Beeple, whose real name is Michael Joseph Winkelmann, is an American digital artist known for creating NFTs, or non-fungible tokens.
It is estimated that Beeple’s estimated net worth is $50 million as of 2022. He acquired his fortune by selling his original digital artwork, some of which have sold for millions of dollars at auction. Indeed, “Everydays: The First 5000 Days” sold for over $69 million and became one of the most expensive art pieces of any format in the world.
Read on to discover more about his art career, social media, and his most expensive NFTs.
Beeple’s Art Career
Beeple has been making art for over 20 years but did not start making money from his art until more recently. Before switching to still art, he created video imagery as backgrounds for events and concert visuals for brands and celebrities. Prior to his art career, Windelmann was an aspiring electrical engineer.
He initially built a following on Instagram as an artist, as his collection of “Everydays” was well-received online. Beeple started making “Everydays” in 2007, which involved creating a drawing daily. That project lasted until 2021.
In October 2020, he decided to get involved in NFTs. He believed he could be successful with the new art form since he already had a large social media following. Since then, Beeples has made millions of dollars selling NFTs.
Beeple gained notoriety when his collage of 5000 of his “Everydays” drawings known as “Everydays: The First 5000 Days” sold for $69 million. The sale of this collage made major news headlines. In addition, Beeple created Logan Paul artwork. That was controversial, and Paul expressed confusion about the piece.
While NFTs and other types of digital art have made him one of the richest artists in the world, they have also given him a platform to pursue physical art. In particular, Beeple has been responsible for several installations and has had exhibitions at places like the Jack Hanley Gallery.
Beeple on Social Media
Beeple first gained prominence online through his presence on social media, particularly Instagram. While he has entered the mainstream, Beeples is still active on multiple platforms. If you would like to keep up with Beeple and his upcoming projects, consider following some of his accounts:
- Instagram: beeple_crap
- Twitter: beeple
- Facebook: beeple
- Youtube: beeple
- Tumblr: beeple
- Behance: beeple
Beeple’s Most Expensive NFTs
Because of the artist’s popularity, Beeple’s NFTs often sell for hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars. Here are some of his most expensive creations:
- “Oceanfront” sold for $6 million in 2021
- “Crossroads” sold for $6.6 million in 2021
- “Human One” sold for $29.8 million in 2021
- “Everydays- The First 5000 Days” sold for $69 million in 2021
Everydays: The First 5000 Days
“Everydays: The First 5000 Days” is Beeple’s most famous piece, being the most expensive NFT thus far and one of the most expensive art pieces in the world. It sold for over $69 million in 2021.
It is a collage piece that Beeple started creating in 2007. He created a drawing every day for 5000 days. He then sold the collection of 5000 images as a type of digital collage.
The pieces in the collage are quite eclectic and appear to be vastly different, but do follow a theme of being fairly suggestive. Many of the pieces also show political commentary, some of which is overt. Through the collection, one can see Beeple’s creative evolution.
This collage greatly influenced Beeple’s net worth as it sold at auction through the company Christie’s for over $69 million. Given that impressive valuation, it made headlines for being the most expensive NFT ever sold, and one of the most expensive art pieces in general (eclipsing even many traditional artists).
Beeple: Human One
Beeple’s newer project and first physical sculpture, “The Human One,” combines digital and physical art into one entity. The piece is a large box with digital screens showing a person in what appears to be a space suit walking through an ever-changing landscape.
The scene that the figure is walking through will be constantly changing throughout time, as Beeple plans to keep updating the background for as long as he can.
This piece is physical but has an NFT attached to the work. It sold for over $29 million at auction in November 2021.
Frequently Asked Questions
Beeple has generated a lot of interest online, in large part due to his pioneering use of NFTs. If you want to know more about him (and his artwork), keep reading as we have the answers to some common questions.
How much is a Beeple NFT?
As mentioned earlier, Beeple NFTs often sell for hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars. However, the artist has been known to drop a limited number of NFTs and sell them each for one dollar. When these drops do occur, they sell out very quickly.
Beeple tried to drop some images from his “Everydays” collection on the website MakersPlace for $1 each in 2021. However, a large amount of traffic to the website caused it to crash.
To make up for the crash, Beeple decided to raffle off the unsold NFTs instead, where everyone who registered for the drop was entered.
Where can I buy a Beeple NFT?
Beeple NFTs are often sold at auction through Christie’s. The sales usually take place in New York, but phone lines are run in other major cities as well.
Besides being sold in auction houses, Beeple’s work can sometimes be purchased through NFT trading websites such as Nifty Gateway. There, his piece “Ocean Front” sold for millions of dollars. Beeple has also used MakersPlace, where he attempted the $1 drop.
On these websites, you may also find re-sales of Beeple’s work. In addition, Beeple has created raffles for his NFTs. While these raffles cannot be predicted, Beeples typically announced them on his Twitter account.
What is Beeple’s real name?
Beeple’s real name is Mike Winkelmann. He started using the pseudonym while he was working on video art, long before Beeple’s net worth grew from NFTs. Winkelmann was inspired by a toy line called Beeples.
