. Her first recording contract, though, dates from 2002, when she signed with Righteous Records. She gave up to the contract to participate in the American Idol show in 2004, but she acknowledges that those were two years of gaining valuable stage, live performance experience with the help of David Johnson.

After her debut in music, she collaborated with Ne-Yo and Rick Ross for ‘Think Like a Man’, the title track of the ‘Night of Your Life’, and with David Guetta for his album ‘Nothing But The Beat’.

While her acting and singing career were truly a hit, her personal life wasn’t all milk and honey. In 2008 Jennifer went through extremely hard times as her mother, Darnell Donnerson, and her brother Jason were found dead in their Chicago home. As if it wasn’t enough, her nephew Jason, aged 7, was found shot by the FBI. According to newspapers reporting at the time, they were murdered by William Balfour, her sister’s ex-husband who was convicted four years later to life in prison.

In 2009, however, her life gets a bit brighter, having her first child with David Otunga, a professional wrestler in the WWE and a Harvard Law graduate with whom she got engaged a year before.

Things got better and better both professionally and personally, and in 2013 Jennifer received a start on The Hollywood Walk of Fame. Same year, she released her critically acclaimed song ‘I Can’t Describe (How I Feel)’, produced by Pharrell Williams, she performed the Super Bowl XLVII and the Academy Awards.

What is more, she is known as one of the President Barack Obama’s friends, having performed at the White House and appeared with him at a fundraiser in Beverly Hills.

Over Time Jennifer Hudson Net Worth

Her debut album, Jennifer Hudson, sold 998,720 copies worldwide and the estimated earnings as for 2008 boosted Jennifer Hudson net worth with no less than $1 million. Among the female music artists that she says to have influenced her style are: Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston and Patti LaBelle.

After Jennifer’s first major commercial success in the music industry, her second studio album I Remember Me was released on March 22, 2011 and sold 398,000. This brought her another half million of bucks. 165,000 copies were sold in the first week only and soon her album’s lead single ‘Where You At’ made it to the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart at number 53. A few month later, her second single, ‘No One Gonne Love You’ was ranked 23 on the same top.

Where Do All the Money Go?

If Jennifer’s wealth translates in big figures, she is certainly a hard-working artist. But she is also a spender. After spiking up her net worth up to $18 million, in 2013 Jennifer spent no less than $3 million on an enormous 12,000 square-feet house in Chicago, where she now lives.

Her home is a six-bedroom and 7-bathrooms mansion, housing a Movie Theater as well.

Moreover, she is driving a 2013 Hyundai Veloster C3, a concept car valued at over $200,000.

Despite her extravagances, Jennifer Hudson net worth doesn’t seem to have suffered much, being currently estimated to $20 million and growing.

She is also known as a philanthropist, giving back to the community and supporting various events through her organization, the Julian D. King Gift Foundation.

Quick Facts

Full Name	Jennifer Kate Hudson
Date and Place of Birth	September 12, 1981Chicago, Illinois
Net Worth	$20 million
Source of Wealth	RecordingsFilms

Spokeswoman for Weight WatchersKnown forSinging – American Idol contestantR&B music artist

Acting – Dreamgirls (Oscar, 2006)

Best-selling memoir author – I Got This: How I Changed My Ways, Found Myself and Lost Everything that Weighed Me DownImportant AwardsOscar, Golden Globe, Grammy, BAFTA, BET, Academy AwardFamilyEngaged to David OtungaDavid Daniel Otunga Jr. – sonReligionBaptist