Inside Clive Davis' eye-watering net worth — including $100 million art collection

While no exact figures are present, multiple reports (primarily Celebrity Net Worth) place Clive's wealth in the $600 million range. Some reports go as high as $850 million, although there are no concrete figures to corroborate those.

His sky-high wealth at the time of his death can primarily be attributed to his work of nearly 70 years in the recording industry, paired with his real-estate portfolio and a very lucrative art collection.

Clive first entered the industry as a lawyer, being hired as a counsel for Columbia Records in the 1960s. He quickly moved up the ladder, and by 1967, he was named the President of Columbia Records, signing acts like Donovan, Tony Orlando, and Barry.

The label's profits soared during his tenure, especially due to his ability to seek out artists who met the moment in music, by bringing on or elevating more artists like Bruce, Aretha, Billy Joel, Aerosmith, Earth, Wind & Fire, Pink Floyd, Janis Joplin, Neil Diamond, Santana, Chicago, and many more.

However, he was soon ousted from Columbia due to a lawsuit alleging misuse of company funds. He went on to create Arista Records, taking over the floundering Bell Records, turning it into one of the most successful record labels from the '70s to the '90s, boasting many of the same artists from his earlier line-ups, plus new arrivals like Dionne Warwick, Taylor Dayne, Patti Smith, Ace of Base, etc.

In the 1990s, Clive branched out by forming LaFace Records with LA Reid (home to artists like Usher, Outkast, Pink, etc.) and Bad Boy Records with Sean "Diddy" Combs (home for artists like The Notorious B.I.G. and Faith Evans).

Through a whopping $150 million deal with BMG, he created J Records after he was being forced out of Arista, which was boosted especially with Alicia's debut. He was soon named CEO of RCA Music Group, led the formation of Sony BMG, and ended his career as the CCO of Sony Music Entertainment.

Clive was also renowned as a prominent collector of art, with some of his collection on display at New York University (which houses the Clive Davis Institute of Music), and the rest at his Westchester home.

He has pieces by artists like Pablo Picasso, Damien Hirst, Dale Chihuly, Andy Warhol, Alex Katz, Fernando Botero, and Adolph Gottlieb, to name a few, with his collection reportedly worth $100 million on its own.

Clive owned several properties throughout his lifetime in New York, his most renowned being his sprawling estate in Northern Westchester County, where he last hosted his annual Memorial Day Weekend shindig.

The property features an 8000-sq.ft main house itself, with the 17-acre estate also housing two pools, a tennis court, and an impressive state-of-the-art home theatre fit for at least 80 guests. He previously told CEPro of the home theatre: "I use it every weekend…On nights when I have a big party, people crowd in, and I've had as many as 80 people in the theater. I enjoy it thoroughly."

He has also owned multiple apartments in Manhattan, his Ritz Tower abode in Midtown East being his consistent home for decades. Over the years, he has bought and renovated several apartments in the building to create his own space, and he has owned lavish apartments in several other buildings throughout Manhattan.