Brian Wilson's Beach Boys Legacy Allowed Him to Accumulate a Sizable Net Worth

While every major rock and roll star has gone through struggles over the course of their career, few have struggled more than Brian Wilson. A songwriter genius who was the creative mastermind behind The Beach Boys, Brian has also struggled with mental illness throughout the course of his career.

Following the death of his wife Melinda Ledbetter after 28 years of marriage, his family announced that they would be filing for conservatorship over his estate. That news lead many to wonder exactly what Brian's net worth is. Here's what we know about the musical legend's wealth.

Thanks to his role as the Beach Boys' primary songwriter, Brian has earned a net worth of roughly $100 million, and that sum could have been even greater if not for some poor business decisions. The chief issue came in 1969, when Brian's father sold the rights to many of the band's earliest hits to Irving Alamo Music for just $700,000. If they had held onto those rights, they would be worth hundreds of millions of dollars today.

Brian's family filed for conservatorship after the news that his wife, Melinda, had died.

"My heart is broken. Melinda, my beloved wife of 28 years, passed away this morning, Our five children and I are just in tears," he wrote in his announcement. "We are lost. Melinda was more than my wife. She was my savior. She gave me the emotional security I needed to have a career."

The family filed for conservatorship just days after Melinda's passing. According to the court documents, Brian is suffering from a neurocognitive disorder that keeps him from taking good care of himself. It seems like Melinda's death, and her inability to continue taking care of Brian, was the ultimate trigger for the conservatorship to go into place.

"Following the passing of Brian's beloved wife Melinda, after careful consideration and consultation among Brian, his seven children, Gloria Ramos, and Brian's doctors (and consistent with family processes put in place by Brian and Melinda), we are confirming that longtime Wilson family representatives LeeAnn Hard and Jean Sievers will serve as Brian's co-conservators of the person," the family announced on Instagram.

While conservatorship has been in the news in recent years because of the one that was placed on Britney Spears, there are some circumstances where the framework is appropriate. It's always possible for someone to abuse the system, but in this case, and given Brian's long and documented struggle with mental illness, there may not be any foul play.