The passing of Swedish DJ Avicii, born Tim Bergling, was a major shock when it occurred in 2018. When the artist passed away, he did not have a will to leave behind. The musician reportedly had a giant net worth of $50 million at the time of his death, though as we’re going to reveal in the following, the DJ wasn’t motivated by money, and was very giving throughout his career.
While a new Netflix documentary on Avicii’s life sheds light on the singer’s personal demons, it also showcases how his attitude towards wealth was shaped by his generous spirit.
Editor’s note: This article contains mention of suicide or suicidal ideation. If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health crisis, please visit
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We’ll take a closer look at his charitable spending habits, and who got his net worth. In addition, we’ll detail his struggles and what went on behind the scenes prior to his passing.
Updated January 2025: There’s been renewed interest in Avicii’s life and career since ‘Avicii – I’m Tim’ premiered on Netflix on Dec. 31, 2024. The documentary explored the DJ’s life, including his struggles with substance abuse and mental health using a trove of interviews from Avicii’s personal archives. Avicii’s family gave the documentary their full support.
Avicii Wasn’t Motivated By Money Throughout His Career
Looking back at his career, Avicii was among the most charitable artists, especially in the world of DJing. The artist learned early on that he didn’t need a lot of money in order to feel fulfilled. Given the insane revenue he was bringing in consistently, Avicii gave a lot of to charity during his prime. He revealed that money wasn’t a motivator in his life, and he gave back as much as he could.
Per Page Six, “I discovered when I started making money that I didn’t really need it.” The artist made the decision to give back instead, “When you have such an excess of money you don’t need, the most sensible, most human and completely obvious thing is to give to people in need.”
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Avicii took his own life on April 20, 2018. The artist didn’t make a will, which is understandable given his young age at the time of his passing.
Avicii Did Not Leave A Will Behind, But His Net Worth Went To His Parents
Given that Avicii didn’t have a will, who got his fortune? According to Forbes, the laws in Sweden suggest that the artist’s parents would be the ones to take over his net worth. The publication explains, “His assets pass to his parents. The intestate laws of Sweden do not include siblings (because his parents are alive) or charities, even though Avicii may have wanted to include them.”
The report by Forbes also suggests that his parents had to pay less in taxes from the will, though it would’ve been a different story had Avicii been born in the United States. The report also stated that Avicii had sold his Hollywood Hills mansion for $17.5 million before he passed.
People magazine reported that the musician’s parents inherited his $25 million fortune, but Stylecaster also reported that this figure “only takes into account liquid assets and does not include real estate or other non-liquid assets,” which explains the discrepancy between his reported net worth and the amount his parents inherited.
Per the BBC, in 2022, Avicii’s parents sold 75% of his music rights to Pophouse, a Swedish music and entertainment company established by Abba star Björn Ulvaeus.
“The deal will allow Avicii’s parents to concentrate on the foundation they established after his death in 2018.”
Avicii Experienced Struggles In Life
From the outside looking in, it would appear as though the DJ had it all. However, that was not the case as he suffered from lots of anxiety. Avicii opened up about the struggles in his journals. He was particularly struggling during his time on the road.
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As per Daily Beast, “It feels like I’m going to faint every single day now. And not just today and this tour but from about the first time I mentioned that I felt worn-out. Pretty regularly but I push it back down and choose not to bring it up because there’s nothing I can do about it,” he told his manager.
He added in his journal, “Of course, I didn’t listen to the majority of doctors. I listened to the couple who said it would be okay if I was careful. I was ignorant and naive and touring the world, still on the never-ending tour because once you’ve circled it once, guess what? You start right back over again.”
His father Klas also told CBS News that his son’s issues started at a young age as a teen.
“When you have a child that’s not feeling well, you try everything to get the situation right again. And you try to understand what’s going on. So, we went to a psychiatrist. I think he was 14 or 15, yeah. And he sort of calmed Tim down.”
At the time of his son’s passing, Klas felt as though things were getting better just prior. “The suicide came as a shock to all of us. And we thought that he was really on a better way before.”
The world lost a talented artist but more importantly, a genuine soul.
Netflix Documentary Sparks Renewed Interest In DJ
In late 2024, Netflix debuted a documentary on Avicii by Swedish music journalist Henrik Burman. The family of Avicii gave Henrik their blessing for the documentary, allowing him to access Avicii’s personal archives.
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Per Billboard, “Working with the blessing of Bergling’s parents, Burman had full access to the sprawling Avicii archives. He found hours of interviews with the producer conducted during different periods of his career, including some in the later part of his life, when he was able to reflect on quitting touring in 2016, his problems with alcohol abuse, his approach to making music and more.”
In some of these interviews, Avicii himself mentions that if a documentary was ever made about his life, this is the footage that should be used.
“‘There were moments in these interviews where he’d say, ‘This really describes me as a person, so if there’s ever a documentary made about me, you should use this to tell the story… He’d say things like, ‘If there’s a documentary, we need to talk about alcohol; we need to talk about the bad things in my life.’ I’ve been looking for clues like this—I’ve listened to Tim for hours and hours trying to understand him and put together the puzzle of who he was as a person and who Avicii was as this amazing artist.”
Given the way his life tragically ended, these are chilling words, but the documentary serves to spotlight more than Avicii’s music or celebrity status. It tackles him as a whole person, flaws and all, and celebrates the impact he left.
