Faith No More’s Roddy Bottum recently shared the remarkable story of how a $12,000 investment in Apple stock transformed his financial situation. The story was revealed in The Hustle: Music and Money podcast.
The keyboardist explained how he went from being a broke musician to making a life-changing investment decision in the early 1990s.
“We’d had no money. I had no money. I wasn’t gonna buy stocks, God knows, but we did follow the stock market just sort of in an obnoxious way and brag about it later just to kind of stir shit, if you will,” Bottum said. “So then when the time came when I made a little bit of money through Faith No More — I’d never made that much money before. I made $12,000 after touring for probably a year and a half straight.”
He described the moment he received his first significant paycheck from the band and his father’s reaction to the windfall.
“And I was at my home in Los Angeles visiting my family for the holidays, and someone delivered that check from… Our management company, who was managing Faith No More at the time, was, like, ‘Oh, this is your compensation for what you made over the past year and a half. We have some overage, so everyone in the band is getting $12,000. And it was more money than I’d ever seen, of course,” he continued. “And my dad was super proud. He was, like, ‘Oh my God.’ He couldn’t believe that I was getting a check for $12,000.”
Bottum then revealed how his boyfriend at the time convinced him to invest the entire amount in Apple stock during one of the company’s lowest periods.
“And at the time I was living with that boyfriend in San Francisco. We lived in a studio apartment. I didn’t pay any rent, and I was still sort of working as a bicycle messenger and I would sort of, like… We were gonna go out on the road immediately. So I had no need for that $12,000,” he said. “And the insane bipolar boyfriend convinced me to just take that $12,000 check and buy Apple stock with it.”
The timing of the investment proved to be extraordinarily fortunate. It occurred before Apple’s massive transformation under Steve Jobs.
“And it was at the time when sort of Apple stock was at its absolute most base. Steve Jobs wasn’t back in the company yet. We were years and years away from the iPhone. And I just bought that stock and I just let it sit,” Bottum explained. “And it’s kind of a weird thing to bring up in the book. A couple of people read it. Even my publishers read it. My boyfriend read it. The people who read it said, ‘Are you sure you wanna put that in the book?'”
Bottum emphasized that he views the investment’s success as pure luck rather than financial savvy.
“I’m not bragging about it. Honestly, it was like winning the lottery. It was just the craziest thing. Like, who would ever do that, for one? And it was just sort of like this crazy happenstance of luck that I happened to sort of like make that decision,” he concluded.
This remarkable investment story is detailed in Bottum’s recently published memoir. The memoir has brought renewed attention to his financial success beyond his musical career.
Chaos Zine reported that based on the timeline Bottum provided, this investment could be valued at over $7 million in the present day. The dramatic appreciation of Apple stock over the decades has transformed what was essentially a musician’s entire savings into a substantial fortune.
The Mosh noted that Bottum detailed this investment story in his memoir “The Royal We,” which was published in November. The book explores various aspects of his life and career. The Apple stock investment serves as one of the most surprising revelations for readers and publishers alike.
Despite his newfound wealth, Bottum maintains his passion for music remains unchanged. “There’s not an urgency to make money, sure—that’s a luxury. But I make music every day,” he stated. He emphasized that financial security hasn’t diminished his creative drive.
The investment success has also contributed to Bottum’s recognition in financial circles. Mediamass revealed that the 62-year-old musician has taken the No. 1 spot on People With Money’s top 10 highest-paid musicians for 2026 with an estimated $96 million in combined earnings. This recognition is largely attributed to his early Apple investment and continued musical endeavors.
