What is Joe Francis' net worth in 2024? Details about Girls Gone Wild subject explored
American entrepreneur Joe Francis is widely known as the creator of the infamous Girls Gone Wild video company, which garnered millions of dollars of profit during the early 2000s. The company produced adult entertainment tapes featuring young girls, which were later premiered on late-night television.
The company faced legal trouble after Francis was convicted of multiple charges, civil, criminal, and federal. The entire story behind Girls Gone Wild and its creator is documented in Peacock's three-episode docu-series titled Girls Gone Wild: The Untold Story, which made its release on December 3, 2024, on its streaming platform.
As per Celebrity Net Worth, Joe Francis currently has a net worth of $25 million. At the peak of Girls Gone Wild, Francis's net worth was almost estimated to be close to $100 million. However, the company filed for bankruptcy in 2013, following all the lawsuits filed against Francis.
What is the story of Joe Francis
Born on April 1, 1973, in the capital city of Atlanta, Georgia, Joe Francis spent a major part of his childhood in boarding schools. He attended the Administration program at the University of Southern California and, in 1995, graduated with a Bachelor's Degree from the USC Entrepreneurial Program.
Francis first started working as a production assistant for Real TV, a reality show that showcased rare, real-life footage of remarkable events, which were generally not covered by the mainstream media. His next venture began in 1998 when he launched the Banned from Television Show after he sold licensed videos from Real TV to its producers.
It was in 1997 when Joe Francis started Girls Gone Wild, a video company that showcased young college girls exposing their bodies on camera, which he mainly broadcasted through late-night commercials. Francis' new venture garnered over $20 million in the very first two years. In the next three years, Girls Gone Wild commercials were all over late-night television and Francis was airing 30-minute infomercials on all major U.S. based networks.
However, by 2010, the company's sales had rapidly declined following the company's defamatory charges spread all over the media. Ex-actresses working for Girls Gone Wild alleged that the production crew forced them to indulge in hardcore se*ual activities. There were also charges against Joe Francis for having forced minor-aged girls to indulge in se*ual activities with him.
In a People article, Girls Gone Wild's former cameraman Mark Schmitz claimed,
“Joe doesn’t have any boundaries whatsoever with anyone, especially with girls. I got him literally on tape lifting a girl’s shirt up. It’s horrible to watch that stuff.”
Mark said that he had personally encountered five different instances of Francis abusing his workers. The company was facing heavy losses after its owner was exposed, and in February 2013, the company declared bankruptcy.
The same year, Francis was sentenced to 270 days in jail. He was convicted of false imprisonment and assault causing great bodily injury by holding three women against their will in in his Los Angeles home in 2011. He was also convicted of dissuading a witness in connection to the same case.
What happened to Joe Francis after the end of Girls Gone Wild?
In May 2015, a U.S. court judge issued an arrest warrant for Joe Francis. However, he fled the country and went into exile with his wife and twin daughters to Mexico. Francis had married Abbey Wilson, who had been a long-time Girls Gone Wild employee herself. The couple had twin daughters back in 2014.
As per a Showbiz CheatSheet article published on May 28, 2019, Francis owns a Mexican mansion called Casa Aramara, which is visited by popular Hollywood A-listers. His mansion costs a sum of approximately $10-15 million, which is rented for $36,000 per night.
However, a judge in 2017 declared that Francis was so much in debt that he couldn't recover it by renting his apartment. As per a Guardian article published on April 22, 2022, Joe Francis is currently separated from his wife.
Check our other articles for more details on Girls Gone Wild.
