David Choe Net Worth

What is David Choe's Net Worth?

David Choe is an American painter, graffiti artist, graphic novelist, and muralist who has net worth of $300 million. Raised in Los Angeles, Choe emerged in the 1990s as part of the West Coast graffiti scene, developing a distinctive, high-energy style he later called "dirty style," marked by raw brushwork, impulsive lines, and emotionally charged imagery. His early notoriety came through self-published comics like "Slow Jams," which won a Xeric Grant and quickly became a cult collectible. By the early 2000s, Choe was exhibiting internationally, creating large-scale murals, and contributing illustrations and reportage for publications including Vice.

A defining moment in Choe's career came in 2005 when he was hired to paint murals inside Facebook's first headquarters. Offered either a few thousand dollars in cash or payment in company stock, he chose the stock. When Facebook went public in 2012, those shares were reportedly worth well over $100 million, instantly transforming Choe into one of the wealthiest artists in the world. That windfall brought enormous public attention to his work and cemented his reputation as a rebellious outsider who succeeded without relying on the traditional gallery system. Much more on his Facebook fortune in the next section below.

Despite his commercial triumph, Choe's career has been marked by long periods of withdrawal from the public eye, personal struggles, and controversies, including backlash over past comments that resurfaced years later. He has also worked in film and television, producing documentary content, hosting travel-adventure series for Vice, and appearing as the scene-painting "The Painter" in the Netflix series "Beef," a role that introduced him to a wider mainstream audience and earned critical praise. He co-hosted the "DVDASA" podcast with adult film star Asa Akira.

Facebook Payday

The most defining financial moment in David Choe's career came in 2005, a period when he was still primarily known as a rebellious graffiti artist. His work, characterized by its raw energy and provocative style, caught the attention of Facebook's founding President, Sean Parker.

Parker hired Choe to decorate the walls of Facebook's first headquarters in Silicon Valley—a nascent startup that few could have predicted would become a global behemoth. When it came time to negotiate the compensation for painting the entire building, Choe reportedly sought a fee of $60,000.

Instead of paying cash, Parker and CEO Mark Zuckerberg made a counteroffer: Choe could take the equivalent amount in company stock options. Choe himself has admitted that he found the initial concept of Facebook "ridiculous" and initially didn't believe in the company. However, captivated by Parker's charisma and drive, the artist made an incredible gamble, stating, "I believed in Sean. I didn't care about Facebook. I'm like, this kid knows something, and I'm going to bet my money on him."

When Facebook held its Initial Public Offering (IPO) in May 2012 at a price of $38 per share, David Choe's equity was instantly estimated to be worth around $200 million. Within a few years, his stake, had he not sold, would have been worth over $500 million,

While the exact number of shares Choe received remains private, and he does not own a large enough stake today to be publicly reported in financial filings, the story of his incredible gamble is a Silicon Valley legend.

The true scale of the bet, however, is best understood by tracking the company's valuation after the IPO. If David Choe had held onto all of his estimated shares, his compensation would have grown exponentially as the stock continued to climb, making the original $60,000 request the biggest missed opportunity in tech history for those who didn't take the stock.

Estimated Value of David Choe's Facebook Shares (If Held)

If we assume David at one point owned around .025%, a widely reported figure, here's how much his stake would be worth had he held over the years:

• 2012 – $57 billion * 0.0025 = $142.5 million
• 2013 – $139 billion * 0.0025 = $347.5 million
• 2014 – $223 billion * 0.0025 = $557.5 million
• 2015 – $314 billion * 0.0025 = $785 million
• 2016 – $342 billion * 0.0025 = $855 million
• 2017 – $516 billion * 0.0025 = $1,290 million
• 2018 – $383 billion * 0.0025 = $957 million
• 2019 – $585 billion * 0.0025 = $1.462 billion
• 2020 – $778 billion * 0.0025 = $1.945 billion
• 2021 – $931 billion * 0.0025 = $2.3275 billion
• 2022 – $320 billion * 0.0025 = $800 million
• 2023 – $910 billion * 0.0025 = $2.275 billion
• 2024 – $1,493 billion * 0.0025 = $3.7325 billion
• 2025 (Current) – $1,645 billion * 0.0025 = $4.1125 billion

Ramin Talaie/Getty Images

Early Life

David Choe was born on April 21, 1976, in Los Angeles, California. He grew up in the Koreatown area of Los Angeles, and his parents are Korean immigrants as well as born-again Christians. During his youth, David learned to draw "Star Wars" and "G.I. Joe" images, and in 1990, he began painting graffiti after being inspired by Los Angeles graffiti artists Hex and Mear One.

Choe dropped out of high school after his parents' real estate business was burned down during the 1992 L.A. riots, then he hitchhiked across America, Africa, Europe, and the Middle East for two years. At age 21, David returned to California and enrolled at the California College of the Arts, but dropped out after two years.

Art Career

David Choe's graffiti landed him a week-long stint in prison, then he moved in with his parents and started writing and illustrating for various magazines, including "Vice." He also appeared in the "Vice" web series "Thumbs Up!" (2007–2010), which documented David and his best friend, Harry Kim, hitchhiking and train-hopping around the U.S. and across China.

Around the time he became involved with "Vice," Choe began a relationship with the pop culture store and magazine "Giant Robot." After art galleries showed little interest in his work, David hung his artwork in the Melrose Avenue ice cream shop Double Rainbow. Customers liked it so much that the shop let him exhibit his work there for two years, and he would add a new piece every time one was sold.

In 2006, he self-published the graphic novel "Slow Jams," initially making around 200 copies and giving them out at Comic-Con in 1998. After submitting the graphic novel for the Xeric Grant, Choe was awarded $5,000 to self-publish an expanded edition of 1,000 copies. The graphic novel was published in 1999 with a $4 cover price, but it has sold for hundreds of dollars on eBay in recent years.

Getty Images

For over a decade, Harry Kim filmed thousands of hours of David's life, and it resulted in the 2008 documentary "Dirty Hands: The Art and Crimes of David Choe," which is described as an "intense portrait of David Choe, a young near-schizophrenic street artist who devises numerous criminal schemes that allow him to hitchhike across the globe." After holding numerous solo shows in San Francisco and San Jose, in 2005, Choe was given a solo exhibit at the Santa Rosa Museum of Contemporary Art.

His first solo New York exhibition, "Gardeners of Eden," took place at Chelsea's Jonathan LeVine Gallery in 2007, and the following year, he held his first solo U.K. exhibition, "Murderous Heart," at the Lazarides Gallery in London and Newcastle. In 2013, David held an exhibition of his watercolors at the Museo Universario del Chopo, Mexico City, and in 2017, he held an invite-only exhibit, "The Choe Show," in Koreatown. Choe also designed the cover of Jay-Z and Linkin Park's 2004 "Collision Course" EP and voiced the lead character in the 2007 animated film "We Are The Strange."

Personal Life

Choe has been involved with several charities, helping raise funds for Wyclef Jean's Yle Haiti and painting with at-risk children through The LIDÈ Haiti Foundation, which was established by The Office" star Rainn Wilson, and his wife, author Holiday Reinhorn. In the early 2000s, David spent three months in prison after punching an undercover security guard in Tokyo. The incident took place as a result of the language barrier, and while Choe was in prison, he created more than 600 drawings with "the one pen his cell was allowed" and also made erotic paintings with tea, soy sauce, blood, and urine. After his release, he was ordered to leave the country and never return.

In 2014, David caused controversy after he stated on his podcast that he had exhibited "rapey behavior" toward a masseuse; he later said that the podcast should be considered a work of fiction. In 2017, several artists protested when Choe was commissioned to paint the Bowery Mural Wall, and artist Jasmine Wahi, who helped organize a performance in front of the mural, stated, "Our aim is to provoke widespread rejection of the continued normalization of rape culture by bringing visibility to the topic." David apologized for his past comments, saying, "I have ZERO history of sexual assault. I am deeply sorry for any hurt I've brought to anyone through my past words. Non-consensual sex is rape and it is never funny or appropriate to joke about."

Real Estate

In 2010, David paid $3.1 million for a 6,500-square-foot mansion in LA's Los Feliz neighborhood. In September 2022, David listed this home for sale for $6.9 million.

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