How David Blaine Achieved a Net Worth of $40 Million

David Blaine is a mentalist, illusionist, endurance artist, and extreme performer. He became famous for performing incredible tricks on the streets and is now one of the richest magicians globally. So, what is David Blaine Net worth? Blaine has a net worth of $40 million. Keep reading to discover more about Blaine, including how he made his fortune.

David Blaine Early Life

David Blaine White has an interesting history that contributed to his career in magic. Born in Brooklyn, New York, on April 4th, 1973, Blaine is the son of Maureen White and Willian Perez. His father was a war veteran, who wasn’t really in the picture, and his mom was a teacher. The first time David witnessed magic, he was only four years old. The magician on the subway sparked his interest with his tricks, and he decided that was what he wanted to do for the rest of his life.

When he was ten, his mother remarried, and the family moved to New Jersey. He attended Passaic Valley Regional High School. After graduating, he decided to skip college and move to Manhattan, where he started practicing street magic.

David Blaine Career

Blaine started his career by getting featured in soap operas and commercials. At this time, he was still practicing street magic. He would leave his audience baffled by the intriguing tricks that he did. From there, people started booking him for magic shows.

As he performed street magic, he had a crew who would record the stunts. The magician would send his recorded performances to TV channels, and this is where he got his first big break. His TV special called David Blaine: Street Magic aired on May 19, 1997, on ABC. After that, he traveled across the country for the next two years, entertaining pedestrians in cities like San Francisco, New York, and Dallas.

David Blaine Famous Live Stunts

David Blaine has performed some of the most breathtaking stunts in his career, contributing to his popularity and wealth. According to News18, some of his famous stunts include the following.

Buried Alive for 7 Days

This is Blaine’s first endurance stunt, which happened in 1999. He was buried in a plastic box under a water-filled tank for seven days. He ate nothing for this period and only had 2 to 3 tablespoons of water per day.

Over 75,000 people, including Marie Blood, the niece of Harry Houdini, witnessed this stunt. On the last day, multiple media and news teams showed up to witness the coffin opening. When Blaine emerged, the crows cheered. BBC News reported that Blaine had managed to outdo his hero, Harry Houdini, who had planned to do a similar stunt but died before he could.

Vertigo Stunt

In May 2002, the illusionist performed a vertigo stunt. He stood on top of a 100 ft pillar in Bryant Park. While he wasn’t harnessed to the pillar, he had two handles to grasp just in case of bad weather. He stood on top of the pillar for 35 hours, and when he jumped on the landing platform, he suffered a mild concussion. He admitted that he suffered hallucinations during the last few hours of this stunt.

Standing on an Ice Block for 63 Hours

In 2000, Blaine attempted to encage himself in a large block of ice in Times Square. The stunt, called ‘Frozen Time,’ was aired on TV. He was lightly dressed, and even before being encaged in the ice, one could see that he was shivering.

The challenge, which was supposed to go for 72 hours, went for 63 hrs and 52 mins and earned him a whopping $1m. After the challenge, he was taken to the hospital for fear that he was going into shock. It took a month for him to recover.

Above the Below Stunt

In this challenge, Blaine was sealed inside a transparent Plexiglas, which was dangled over London. Reports suggested that he went for 44 days without food and only had water. Onlookers would tempt him with food, while others would bang drums if he tried to sleep. Some went as far as throwing projectiles at his box. Safe to say, it wasn’t the most fun experience.

Drowned Alive

In May 2006, he performed the ‘drowned alive’ stunt. He was handcuffed and submerged in a sphere filled with water for seven days. According to ABC News, at that time, Blaine admitted that this was one the most painful stunts he had ever performed.

As the challenge ended, he removed the oxygen tubes and tried to break the world record by holding his breath underwater. Unfortunately, he only went for seven minutes, while the world record stood at 8 minutes, 58 seconds. After the stunt, researchers from Yale University studied him to understand the human physiological reaction to being submerged in water for such a long period.

Electrified While Standing on Top of a Pole

Standing on pillars wasn’t enough for Blaine. In 2012, he took it further and decided to pull a stunt where he stood on top of a pillar for 72 hours while connected to an electric current. While this sounds dangerous, Blaine wore a Faraday Cage. Physics professors say that the stunt was less dangerous because the cage absorbed the current protecting Blaine.

How Has David Blaine Built His Net Worth?

David Blaine has starred in plenty of TV shows and hosted magic shows, which have contributed to his net worth. In addition, he has earned a significant amount from some of the live stunts he performed. In 2018, Blaine earned about 13.5 million. According to Forbes, he was among the highest-paid magicians in the world.

The illusionist increased his earnings from his sold-out tour in North America. The tour featured some incredible stunts, like holding his breath underwater and regurgitating live frogs. He also does private performances where he is paid a mid-six-figure salary.

David Blaine’s Lifestyle

Blaine lives a lavish lifestyle. He is friends with A-list celebrities like Will Smith, Leonardo DiCaprio, Katy Perry, and Harrison Ford.

In terms of real estate, he owns a secret magic lab in Chinatown which he considers his lair. This is where he comes up with tricks and illusions. In 2016, he listed his New York 1000-sqft apartment for $2.3 million. He also bought a duplex apartment in New York for $1.6 million in 2005. Reports indicate that he still owns both apartments.

Blaine isn’t married, although he dated Alizee Guinochet, and they got engaged in 2009. It was a serious relationship, and they had a baby in 2011. However, the couple separated before getting married. He has also dated a few people here and there over the last few years.

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