Who is the richest U2 band member? Net worths, ranked – from Bono’s US$1 billion Facebook shares and The Edge’s work with Jay-Z and Rihanna, to Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr’s film soundtrack music

Dec 9 , 2022

Adam Clayton, Bono, Larry Mullen Jr, and The Edge from U2 at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, on December 4. Photo: AFP

U2 has been together for nearly five decades, and was recently feted in the 2022 Kennedy Centre Honours alongside George Clooney and conductor Tania León

Bono is the Irish band’s best known member with a US$700 million net worth, a Tesla Model S and two luxury yachts, co-owning The Clarence Hotel with The Edge

It was a beautiful day for U2 on December 5 when, as actor Sean Penn described them, the “four scrappy Dublin punks” were feted at this year’s Kennedy Centre Honours. It’s only the fifth band to ever receive the distinction from the famed New York cultural institution. The “With or Without You” stars were named the “most consistently relevant band in history” at the event, which also honoured George Clooney and Tania León.

U2’s drummer Larry Mullen Jr., lead singer Bono, bass player Adam Clayton and guitarist The Edge in California, in 1983. Photo: Corbis

Few bands can say that they’ve stuck together for nearly half a century (with the exception of 60-years-plus-and-still-going The Rolling Stones), but rock ‘n’ roll band U2 members Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. met in their youth 46 years ago – and they’re still going strong to this day with performances, music, and even a rumoured world tour or Vegas residency in 2023.

It all started in 1976 in Dublin, when Mullen posted a “musicians wanted” ad at a school. Three other teenagers signed up and the band’s first rehearsal took place in the modest confines of Mullen’s kitchen. The Edge’s older brother Richard “Dik” Evans played the guitar with them (before the band was called U2), but he quit after the first 18 months and went on to study computer science, per Ozy, leaving behind the foursome that would become international icons.

It took them a few years to find their bearings, but by the 1980s, the group had found their sound with songs like “I Will Follow” and “Out of Control”.

But it hasn’t always been easy. “We come close to breaking up much more often than you’d think,” Bono recently told The Washington Post. “Usually after the really good albums, because they cost you in personal relationships because you’re pushing each other and get really at your elastic limit.”

But they’ve made it work, and it’s paid off in spades. Financially, they’re now collectively worth about US$1.8 billion, according to The Richest.

So, 22 Grammy awards and 170 million record sales later, who’s the richest band member of U2 in 2022, according to Celebrity Net Worth figures?

4. Larry Mullen Jr. – US$350 million

Larry Mullen Jr. has numerous issues with his joints after decades of drumming, and may not tour with the band again next year. Photo: @larry_mullen_jr/Instagram