So, look. I’m under no circumstances a music-industry insider or knowledgeable. However in my private expertise, Gracie Abrams appeared out of nowhere. And when she appeared, she was already standing on the high of the music world.
Actually, the primary time I bear in mind listening to Gracie’s title was after I turned on the FireAid profit live performance in January 2025. She was one of many first marquee performers. Billie Eilish opened. Then got here Earth, Wind & Hearth. Then Gracie Abrams.
Gracie was sharing the invoice with artists similar to Alanis Morissette, Inexperienced Day, John Mayer, Stevie Surprise, the Purple Scorching Chili Peppers, Girl Gaga, No Doubt, and the surviving members of Nirvana.
These are performers with many years of expertise, tons of of tens of millions of albums offered, dozens of main awards, and numerous songs which have topped the Billboard charts.
And there was Gracie.
For higher or worse, I personally discover her music to be completely tremendous. Clearly, tens of millions of individuals like them way more than I do. She has offered out arenas, earned Grammy nominations, opened for Taylor Swift, and scored main hits. I’m not suggesting that she can’t sing or write songs.
However we, particularly right here at CelebrityNetWorth.com, cannot discuss Gracie with out mentioning her dad.
Gracie Abrams is the daughter of J.J. Abrams, the tv and movie super-producer, author, and director behind “Misplaced,” “Alias,” “Star Trek,” “Mission: Unattainable III,” “Tremendous 8,” “Star Wars: The Pressure Awakens,” and “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.” J.J. Abrams has a internet value of $300 million.
Gracie’s mom, Katie McGrath, can also be a strong leisure govt and the co-CEO of the Abrams household’s manufacturing firm, Unhealthy Robotic.
For all these causes, Gracie has grow to be one of many major faces, lightning rods, and occasional punching luggage for the idea of being a “nepo child.”
And to be truthful, Gracie has not precisely denied the benefit.
She has acknowledged that she grew up with a monetary security internet and had entry to alternatives that almost all aspiring musicians may solely dream about. She didn’t have to decide on between making music and paying lease. Her mother and father understood the leisure enterprise. They knew highly effective folks. They knew how offers have been made, how careers have been constructed, and the way artists have been promoted.
With all that in thoughts…
If having a father who’s value $300 million makes Gracie Abrams the worldwide face and punching bag of “nepo babyism,” what does that imply for nation music’s latest rising star, Stella Lefty? As a result of, to Stella Lefty’s father, $300 million is the fractional quantity his internet value modifications each day primarily based on primary inventory market actions…
(Picture by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)
Meet Stella Lefty
Stella Lefty is the stage title of Stella Lefkofsky, a singer-songwriter from the Chicago space who has lately emerged as one of many fastest-rising performers in country-pop.
She started writing songs as a baby and attended Tulane College, the place she studied public well being. She began posting her music on-line and have become extra critical about songwriting whereas learning overseas in Amsterdam.
After graduating, she tried to ascertain herself in Nashville. A possible songwriting deal fell aside.
For many aspiring musicians, which may have been the tip of the journey. They might return dwelling, discover a job with medical insurance, and inform tales concerning the time they virtually made it in Nashville.
Stella as a substitute acquired a message from Jacob Hindlin, higher generally known as J Kash, a producer and songwriter who has labored with artists together with Girl Gaga, Katy Perry, Kesha, and Maroon 5.
She signed with Disruptor Data and moved to Los Angeles. She continued writing, recording, posting songs on-line, and constructing an viewers.
In February 2026, she launched the music “Boston.” It will definitely climbed all the way in which to #6 on the Billboard Scorching 100.
As I sort this text, “Boston” has already generated greater than 120 million streams on Spotify and has been utilized in greater than 1.6 million TikTok posts. Stella’s TikTok following has surged previous 670,000, and her rise has been accelerated by radio airplay, pageant appearances, and opening slots for established performers.
She has carried out at Stagecoach and opened for singers together with Jessie Murph and Cameron Whitcomb.
Should you hearken to “Boston,” you would possibly suppose it sounds a bit like Noah Kahan’s music “Stick Season.” Stella has stated she didn’t deliberately copy the melody. She wrote the refrain, posted it on-line, after which started receiving feedback declaring the resemblance. Kahan’s crew contacted her, the 2 sides had a dialog, and Stella agreed to offer him a songwriting credit score (a la Olivia Rodrigo and Hayley Williams).
Who Is Stella Lefty’s Father?
Stella Lefkofsky was born on August 13, 2002, in Winnetka, Illinois, and grew up close by within the prosperous Chicago suburb of Glencoe.
Her father is billionaire know-how entrepreneur Eric Lefkofsky. Her mom, Elizabeth “Liz” Lefkofsky, is a philanthropist who co-founded the Lefkofsky Household Basis along with her husband. Stella has two brothers.
Lengthy earlier than his daughter grew to become a musician, Eric had established himself as considered one of Chicago’s most prolific know-how entrepreneurs.
After graduating from the College of Michigan Regulation Faculty in 1993, Eric and his longtime enterprise accomplice, Brad Keywell, borrowed cash from family to purchase a Wisconsin clothes firm referred to as Brandon Attire. The enterprise initially grew quickly, however it was loaded with debt and finally collapsed.
Their subsequent enterprise was considerably extra profitable.
In 1999, Eric and Brad based Starbelly, an web firm that offered promotional merchandise similar to branded espresso mugs, pens, and T-shirts. Lower than a yr later, Starbelly was acquired by Ha-Lo Industries in a deal valued at roughly $240 million.
The acquisition became a catastrophe for Ha-Lo, which filed for chapter the next yr, however Eric had efficiently launched and offered his first main web firm.
In 2001, he co-founded InnerWorkings, a technology-based print procurement firm. InnerWorkings went public in 2006, creating one other useful possession place for Eric.
In 2005, Erik co-founded an organization referred to as Echo International Logistics. He took the corporate public in 2009, and in late 2021, it was acquired for $1.3 billion in money by a personal fairness agency.
In 2007, Erik took a gathering with a developer who had lately labored at InnerWorkings named Andrew Mason. Andrew had a novel concept for a brand new form of web site, which he referred to as “The Level.”
The idea was that folks may set up round a shared purpose, however nobody can be required to behave till a big sufficient group had dedicated to the trigger.
For instance, customers would possibly pledge cash to struggle starvation, enhance their neighborhood, assist a political marketing campaign, or assist a charitable group. The marketing campaign would solely activate after reaching a predetermined variety of contributors.
Eric preferred the thought sufficient to take a position $1 million.
Eric Lefkofsky (Scott Olson/Getty Photographs)
Sadly, The Level struggled to draw a big mainstream viewers. The social causes have been admirable, however the idea was considerably summary and troublesome to monetize.
Ultimately, Mason and Lefkofsky found one trigger that folks have been extraordinarily wanting to rally round: Saving cash.
The corporate started organizing teams of customers who agreed to buy deeply discounted meals, spa remedies, merchandise, and companies from native companies. If sufficient folks dedicated to the provide, the deal grew to become energetic.
It was form of like a gaggle coupon. A “Groupon,” if you’ll.
And Groupon exploded.
Inside a number of years, the corporate had expanded from a small Chicago startup into a world operation with 1000’s of workers. At its peak, Groupon was often described because the fastest-growing firm in enterprise historical past.
In 2010, Google supplied roughly $6 billion to amass the corporate.
Groupon turned the provide down.
That call is now remembered as one of the crucial notorious rejected acquisition presents in know-how historical past. Groupon’s founders and traders believed an IPO would produce an excellent bigger valuation.
For a short interval, they seemed to be appropriate.
The Groupon Money-Out
Earlier than Groupon grew to become a public firm, it raised roughly $950 million from personal traders.
Usually, when a startup raises cash, a lot of the money stays inside the corporate to rent workers, develop merchandise, develop operations, or purchase rivals.
That’s not what occurred right here.
Roughly $810 million of Groupon’s $950 million financing spherical was used to buy shares from founders, executives, workers, and early traders.
Eric Lefkofsky and entities managed by his household acquired $398 million.
Groupon accomplished its IPO in November 2011. Inside a number of months after the IPO, Groupon’s market cap was $13 billion, making their Google rejection quickly look sensible. At that degree, Eric’s remaining shares have been value greater than $3 billion.
Sadly, Groupon’s share worth finally collapsed. Shopper enthusiasm for every day offers light, taking part companies complained that the promotions have been unprofitable, and the corporate struggled with accounting issues, bloated bills, and slowing development.
Groupon remains to be a publicly traded firm. Its market cap in the present day is round $1 billion.
He subsequently co-founded the Chicago funding agency Lightbank and continued backing know-how startups. Lightbank has generated at the least $1 billion in enterprise capital returns by way of investments in firms like Spourt Social, Udemy and Snapsheet.
Then a deeply private expertise impressed what would grow to be the biggest and most vital firm of his profession.
Tempus AI
In 2015, Stella’s mom, Liz, was recognized with breast most cancers.
As Eric watched his spouse endure therapy, he grew to become pissed off by how little scientific and genomic knowledge seemed to be influencing her care.
Medical doctors, hospitals, researchers, and pharmaceutical firms had accrued huge quantities of medical info. The human genome had been mapped. Hundreds of most cancers research have been being revealed. Hospitals had many years of affected person information.
But a lot of that info remained scattered throughout incompatible methods and was troublesome for a person doctor to make use of when treating a selected affected person.
Eric created Tempus to assist resolve that downside.
Tempus AI collects and analyzes scientific, molecular, and genomic knowledge. Its know-how is designed to assist physicians perceive how earlier sufferers with related traits responded to totally different remedies, permitting medical doctors to make extra customized choices.
The corporate initially centered on most cancers earlier than increasing into different medical specialties.
Eric personally invested at the least $100 million into Tempus throughout its early years.
Tempus AI went public on the Nasdaq in June 2024. Eric remained its CEO, largest particular person shareholder, and controlling voter.
At present, Eric beneficially owns roughly 24% of Tempus AI. With the corporate at the moment sporting a market capitalization of $7.7 billion, that stake has a paper worth of roughly $1.85 billion.
And bear in mind, that’s simply his present Tempus stake.
It doesn’t embody the practically $400 million Eric and his household extracted from Groupon earlier than its IPO, the worth of shares he subsequently offered, his proceeds and stakes from different firms, his Lightbank investments, actual property, money, or different property.
As I sort this text, Eric Lefkofsky has a internet value of $5 BILLION.
And Groupon was removed from his solely cash-out. Over the previous twenty years, Eric co-founded and offered freight big Echo International Logistics (acquired in 2021 for $1.3 billion in money) and promoting know-how platform Mediaocean (re-valued at over $5 billion in 2021). Add in his enterprise fund, Lightbank—which backed hits like Sprout Social and Udemy—and Eric had accrued over a billion {dollars} in liquid money lengthy earlier than Tempus ever went public.
When it is all stated and carried out, Erik may purchase and promote J.J. Abram’s total $300 million fortune 17 occasions over. J.J.’s internet value is how a lot Erik’s fortune fluctuates daily.
