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Who’s the richest member of Girls’ Generation? Net worths, ranked – from Taeyeon’s solo career and Yoona’s collab with Miu Miu, to Jessica Jung’s business success

Girls’ Generation, aka SNSD, comprises members Taeyeon, Sunny, Tiffany, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung, Yoona and Seohyun. Photo: Twitter
Girls’ Generation, aka SNSD, comprises members Taeyeon, Sunny, Tiffany, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung, Yoona and Seohyun. Photo: Twitter
K-pop idols

  • The K-pop idol girl group under SM Entertainment are back with a new album ‘Holiday Night’ coming in August – but Jessica remains the richest, despite leaving in 2014
  • Seohyun was discovered by SM Entertainment in the US, then had a solo career, as did Sooyoung and Taeyeon who also earn millions from YouTube vlogs

Drumroll, please … Girls’ Generation is making a comeback! Much to fans’ delight, all eight members of the K-pop girl group are preparing to release a new album in August, for their 15th anniversary since their debut. It will be their first project after five years, following their last album “Holiday Night”, released in 2017.

Debuting in 2007 under SM Entertainment, Girls’ Generation, aka SNSD, is an icon of second-generation K-pop that has been dubbed “the Nation’s Girl Group” of South Korea. In 2020, it became the second girl group in the world to sell over 100 million digital and physical records, joining The Supremes, according to Koreaboo. Its song Gee holds the record as the most-downloaded idol group song in the history of South Korea, according to AllKPop.

The group initially consisted of nine members including Taeyeon, Sunny, Tiffany, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung, Yoona, Seohyun – and Jessica, who left in 2014 to pursue her own business activities.

Aside from enjoying a profitable share of the group’s activities, each member has also built up her own empire. Most of it comes from forays in acting and lucrative endorsements, bringing the band’s estimated combined net worth to a whopping US$100 million. But who is the richest? (Net worths all according to Seoulspace.)

9. Tiffany: US$3 million

Tiffany Young was recruited at age 15 to join Girls’ Generation when she was living in the US. Photo: @girlsgneration/Instagram
Tiffany Young was recruited at age 15 to join Girls’ Generation when she was living in the US. Photo: @girlsgneration/Instagram
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Born in the US, Tiffany Young was discovered by SM Entertainment at age 15 and moved to Seoul to join the group. In 2017, she returned to Los Angeles, where she embarked on a successful solo career.

Her singles Over My Skin and Lips on Lips won her an award for best solo breakout at the iHeart Radio Music Awards, per Bangkok Post. A huge part of her earnings comes from hosting shows like Breakfast with Tiffany, Girls Planet 999, Pet Vitamin and more.

Last year, she made her musical dream come true too, appearing in the South Korean production of the Broadway musical Chicago, per KpopStarz. Plus, she’ll be happy to pocket even more cash with her acting debut this year: she will be starring in upcoming drama The Youngest Son of a Conglomerate.

8. Seohyun: US$4 million

Seohyun in the drama Private Lives. Photo: JTBC
Seohyun in the drama Private Lives. Photo: JTBC
The band’s maknae (youngest), Seo Ju-hyun aka Seohyun also went solo in 2017, but has recently focused on acting. She’s had a range of lead roles in dramas such as Bad Thief, Good Thief (2017), Time (2018), Drama Festa: Hello Dracula (2020) and Private Lives (2020), as well as musicals such as Gone With The Wind and Mamma Mia, and most recently Netflix’s film Love and Leashes (2022). She will be starring in the upcoming romcom series Jinx’s Lover and Netflix’s Song of the Bandits.

She also earns a good amount from endorsements with beauty brands like The Face Shop, Pantene and Clinique.

7. Yuri: US$5 million

Yuri from Girls’ Generation in the drama Bossam: Steal the Fate. Photo: @girlsgeneration/Instagram
Yuri from Girls’ Generation in the drama Bossam: Steal the Fate. Photo: @girlsgeneration/Instagram