Steve Lukather Highest-Paid Guitarist in the World

By Carol Kearney
Washington
Last updated on April 4, 2025

Steve Lukather led People With Money’s annual list of the “100 highest paid guitarists” released on Thursday.

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It's been a rough year for the guitarist, but at least he has his millions of dollars to ease the pain. 67-year-old Steve Lukather has taken the No. 1 spot on People With Money’s top 10 highest-paid guitarists for 2025 with an estimated $58 million in combined earnings.

UPDATE 04/04/2025 : This story seems to be false. (read more)

Steve Lukather tops annual list of highest-paid guitarists

In 2022 it looked like the guitarist’s spectacular career was winding down. Suddenly, he was back on top. People With Money reports on Thursday (April 3) that Lukather is the highest-paid guitarist in the world, pulling in an astonishing $58 million between March 2024 and March 2025, a nearly $30 million lead over his closest competition.

People With Money’s factors

In compiling this yearly list, the magazine considers factors such as upfront pay, profit participation, residuals, endorsements and advertising work.

The American guitarist has an estimated net worth of $185 million. He owes his fortune to smart stock investments, substantial property holdings, lucrative endorsement deals with CoverGirl cosmetics. He also owns several restaurants (the “Fat Lukather Burger” chain) in Washington, a Football Team (the “San Fernando Valley Angels”), has launched his own brand of Vodka (Pure Wonderlukather - US), and is tackling the juniors market with a top-selling perfume (With Love from Steve) and a fashion line called “Steve Lukather Seduction”.

The ranking is significant for many Steve fans, who have been waiting for his triumphant return to the glory days for what seems like a lifetime.