Exclusive:
The kind-hearted Wham! star continues his legacy almost a decade after his death
George Michael is still giving more than £6,000 a day from beyond the grave – with £2.3million donated to good causes last year.
The late superstar was renowned for doling out his millions, and we can reveal he is still sharing his wealth following his death at the age of 53 on Christmas Day in 2016. Last year, his estate gave £2.33million to his foundation The Mill Charitable Trust. The money came from three of the singer’s businesses and works out at £6,383 a day. The trust gives grants to good causes – and last year £398,500 was passed to 16 of those closest to George’s heart. This includes £16,500 to St Thomas of Canterbury church in Goring-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. He lived next door to it for years and it has a memorial plaque of him.
He also gave to homelessness charities Shelter and Crisis UK, domestic violence organisation Refuge, the NSPCC, Women’s Aid federation and the National Aids Trust. The singer’s charity made a fortune selling off his art collection in 2019, making £11.2m from an auction, which included works by Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin.
Careless Whisper singer George died of heart failure at his home in Goring and left the bulk of his £97million estate to older sisters Yioda and Melanie. Yioda is secretary of The Mill Charitable Trust, which George set up in 2009, and is one of its three trustees. Melanie died in 2019.
Tales of George’s philanthropy are well known. Former Deal or No Deal producer Richard Osman once told how one contestant’s partner had needed £9,000 for treatment. The next day George phoned in to donate the money. The beneficiary was Lynette Gillard, 38, from Bolton, whose partner Steve Davies appeared on the show in 2008.
She said: “For many years I wondered who would have been so generous and now I know. What more can I say other than, ‘Thank you, George’.”
David Walliams said that the singer had donated £50,000 to his 2006 Sport Relief cross-Channel swim.
George’s estate has been earning almost £300,000 a week over the past two years. Hits such as Last Christmas, which got to No1 for a second time in December, helped rack up the fortune. Earnings by George are revealed in accounts just filed by the Wham! founder’s firm. Nobby’s Hobbies Holding Limited showed it turned over £23,777,273 in 2023 and £6,634,840 last year. It means the weekly earnings over the period were £292,424.
The books also show £2m of the turnover came from publishing income, £3.5m from royalties and £6,260 from merchandise.
The earnings came after Last Christmas got to be the festive No1 for the first time in 2023. It was first released in 1984 but only made No2 at the time due to Band Aid’s charity single, Do They Know It’s Christmas? George insisted all the royalties from his own hit also went to the Band Aid cause.
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