I know I have always said that the sister-in-law of the dead singer would literally do anything for a buck, but even I didn’t see her selling the dead singer’s underwear to do so.
Pat Houston
Whitney Houston
What Really Happened
2007 Auction of Whitney’s Stage Wardrobe
In early 2007, Whitney Houston—amid serious financial troubles—auctioned off a warehouse full of costumes and personal items, including bustiers, bras, and underwear. This event was part of a court-ordered attempt to cover unpaid storage fees (~$150,000) and mortgage/tax debts. The auction featured hundreds of stage outfits and accessories, and even items like a see-through piano and various personal props.
Whitney Houston’s Rise, Fall, and the Fortune She Left Behind
At the height of her fame in the ’80s and ’90s, Whitney Houston was music royalty—pulling in up to $30 million a year, selling over 200 million records, and cashing a $33 million payday from The Bodyguard soundtrack. But behind the glamour, money was slipping away just as fast as it came in.
Lavish spending, a costly drug habit, bad business deals, and betrayal—including theft by her own father—drained her fortune. By 2007, after divorcing Bobby Brown, she was millions in debt. And by the time she died in 2012 at 48, her net worth was an estimated –$20 million, with homes in foreclosure and rumors she’d been asking Clive Davis for financial help.
Then came the twist. Her death sent music sales and royalties soaring, bringing in $40 million within nine months. Debts were paid, and her daughter Bobbi Kristina inherited $20 million—before tragically dying in 2015 in eerily similar circumstances. The estate then passed to her mother Cissy and brothers, later managed by sister-in-law Pat Houston.
Today, thanks to licensing deals, streaming, and a 50% partnership with Primary Wave Music, Whitney’s estate is worth over $100 million—a bittersweet comeback for “The Voice” who once had it all.