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Why Dolly Parton Never Became a Billionaire

Her music catalog, business empire, Dollywood and investments helped her amass a reported $450-650 million fortune, but she always found new ways to spend the money coming in to help others.

Dolly Parton was never a billionaire because she never allowed herself to become one. The singer/songwriter/actress was too busy giving away money and offering opportunities to the people who needed her support. The “Queen of Country” knew something about being poor. Before writing her legendary songs, she would grow up in true poverty in Sevier County, Tennessee. Born in 1946, Dolly and her 11 siblings lived in a house without electricity and had running water only, as she would joke, “if you run ‘n’ get it.” She would later explain, “People hear me talk about eating squirrel and groundhogs, but in the mountains like that, you really didn’t have much of a choice. There were 12 of us kids.” Far from making her bitter, she credited her upbringing with giving her a sense of humor and resilience—the rags her mother sewed into a coat would inspire “The Coat of Many Colors.”

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