John Forté Went From a Recording Studio to Jail Cell to Martha's Vineyard — What Was His Net Worth?

In November 2008, John Forté became one of two whose prison sentence was commuted by then-President George W. Bush, per ABC News. Thanks to the support of notable people like singer-songwriter Carly Simon, record executive Russell Simmons, and Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, John only served half of his 14-year sentence. "I just couldn't be more pleased," said Carly

In November 2001, John was convicted of drug trafficking. According to the Houston Chronicle, he hired two women to transport 14 kilos of liquid cocaine from Panama to New York City via the Rio Grande Valley. John was hired by a man he met at a club, and he always maintained he was told the women were carrying money. This marked the end of one version of John's career, which included a Grammy nomination. He died in January 2026 at the age of 50. Let's take a look at his net worth.

John reportedly had an estimated net worth of $10 million to $12 million, per the International Business Times UK. In an interview with CBS News, John talked about the culture shock of going from Brooklyn to New England. He was an accomplished violinist who earned a scholarship to attend the prestigious Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire. "Walking on the campus, I was more taken aback by strangers smiling at me and saying hello than anything else," he recalled.

At the age of 19, John was working as an A&R executive at Rawkus Records, an independent rap label that produced artists like Mos Def and Pharoahe Monch, when a product manager at Columbia Records showed him a videotape of the Fugees, per GQ. After catching a live show, John befriended Lauryn Hill. The following year, he was producing their sophomore album "The Score," for which he would be nominated for a Grammy.

That album sold more than 22 million copies worldwide. That was in 1996 and by 1998, John was recording his own album. Fugees member Wyclef Jean produced "Poly Sci" which was a flop. "It felt like a huge failure for me," said John to GQ. He blamed everyone but himself, and two years later, was arrested for drug trafficking.

When he wasn't in the prison's law library, John was teaching himself how to play the guitar. "There was an awakening," he said. After he was released from prison in 2008, John returned to New York City, where he began working with musicians like Valerie June, Firehorse, and Sunsay. In 2012, he wrote the theme music for the Brooklyn Nets.

A few years later, John was living in Martha's Vineyard, which is where he met his wife, Lara. They were married in 2017 and had a daughter, followed by a son. John found an incredible career in film scoring that included scoring all of the opening festival trailers for the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. He went on tour with his band and released a full-length album in 2011.

After George Floyd's murder, John wrote an album titled "Vessels, Angels & Ancestors." His music found its way to filmmaker Dawn Porter, who was making a documentary short about Breonna Taylor. His music became part of that film, which was released in 2021.