David Choe Net Worth: Painter, Designer, Richest American Painter Net Worth

Early Life Of David Choe

On April 21, 1976, David Choe was born in Los Angeles, California. His parents are Korean immigrants who were converted to Christianity and raised in the Koreatown neighbourhood of Los Angeles. In his early years, David learned to draw "Star Wars" and "G.I. Joe" scenes. He was inspired by Los Angeles graffiti artists Hex and Mear One to start painting graffiti in 1990.

After his parents' real estate company was destroyed in the 1992 L.A. riots, Choe left high school and spent the next two years hitchhiking throughout North America, Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. David went back to California at the age of 21 and enrolled at the California College of the Arts, but he left after two years.

David Choe's Net Worth

American painter, muralist, graphic novelist, and graffiti artist David Choe is worth $300 million. In the realm of graffiti, David Choe is recognised for his figure paintings and is often associated with the bucktoothed whale. He has contributed to publications such as "Ray Gun," "Vice," and "Hustler." He also co-hosted the "DVDASA" podcast alongside adult film star Asa Akira.

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Choe appeared in the 2008 documentary "Dirty Hands: The Art and Crimes of David Choe." He is the author of the books "Slow Jams" (1999), "Bruised Fruit: The Art of David Choe" (2002), "Cursiv" (2003), and "David Choe" (2020). Additionally, he has had appearances in the television shows "Vice" (2014), "Better Things" (2019), "Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown" (2013), and "The Mandalorian" (2021).

David Choe's Facebook Payday

The president of Facebook, Sean Parker, was drawn to David's graffiti work in the early 2000s. To adorn the walls of Facebook's Silicon Valley headquarters, Parker hired Choe. Choe informed Parker he wanted $60,000 when it came time to haggle over his fee.

After speaking with Sean, CEO Mark Zuckerberg agreed, but recommended that Sean accept company stock in lieu of cash. It was a pretty astute recommendation. The precise number of Facebook shares that David received is unknown, and as of right now, his ownership is not substantial enough for the business to disclose in its financial statements. But at the time of Facebook's IPO, we can say with some degree of certainty that David Choe's equity was valued at about $200 million. Given how much Facebook's stock has gained in value since its IPO, it's highly likely that he had stakes that were worth $300–500 million at different points in time.

Art Career Of David Choe

After serving a week in jail for his graffiti, David Choe moved home with his parents and began writing and drawing for a number of periodicals, including "Vice." Additionally, he starred in the "Vice" online series "Thumbs Up!" (2007–2010), which followed David and his closest buddy Harry Kim as they hitched across China and the United States and rode trains.

Approximately when he started working with "Vice," Choe established a connection with the pop-culture retailer and publication "Giant Robot." David displayed his paintings in Double Rainbow, an ice cream parlour on Melrose Avenue, after art galleries showed little interest in his work.

The work was so well received by the customers that the business allowed him to display it for two years, adding a new piece each time one was sold.

He initially printed 200 copies of the graphic novel "Slow Jams," which he self-published in 2006 and distributed at Comic-Con in 1998. Following its Xeric Grant submission, Choe received $5,000 to self-publish an enlarged edition in 1,000 copies. Originally released in 1999 for $4 on the cover, the graphic novel has since sold for hundreds of dollars on eBay.

"Dirty Hands: The Art and Crimes of David Choe," a 2008 documentary, is characterised as a "intense portrait of David Choe, a young near-schizophrenic street artist that devises numerous criminal schemes that afford him to hitchhike across the globe." Harry Kim spent more than ten years filming David's life. Choe received a solo display at the Santa Rosa Museum of Contemporary Art in 2005 following a string of solo exhibitions in San Francisco and San Jose.

The following year, he presented his first solo exhibition in the United Kingdom, "Murderous Heart," at the Lazarides Gallery in London and Newcastle. In 2007, he exhibited his first solo exhibition in New York, "Gardeners of Eden," at Chelsea's Jonathan LeVine Gallery. David exhibited his watercolours in the Museo Universario del Chopo in Mexico City in 2013 and Koreatown's "The Choe Show," an invitation-only show, in 2017. In addition, Choe provided the voice of the main character in the 2007 animated picture "We Are The Strange" and drew the cover for Jay-Z and Linkin Park's "Collision Course" EP from 2004.

David choe Personal Life

Choe has contributed to numerous charitable causes. Through The LIDÈ Haiti Foundation, which was founded by Rainn Wilson, star of "The Office," and his spouse, author Holiday Reinhorn, he has painted with at-risk children and helped collect money for Wyclef Jean's Yle Haiti. David was incarcerated for three months at the beginning of the 2000s for hitting an undercover security guard in Tokyo. Because of the language barrier, the incident occurred. During his incarceration, Choe did over 600 drawings using "the one pen his cell was allowed" and erotic paintings using tea, soy sauce, blood, and pee. He was told to leave the nation and never come back after being freed.

David sparked controversy in 2014 when he claimed on his podcast that he had engaged in "rapey behaviour" with a masseuse. He subsequently claimed that the podcast was a work of fiction. Artist Jasmine Wahi, who assisted in planning a performance in front of the mural, said, "Our aim is to provoke widespread rejection of the continued normalisation of rape culture by bringing visibility to the topic." A number of artists voiced their disapproval of Choe's commission to paint the Bowery Mural Wall in 2017. David expressed regret for his earlier remarks, saying, "I have never before committed a sexual assault. I sincerely apologise for whatever damage my previous remarks may have caused to anyone. Rape is non-consensual sex, and jokes about it are never appropriate or humorous.

David Choe Real Estate

David spent $3.1 million in 2010 to purchase a 6,500 square foot mansion in the Los Feliz neighbourhood of Los Angeles. David put this house up for sale in September 2022 for $6.9 million.

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