Social Media Fuels Shaun King's Net Worth — He's Here to Stay

Writer and civil rights activist Shaun King has poised himself to become one of the most highly influential individuals alive. While he has certainly shown his potential, particularly with the large following he has gained across Twitter and Instagram (4+ million), he has also garnered significant criticism along the way from well-known names like Donald Trump Jr.

Here’s a look at who King is, why he’s loved (and disliked) by many, and how he grows his net worth.

Many of the private and intimate details of King’s life have been put on public display. When it comes to his net worth, however, that's still unclear. While plenty of sources speculate King has a net worth of $3 million, which likely comes from social media and the earnings he collects as a writer, the figure hasn't been confirmed.

King was born in Franklin, Ky., although he was raised in Versailles. The activist has always thought of himself to be a Black man, but many questioned whether he truly could identify with the race. While some considered King to be “mixed,” a term often used to identify a person who descends from two or more races, others believe him to be white.

It wasn’t until after King became vocal, particularly as a Black Lives Matter advocate, that people started putting a microscope to his race. Despite what the public has speculated, King confirmed in a blog he wrote for the Daily Kos that he is, in fact, biracial.

King says he was born to a white mother and “light-skinned Black man,” although his birth certificate bears the name of a white man as his father. In his blog, the writer admitted, “I am gravely embarrassed to even be saying this now, but I have been told for most of my life that the white man on my birth certificate is not my biological father and that my actual biological father is a light-skinned black man.”

King went on to shed light on his mother’s past, sharing that she had been in several failed relationships. He also pointed out that all of his siblings have different parents, and that he’s “not even sure how many siblings [he has].”

Although King’s race and actions have been questioned on several occasions, and allegedly caused him to become the subject of a hate crime committed by "a mob of racist white students at [Kings] high school," he refuses to be silenced by the media or the conservatives who don’t exactly favor him.

As a civil rights activist, King uses his social media presence to point out the racial disparities that exist today. He isn’t only a voice that demands to be heard. Instead, he’s taken action by launching organizations like Real Justice PAC that aim to fight the social injustices that plague communities.

Real Justice PAC, which was co-founded by King, “elects civil rights-minded prosecutors who use the powers of their office to reduce mass incarceration, police violence, and injustice.” King also launched several internet campaigns, including HopeMob.org (2012), which served as a crowdfunding platform to raise money to go toward certain causes.

Some of King’s other noteworthy accomplishments include:

• Recipient of the Oprah scholarship that provided funding for him to attend Morehouse College.
• Started the nonprofit A Home for Haiti, which helped raise “$2 million in emergency aid” for those impacted by the 2010 earthquake.
• King’s contribution to Haiti inspired Nate Cousineau to launch World Aid Now, a group that “funded the construction of 30 new homes for flood victims in Pakistan.”
• Served as a motivational speaker in Atlanta’s juvenile justice system.

One of King’s more recent achievements is his autobiography titled Lemons and Stones. The book is available for preorder and is expected to ship between December 2022 and February 2023.

According to the official Lemons and Stones website, all of the proceeds collected from preorder sales will be used to launch The North Star Publishing, which is a “new independent publishing arm that is going to allow [King and his team] to find and tell long form stories that simply aren’t being told anywhere else.”