Marshall Mathers, aka Eminem, aka the Real Slim Shady, is undoubtedly one of the most influential rappers of all time. While the debate over the best rapper rages on, there’s no arguing that he’s had a singularly prominent career. With work spanning more than two decades, the “Lose Yourself” artist is known for his controversial lyrics, powerful storytelling, and boundary-breaking style.

Eminem has sold millions of albums worldwide, earned multiple Grammy Awards, and broken music barriers, as when he was awarded the most certified artist for singles in Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) history. His music is not the only thing he’s known for either. His venture into acting with a critically acclaimed role in 8 Mile showed off his multifaceted talent.

Below we break down Eminem’s early life, music career, and his enormous net worth that proves just about everything he touches turns into gold.

Eminem’s Net Worth

As far as the highest-paid rappers go, Eminem will most likely always be high up on the list. From his widely successful music and acting career to his record label, Shady Records, and his countless brand deals, we’re not exactly surprised to find that he has a rumored $250 million net worth, according to Celebrity Net Worth (though that is an unconfirmed number).

Eminem’s Early Life

Anyone who knows Eminem’s music knows he didn’t exactly have an easy childhood. Born Marshall Bruce Mathers III, the “Without Me” rapper was raised by his mother Deborah “Debbie” Nelson after his father left when he was a young child. Debbie, who had Eminem when she was 18, was reportedly addicted to drugs throughout his childhood (something he’s been forthcoming about in many of his songs) and was unable to hold down a job so the family regularly moved around.

“I would change schools two, three times a year. That was probably the roughest part about it all,” Eminem told Anderson Cooper on an episode of 60 Minutes in 2010.

This peripatetic lifestyle had a huge impact on his early life. With the inability to make close friends due to his frequent moves, Eminem kept mostly to himself, trying to stay away from the school bullies that frequently taunted him.

“Yeah, there was a few instances,” Eminem said about being bullied. “Beat up in the bathroom, beat up in the hallways, shoved into lockers. You know, just for, you know, for the most part, man, you know, just bein’ the new kid.”

When he was just 11 years old, his family moved just outside of Detroit. A few years later, at the age of 14, Eminem officially began his rap career with a high school friend, before establishing himself in the city’s battle rap scene.

Like many artists who struggled in their early childhood, the rapper used that conflict to make something of himself. While he may not have been the most popular kid in school, he knew from a very young age that he had a talent and wanted to capitalize on it.

In high school, he loved English class. “I found that no matter how bad I was at school… I always was good at English,” he told Cooper. “I just felt like I wanna be able to have all of these words at my disposal, in my vocabulary at all times whenever I need to pull ’em out. You know, somewhere, they’ll be stored, like, locked away.

“Hip-hop has always been braggin’ and boasting and ‘I’m better at you than this’ and ‘I’m better at you than that.’ And I finally found something that yeah, this kid over here, you know, he may have more chicks, and he may, you know, have better clothes, or whatever, but he can’t do this like me,” he added. “You know what I mean? He can’t write what I’m writing right now. And it started to feel like, you know, maybe Marshall’s gettin’ a little respect.”