Why George Harrison Thought The Beatles Won’t Make Money

Throughout his time with The Beatles and later as a solo artist, George Harrison amassed a fortune that most people could only dream of. However, in the early days of Beatlemania, he didn’t think the band would ever make that kind of money. Harrison was skeptical about their financial future despite their rapid rise to fame.

Harrison Didn’t Believe The Beatles Could Earn Millions

In 1964, as The Beatles were taking over the music world, Harrison was asked if he had already reached millionaire status. His response? A firm no.

“It’s so hard to become a millionaire,” he explained in an interview with the BBC, as quoted by American Songwriter. “Maybe if we were just a solo act, then whoever it was, you’d probably be a millionaire. But with four, you know, it’s hard.”

Harrison admitted he hoped they could reach that level of wealth but didn’t think it was realistic. “If we’ll ever be millionaires, we’d probably be all right,” he said. “But I can’t see us being millionaires and not paying tax as well.” At the time, his concerns made sense. The band had to split their earnings, and the British tax system ensured that a significant portion of their income would go to the government. However, as history shows, Harrison’s prediction didn’t age well.

He Was Always Aware Of His Finances

Despite claiming he didn’t make music for the money, Harrison was always mindful of his earnings. Even after becoming wealthy, he insisted that money wasn’t his motivation. He told Rolling Stone in 1979:

“It’s not for the money that I do what I do; it was never for the money really.
“We hoped we’d make a living out of it when we [The Beatles] were teenagers, we hoped we’d get by [smiling], but we weren’t doing it for the money. In fact, the moment we realized we were doing it for the money was just before we stopped touring because we were getting no pleasure out of it.”

However, according to his mother, Harrison had always been financially conscious. “He was always very serious about his music, and the money,” his mother, Louise, shared in The Beatles: The Authorized Biography by Hunter Davies. “He always wanted to know how much they were getting.”

While he may not have been driven solely by money, it was something he kept an eye on throughout his career.

Harrison Believed The Beatles Should Have Earned More

Looking back, Harrison felt that The Beatles could have made even more money if things had been handled better. When the band split, they faced legal battles—including a lawsuit from Paul McCartney against the rest of the group. Harrison also believed that some of the people running Apple Corps were mismanaging funds.

“Dreadful. I mean, all the money that we ever made from Beatles records and from Beatle films or any source, it all came into this company, Apple, which had been pilfered by all these famous gangsters,” he said, as quoted by Far Out Magazine. “It was a mess, and Paul was suing us three because we had this guy managing us, and it was just a mess.”

Despite the legal troubles and financial mismanagement, Harrison still went on to become one of the wealthiest musicians in the world. At the time of his passing in 2001, he was worth an estimated $400 million—a far cry from the doubts he had in 1964.