🌈 – Ricky Nelson Left Behind A Fortune So Big, It Made His Family Filthy Rich

When Ozzie and Harriet star Ricky Nelson tragically died in a plane crash on December 31, 1985, many assumed he was nearly bankrupt.

His 1977 divorce cost over $1 million, and he was reportedly behind on bills and loans.

His four children—Tracy, Gunnar, Matthew, and 11-year-old Sam—seemed destined to inherit nothing but debt.

Shortly after his death, a will dated August 22, 1985, was discovered by Ricky’s brother, David Nelson.

Filed in probate court, the will left his entire estate to his four children and specifically disinherited his ex-wife, his fiancée, his mother, and an alleged son, Eric Jude Crewe.

David was named the executor of the estate. Though Ricky Nelson appeared broke, what lawyers uncovered after his death shocked everyone.

His estate discovered that record labels had been underpaying royalties for decades.

In 2011, Ricky’s estate sued Capitol Records (later Sony Music), claiming the company withheld between $100 million and $250 million in unpaid royalties.

The lawsuit revealed “unmatched income” and misreported digital streaming profits.

By 2020, Sony Music settled the case, paying the estate $12.7 million upfront and agreeing to a 36% increase in future international royalties.

This settlement, combined with renewed interest in Nelson’s music, turned a seemingly bankrupt estate into a highly valuable one.

Thanks to the recovered royalties and settlements, Nelson’s four children received multimillion-dollar inheritances.

Tracy, Gunnar, Matthew, and Sam all benefited equally from the estate and the legal victories.

Their financial turnaround was extraordinary, transforming what once looked like a cautionary tale of fame and financial decline into one of legacy and restitution.

However, not everyone in Nelson’s family shared in the windfall.

Eric Jude Crewe, born in 1981 and confirmed by DNA to be Nelson’s son, was specifically excluded from the will.

Despite being biologically related, he received nothing from the estate.

Legal experts note that because Ricky explicitly disinherited Eric, and the will was filed before his death, the courts had no basis to override his wishes.

This decision remains one of the most controversial parts of the Nelson estate story and has fueled debates about family, paternity, and fairness in celebrity inheritances.

Court documents and commentary from legal analysts suggest that the magnitude of the royalty settlements was unprecedented.

Judges and music industry insiders were reportedly stunned by the amount of unpaid revenue the estate was able to reclaim—much of it dating back to the 1950s and 1960s.